[orangeglim]

My M235i has 2100 miles on it. I was driving the other day with the windows down and noticed a clicking sound coming from the driver's side front wheel. It sounds almost like if you had some pine needles or some leaves stuck in the spokes of your bike (you know, a pedal bike), if that makes sense. It only happens when turning right however, at least, that's the only time I hear it. I don't have to be going very fast either; I can hear it when I pull into my driveway.

Everything else is fine, as far as I can tell. I've poked around inside the fender trying to see if anything is stuck in there that could be causing the sound but haven't found anything. I haven't pulled the wheel off to take a look though (don't have the right floor jack). Any ideas what it could be?

I'm bringing it to the dealer on Wednesday to have them take a look.

[overcoil]

Stone in tire tread or stone in brake vent hole.
Bad wheel bearing.
Wire harness popped out of clasp and rubbing.
Under body plastic air/water flap loose.
Maybe even loose piece on anti-roll bar.

Should be easy to determine when up on lift.

[orangeglim]

So, washed the car Monday night. Cleaned the wheels and such, then when went to drive to the dealer on Wednesday (I didn't drive it on Tuesday), the sound was gone. So, I assume that something was stuck in wheel some place that I couldn't see and it was blown out with the spray from the hose.

[orangeglim]

Update: Clicking is back. Pulled the left front wheel off, checked it over for nails or other things, found nothing. Looked over inside the fender, didn't see anything out of place or stuck. Guess I'll have to call the dealer back.

[simoneves]

I have a 2016 228i THP built 7/15. It too had ticking noises from both front wheels at anything but straight ahead, forwards or reverse, any speed. Reversing off my driveway, freeway on-ramps etc. Only really audible with the windows down but still.

It went in for its first service at ~6,000 miles last week and I flagged the noise. Apparently they found that the front brake disc inner hub surfaces weren't flat and weren't seating flat to the hubs! They took both of them off and apparently machined the inner surfaces to be flat.

The ticking is gone and I swear the steering feels tighter and less wander-ey. I'm trying not to think about the implication that stuff was loose down there...

I'll dig out the paperwork later tonight to report exactly what they said but that was basically it.

[orangeglim]

Thought I'd follow up on this. Just had the car into the dealer for this clicking sound again. They've supposedly fixed it and blamed it on a service bulletin, specifically SIB 31 01 12. Once I get more time to drive the car I'll be able to confirm whether or not they've fixed it. Per the tech, they did the following:

REMOVED
BOTH FRONT WHEEL BEARINGS, USED THE REPAIR KIT FROM THE SIB
TO CLEAN THE BEARING AND STEERING KNUCLE CONTACT SURFACES.
APPLIED THE GREASE TO BOTH SURFACES AS WELL. REASSEMBLED THE
CAR. DROVE IT FOR ANOTHER 15 MINUTES AND ATTEMPTED TO
DUPLICATE THE NOISE AGAIN AND IT IS GONE.

[jb606]

If that didn't fix it double check the torque on the wheel bolts. They need to be between 103-105ft/lbs.

[orangeglim]

The car is back at the dealer for the same issue. They're saying its the front upper strut mounts and have ordered parts. They're going to swap those out and I guess we'll see if it still happens.

[orangeglim]

Got the car back, they said it was fixed, it isn't. I gave them a detailed, three step procedure, for reproducing the sound. They claim to have done that, yet, I still get the car back with this clicking coming from the front end. It doesn't appear to be adversely affecting the car in any way, but its certainly not normal. I guess I'll talk to them again in the morning.

[Sypher]

I just noticed this very same problem with mine as well yesterday. Will be bringing this up with them when I take it in for an oil change next month. Also a 2016 228i with THP and build date of 6/16.

[orangeglim]

Interesting. Mine is going back on the 30th for them to take a 4th look at it. For reference, here's the procedure I gave them:

1. Park car in direct sun for 6-8 hours. Must be a warm day, 80+ degrees.

2. Start car, roll down windows, turn off AC, turn off radio.

3. Put car in drive. Turn, and hold, steering wheel right to full lock. Let car coast in a tight circle. Clicking/ticking sound will be heard from front of car out driver's side window. Turns to the left do not seem to cause the same sound.

Obviously I don't usually drive in full lock circles. This is just a good way to reproduce the exact same noise I hear while driving normally around town.

A few things to note, the sound is speed sensitive, it clicks faster the faster I go. It also seems to click in very certain locations on rotation of the tire. I've pulled the wheel off previously and looks for nails or anything like that and haven't found anything.

[RacerDad]

There is a BMW Technical Service Bulletin on this topic dated December 2015, SI B34 08 14 titled, Ticking Noise From Front Axle When Cornering. This bulletin supersedes the old bulletin SI 34 08 14 from July 2015.

Essentially the bulletin has the technician sand the contact surface in a radial motion of the brake disc and clean the disc and hub surface with brake cleaner. It goes on to state that the wheel bearing hub should NOT be sanded and NOT to apply lubricant to the mating surface.

My car was making the same noise in the Left Front when taking hard right turns that sounded like a nail in the tire. However, I inspected the tires and found nothing. The other day I went over a manhole cover fairly hard in a construction zone that was raised up. It didn't damage the tire or wheel, but the noise is now gone. Hitting the L/F hub like that could have jarred the mating surfaces enough to make the noise stop.

I found this bulletin on Alldata. If someone has access to the official bulletin, please post it. Thanks.

[orangeglim]

Thanks for that SIB number. It describes my issue, exactly. I've sent the number over to my SA at the dealer, we'll see what happens.

[Sypher]

So I'm starting to get the clicking sound on the right side now too (as I turn left) but not as noticeable. The left side is getting louder. I have a service appointment next Monday. Hopefully they can correct the issue.

[orangeglim]

I'm going over to the dealer tomorrow for a ride along with the shop foreman. It's been clicking consistently now for over two weeks. Anything nearing a 90 degree turn makes a very audible clicking/ticking sound. I'll post again once the dealer has had another go at this.

[orangeglim]

I rode with the shop foreman yesterday and he heard the sound first hand while driving my car. I sat in the passenger seat and was able to hear the sound coming from the passenger side as well. They're replacing both wheel bearings today. I'm not confident that that will resolve the issue.

[orangeglim]

Got the car back today. The replaced the front left wheel bearing. I thought everything was good for the first hour and a half that I had it back. It was quiet, no clicking at all. I thought that fixed it. Sadly, that wasn't the case. It started clicking again. Here it is on video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lv179y72kv...07.52.mov?dl=0

You can hear it clicking while the wheel it turned, when I straighten it out, the clicking stops, then starts again when I start turning again. I'm heading back to the dealer at 0745 in the morning.

[Sypher]

I just got mine back from the dealer today as well. Seems to be resolved... but now that yours returned, I'm going to keep my ears opened.

[orangeglim]

What did they do to yours? Mine is back, again today, for them to take another crack at it.

[AlexM240i]

I had the same issue with the M235i and now with my M240i. My dealer did the above mentioned procedure and it worked for about 2 weeks. Now the clicking sound is back.

It's a design flaw of the floating brake rotors. A lot of BMW's have the same issue.

[orangeglim]

My dealer contacted BMW NA which recommended replacement of the front rotors and pads as well as the installation of a friction spacer between the inside of the rotor and the wheel hub. This should be completed by Thursday.

[orangeglim]

Originally Posted by AlexM240i

I had the same issue with the M235i and now with my M240i. My dealer did the above mentioned procedure and it worked for about 2 weeks. Now the clicking sound is back.

It's a design flaw of the floating brake rotors. A lot of BMW's have the same issue.

The problem seems to be directly tied to how dirty the wheel is. When the dealer does the procedure above for the SIB they remove things, clean them up, and put them back, which gives the impression that the issue was resolved. It isn't, it almost always comes back.

I experience the same thing every time I wash the car. If yours is doing this now it'd be interesting to know if hosing down your wheel resolves the issue temporarily like it does on mine. When I do this a ton of brake dust flows out. I usually hose it down until the water runs clear. For several days after that it drives without clicking.