Creaking and Groaning

[ldusseau]

Good morning everyone. It's been really cold here in Southeast Michigan and the roads are $hit. Potholes the size of moon craters. I try to avoid them but sometimes I just can't. This winter I've heard a lot of protesting coming from my suspension, especially the front left. Here's the background: My car has a little over 54k miles on it and the self diagnostic feature does not work (long story, it's a Canadian car...) I installed Eibach swaybars a couple of years ago and had my shop change the bushings over to "sport" last summer because replacing them would be too much labor for <$20 parts. The protestation is especially loud on "ECO", but "COMFORT" setting makes the car wallow more than my liking, which is what led me to have my shop change the bushing setting last summer. I realize it needs to go into the shop, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I've had front control arm bushings go bad on a previous BMW 328xi and they made a similar "ER uh ER uh ER" noise when going over speedbumps. I'm retired, so should I be calling my financial advisor and planning for front shock/strut replacement? The rear is making noise too but it's nowhere near as loud as the front. I could have them change the sway bar bushings back to "street", but I don't think that's going to do much to alleviate the noise. Thoughts? Should I fork over the money to activate the UVO self diagnostics, but do you think that's necessary if I take good care of it?

 

[LordKOTL]

Dumb question: You said you had the Eibach sway bars. When was the last time you greased the bushings?

I seem to recall on this forum that for the aftermarket swaybars, if the bushings are not greased then they start to creak.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I installed Eibach swaybars a couple of years ago and had my shop change the bushings over to "sport"

What? Just to be clear, the adjustment is at the end of the bar. The bushings are static. And yes, make sure the bushings are greased. Having the sways on "stiff" or the sportier setting will by all accounts make your ride harsh on the street. I have kept mine on "soft" the entire time - seven years for the rear, five and a half years for the front.

But it sounds like you have way more than sways going on.