2022 M3P Front Suspension Creak/Noise Fix!

[Flewis7]

I have a '22 M3P with around 12k miles and the front suspension started creaking. Noticeable at slow speeds (pretty loud) and it sounded like an ancient wooden ship.

First thing I did was get on the ground and have someone move the steering wheel back and forth while the steering wheel was close to lock in both directions (so I could see the suspension components fairly easily). I couldn't identify a specific item the noise was coming from, but it seemed to be lower than the upper control arms. It actually seemed to be coming from multiple places and was definitely originating on both sides of the car.

From research, the first suspect was the UCAs, so I checked them first. I disconnected the upper ball joints (super easy to do with a 15mm wrench and T-45 bit) and checked them. They moved smoothly with fairly low resistance and had no rough spots or noise. I went ahead and moved them through their full range of motion multiple times to make sure the grease was well distributed. I also moved the upper control arm up and down through its range of motion, but couldn't reproduce any noise (though there was no load on it). Then I put things back together. Didn't make any difference.

Then I grabbed a can of Dupont Teflon dry film lubricant. I decided to spray down all the rubber bushings, hoping they were making the noise. There are quite a few in the suspension. I also hit the front sway bar mount bushings. They're bonded to the bar, but they're made in two pieces, so I think there is some chance of noise coming from them if they rub against each other. There isn't any point in spraying any of the ball joints. They have rubber boots and are sealed. The upper ball joint at the end of the upper control arm is a ball joint and there are several others in the front suspension. Spraying them isn't going to do anything.

Finally, kind of on a whim, I sprayed down the upper and lower spring perches on both sides. After thinking about it, I think this was the real fix.

She's whisper quiet again!

We'll see how long this lasts, but if it comes back I will just spray the spring perches and see if that fixes it again (for a while). If so, I'll look into something more durable.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Yeah, one of the drawbacks to the double-wishbone setup is that the spring perch isn't free to rotate, so the spring is unable to naturally wind/unwind as it compresses/decompresses. Turning the steering wheel doesn't twist the spring, but it does bend/bow which can allow the top coil to slip to a new angle on the flat rubber upper perch. Usually this is only a problem shortly after installation until the springs find a happy-medium position where they're not ever stressed enough to overcome the perch friction again. This is a big problem with aftermarket springs since people don't clock them ideally during installation so they take a while to settle, but the common advice is to *not* lubricate them as it may prevent them from ever settling.

None of the rubber suspension bushings have sliding interfaces that would be affected by lubricants other than the sway bar mounts, so this may be a more likely cause of noise that began after 12K miles and more likely to be fixed by lubricant.

 

[Dan-NZ]

Hi Flewis7 & Gauss Guzzler

Came across your discussion above and from your descriptions, this sounds very much like what I‘m experiencing from the FR of my 2022 M3 when I traverse my driveway lip (at slow speeds) as it dips to meet the crossfall of the road. It however may not be the same so I’m keen to verify with y’all. It makes the same creaking wooden ship ‘dug dug dug dug’ sound.

Appreciate if you could pls take a listen & let me know if it‘s the same sound that yours had? The SC hasn‘t been helpful and I’m none the wiser as to whether my vehicle has a defect or not.

Thanks v much

From inside veh reversing out of driveway

Outside veh turning left into driveway

 

[ODWms]

Sounds like upper control arm, which is a long, known issue.

 

[Dan-NZ]

Thanks ODWms.

I was just replying to my same question but on a different thread that I’ve been rocking, shaking, pressing on the wheel arch + trampolining on the frunk to try to reproduce the sound but I can’t it’s quiet when on a level surface. This is why it’s strange as my wooden boat creaking is only audible when the veh is on an angle under slow torsion / roll / pitch situations.

Hopefully the OP or Gauss see this and can confirm or rule out if it’s a similar noise to what they heard with the spring perches or sway bar bushings.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Like OD and OP mentioned, the upper control arm is the most likely culprit, and re-reading the OP I see that in the process of diagnosing it, Flewis actually implemented a common "fix" by disconnecting the ball (one easy bolt) and then swirling it around to redistribute the grease. So perhaps that was the actual solution rather than the spray lube.

Springs tend to make a boing sound as they snap into position and it's not usually repeatable. Sway bars can certainly make this type of noise, but it's only common in very old cars.

 

[Dan-NZ]

Cheers Gauss for your input and noted that FUCA is most likely the problem. Re your sway bar comment, another guy mentioned it sounded like the drop link - does that sound plausible to you?
I need to get a mobile technician to come have a look so I can at least reliably repeat it on my driveway, just a bit worried they’ll downplay it as normal again and not action anything.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Sway bar endlink? Plausible of course, but not common as far as I know. You can simply disconnect one of the links from each side and eliminate the swaybar alltogether as a quick test. I think you can even do it with the wheels on.

 

[Dan-NZ]

Sway bar end link yes. Roger, thank you for the advice will try and do that test.