E36 Knocking from the rear

[Gad-Westy]

Just noticed this morning that I've got a slight knock coming from the offside rear of the car at slow speeds on bumps. I've read a lot about bushes needing replacing, and my car is certainly at a mileage where this is possible (78,000) but I'm not convinced this is the problem. The reason I say that is that its still very tight to drive and feels all of a piece at the rear. Trouble is, I'm meant to be doing a long trip in the car this weekend so need to reassure myself pronto!

[E38]

One of my rear suspension springs had cracked completly once, and all I noticed was some noisy bumps. Handling wasnt affected that much, although a nasty understeer and oversteer moment did get me to do a check.

Dont know how safe or not it is, but im sure a gentle long journey will be fine, just dont go thrashing it.

[gad-westy]

Cheers for the reply. Decided to book it in just in case. Noise seemed to be getting worse and it might just be my eyes but it looks ever so slightly lower on the driver side at the rear so could maybe be a cracked spring. Unfortunately don't have the time to investigate much further.

[JPJ]

It's quite likely to be a broken anti-roll bar mount, which will be about £35 for the part. This is a really common problem on the M5, and it might be worth getting both done if your getting the other replaced. You can do the job at home if you want to save some cash.

[Gad-Westy]

Well turns out its both trailing arm bushes. Get car back tomorrow. Happy again!