[kierownik]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

I sincerely hope it does! They did replace the steering rack thrust bearing on mine. Still didn't solve the issue.
In retrospect mistake I made was I bought from car supermarket. ? clocked. Should have bought approved used bmw.
Funny thing is car was perfect apart from that knocking and I just couldn't live with that knock. Keep us updated.

I had mine since Feb 2020 so at this point it's out of warranty unfortunately. I should've chased the issue last year but it was so intermittent it actually made me look like an idiot a good few times when I complained about it. Then it stopped knocking altogether during the autumn, winter and spring. And now it came back 3 times as loud and not intermittent anymore. It's annoying but what can I do. At this point I wouldn't be able to sell it because a short test drive will reveal the issue and I would never sell a car privately with defect like this to anyone knowing that it's there. Wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Even a trade in would be a problem right now because a short drive to the dealer would reveal the knocking. Unless I wait until autumn for the temperatures to drop. But then if its knocking so badly right now there's a big chance that the problem will at some point become permanent and not temperature dependant. As much as I like this car I'm getting a bit fed up with it and with all its little squeaks and rattles and other noises annoying noises.
I had a 17 plate Corsa with 75k miles on it for a day and the interior wasn't making half of the little rattling noise that bmw does.

[kierownik]

Something just popped in my head.
My old 2013 F20 had a minor steering rack knocking issue (although not as severe and only when going over the speed bumps) which I solved by tightening up the washer looking bolt with three holes in it.
Since my garage say that the knocking on my f30 is caused by the inner tie rods I started thinking if it could just be as simple fix as it was on my f30. I had a look at the steering rack and it looks like this one doesn't have the three holed bolt, it has a normal bolt which looks like it could be tightened up using just a normal socket wrench.

Now my question is... do LCI models still suffer from that steering rack problem? I know it was very common on pre-lci models and there's even a repair kit for it but nothing for the LCI models.

Can't do anything at the moment because the engine is super hot so I need to wait for it to cool down but is there any point even bothering?

Thanks.

[Aamirkj89]

Originally Posted by kierownik

Something just popped in my head.
My old 2013 F20 had a minor steering rack knocking issue (although not as severe and only when going over the speed bumps) which I solved by tightening up the washer looking bolt with three holes in it.
Since my garage say that the knocking on my f30 is caused by the inner tie rods I started thinking if it could just be as simple fix as it was on my f30. I had a look at the steering rack and it looks like this one doesn't have the three holed bolt, it has a normal bolt which looks like it could be tightened up using just a normal socket wrench.

Now my question is... do LCI models still suffer from that steering rack problem? I know it was very common on pre-lci models and there's even a repair kit for it but nothing for the LCI models.

Can't do anything at the moment because the engine is super hot so I need to wait for it to cool down but is there any point even bothering?

Thanks.

Did you manage to get the knocking noise fixed? My mechanic thinks it’s the tie rods as well. But he also thinks I should change my suspension arms again which I got changed 2 months ago as he felt some play. He says the brand I got was not good. Please let me know if u managed to resolve your issue as I have the exact same and getting tired of it now

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by Aamirkj89

Did you manage to get the knocking noise fixed? My mechanic thinks it’s the tie rods as well. But he also thinks I should change my suspension arms again which I got changed 2 months ago as he felt some play. He says the brand I got was not good. Please let me know if u managed to resolve your issue as I have the exact same and getting tired of it now

Hi.
Yes. It turned out to be the inner tie rods that were knocking when they got some heat from the engine. I had both inner rods replaced together with the track rod ends 2 weeks ago and had no knocking since then.
Another guy on a different forum had exactly same issue on his F20 and when I told him about my fix he did the same on his car and had no knocking since then too.

[transcendid]

Originally Posted by kierownik

Hi.
Yes. It turned out to be the inner tie rods that were knocking when they got some heat from the engine. I had both inner rods replaced together with the track rod ends 2 weeks ago and had no knocking since then.
Another guy on a different forum had exactly same issue on his F20 and when I told him about my fix he did the same on his car and had no knocking since then too.

Any chance you can post the work order? 2020 m340i RWD, adaptive suspension. Same issue here started under 10k miles. Quiet all winter. Back with warm weather in Northeast. Dealer never able to replicate it, but did replace left control arm per TSB, no effect. Still searching for solutions…

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by transcendid

Any chance you can post the work order? 2020 m340i RWD, adaptive suspension. Same issue here started under 10k miles. Quiet all winter. Back with warm weather in Northeast. Dealer never able to replicate it, but did replace left control arm per TSB, no effect. Still searching for solutions…

There isn't really any work order.
Had the car warmed up, made sure it was knocking. Took it to an indy and they found what it was. Replaced inner tie rods and outer rod ends. Been quiet since then.

[transcendid]

Originally Posted by kierownik

There isn't really any work order.
Had the car warmed up, made sure it was knocking. Took it to an indy and they found what it was. Replaced inner tie rods and outer rod ends. Been quiet since then.

Thanks- thought you had it done at a dealer. I'll see if I can convince the service dept at my dealership. They insist they checked the suspension and steering over and it's fine.

[fireman_888]

Originally Posted by kierownik

There isn't really any work order.
Had the car warmed up, made sure it was knocking. Took it to an indy and they found what it was. Replaced inner tie rods and outer rod ends. Been quiet since then.

Was it both inner and outer tie rods that you replaced? Ive got same car and year but mines a 320D, also how much did it cost?

Noise is driving me ****** nuts

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by fireman_888

Was it both inner and outer tie rods that you replaced? Ive got same car and year but mines a 320D, also how much did it cost?

Noise is driving me ****** nuts

Both. 2 years ago I paid £400 for parts and labour Inc tracking. Today You're probably looking at £500 or something like that for both sides.
But here's the thing. I've done less than 10k miles since I had them replace and the O/S one is knocking again. Taking it to the garage next week. Frustrating to say the least. I was told if it's just one side that needs doing were looking at £250+. Getting enough of this car to be fair.

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by kierownik

Now my question is... do LCI models still suffer from that steering rack problem? I know it was very common on pre-lci models and there's even a repair kit for it but nothing for the LCI models.

They certainly do.

The repair kit wasn't released until 2019 if I remember correctly, so that's well into LCI territory, and is the same parts for all Fxx cars with the ThyssenKrupp rack.

The main component of the repair kit is a different grade of composite tensioning block material with what I assume to be PTFE pad inserts, as opposed to the original one piece solid block of unknown material. The original block's contact surfaces had holes in them to retain grease, and these wear down over time, whereas the newer block doesn't, so there's an element of natural lubricity at play....kind of like oil impregnated bronze bushings on steel.

The newer block also has 2 O rings. The original didn't. No idea what they're for. Perhaps to keep the grease on the rack's sliding surfaces instead of sliding up past the block, not sure.

FWIW, I drove a 2022 420d recently, with only 7000 miles on it, and it was exactly the same as my F30. Same knocking over certain bump/speed ramps etc. One would assume such a new car would be as tight and optimal as it could be.

From my own experience, I have yet to drive any 2003 onwards BMW that doesn't have some kind of unwanted feedback through the steering, and my previous VWs with a ZF steering rack were exactly the same.

I think the play/backlash, what we hear and feel through the column, is intentional to avoid harsh kickback through the steering column.

Obviously the knocking could be something else....worn bushings, shot top mount bearings, tie rods, drop links etc etc, but the rack bears the brunt of the blame.

Kudos to BMW though for offering a repair kit at a reasonable price. At one point they were replacing the entire rack to cure the 'acoustic anomaly'

[frenchi]

Check and tighten bolts on these brackets...they loose over time and rubber mountings are highly temperature sensitive

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=31_0951

[kierownik]

The cause of mine knocking again is the os inner tie rod. This was lighlighted on last mot. I also believe they're are other issues... Probably top mounts, maybe some other bushings. I don't know. Either way this has been for the past 2 years as bad as my Renault Laguna 2 That i owned 13 years ago. Endless visits at the garage with new problem every few months.
I'm actually considering giving up on bmw and going japanese.

[TurboWeasel]

Yeah the rack often gets the blame first, but isn't always that.

Tie rods, top mounts and bushings are relatively cheap and easy fixes, which fail on all cars.

Totally understand the desire to move on once the frustration kicks in. Unfortunately BMWs require the ultimate maintenance to match the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' marketing spiel.

Quite honestly, every time I drive my 2009 Golf 2.0 TDI, I wonder why BMW have the reputation for quality and (cough) reliability that they do, but in spite of everything, Bimmers have a certain something about them other cars don't have.

Good luck with your next steed. Hope it's a BMW engined Supra.....joking

[kierownik]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Yeah the rack often gets the blame first, but isn't always that.

Tie rods, top mounts and bushings are relatively cheap and easy fixes, which fail on all cars.

Totally understand the desire to move on once the frustration kicks in. Unfortunately BMWs require the ultimate maintenance to match the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' marketing spiel.

Quite honestly, every time I drive my 2009 Golf 2.0 TDI, I wonder why BMW have the reputation for quality and (cough) reliability that they do, but in spite of everything, Bimmers have a certain something about them other cars don't have.

Good luck with your next steed. Hope it's a BMW engined Supra.....joking

Replaced the inner tie rod last week then took it to a local garage for wheel alignment and it all cost me under £100 and it was done in just over an hour.
My "trusted" mechanic wanted £280 for the job.
Another garage I contacted insisted it was the rack even without inspecting the car even tho I told them several times that it's not the rack. As you can imagine I gave up with that garage and moved on. Then decided to fix it myself and this was the best thing I could do. Not only saved quite a lot of money but also had some fun doing it.

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by kierownik

Replaced the inner tie rod last week then took it to a local garage for wheel alignment and it all cost me under £100 and it was done in just over an hour.
My "trusted" mechanic wanted £280 for the job.
Another garage I contacted insisted it was the rack even without inspecting the car even tho I told them several times that it's not the rack. As you can imagine I gave up with that garage and moved on. Then decided to fix it myself and this was the best thing I could do. Not only saved quite a lot of money but also had some fun doing it.

Good man If yours has the ThyssenKrupp rack, they rarely fail outright, if ever, it's just the stupid tensioning block that needs tweaking periodically as it ages. They just get a bad press because BMW were replacing the whole rack under warranty before they figured out what the actual problem was.

Yeah I find the F30 incredibly easy to work on compared to a lot of other brands I've worked on in the past. The cost savings DIY are immense. And doing it yourself you know it's done right as a lot of garages cut corners.