HELP!! Loud cracking, clicking noise from the rear!!??

[attila]

I got some weird clicking metallic noise from the rear likely from the rear wheels. The noise starts at low speed, first I heard on the race track, went away after a minute, so I thought I got some stone or some piece of metal somewhere in the wheels or something. Changed the wheels back to stock, left the track and nothing for a day. Yesterday the noise came back and now its there everytimes I start the car. Sound like something hits the metal plate behind the rotor, but nothing there. I took off the wheels three times already, rotated them etc, noise is still there. Drives me crazy! It still goes away, or at least I cannot hear it with speed.
Any idea??

Thanks

[poo16]

it happened to me too the other day. I took it to the dealer and they said everything was fine. The noise went away the night before I took it to the dealer.

[Race_Doc11]

there is a therad for this...I think it is a stone gets stuck behind the shield and until it comes off you will hear the noise. I got it before and took it right away to the dealer who said they couldn't find any thing!!! it went away same day...

[attila]

Well... I still got it! I could not find any stone or anything else. Sounds like a cowbell or tin cans hitting each other. I can reproduce it just rolling the car with the engine off. It's not always there and seemingly goes away with increasing speed.
The most annoying is that I cannot find the source!

[variable229]

You have Limited Slip Diff on your car right? That noise is the clicking of the LSD when you make tight corners.

[attila]

It's not the diff. I am not cornering at all when I hear the noise. Sounds very metallic and random.

[FusionM]

The sound is most likely a small pebble caught in your brakes. It goes away with time.

[Kdawgm3]

Originally Posted by FusionM3

The sound is most likely a small pebble caught in your brakes. It goes away with time.

+1 Pebble caught in the rotor guard. Happened to me a couple of times. It will eventually fall out.

[meevo]

Is there any damage from this?

[J08M3]

happens to me a lot then goes away. stone theory seems to be the best one so far yet I don't think anyone has ever found the stone in there?

[SenorFunkyPants]

The stone can sometimes be dislodged by reversing.

[attila]

I took off the rear wheels and using a thin surgical clamp I cleaned the space between the rotor and the carrier, behind the rotor, around the caliper, etc. Found nothing but the noise went away??!! So in the last two days I got no noise.

[tshockley]

I have gotten this twice in two separate M3s (2009, 2012). I took this in the other day at the Germany BMW dealership in Stuttgart. They told me it was actually the parking brake not completely disengaging. I thought that was kind of funny statement, but they said from time to time they need to take the parking brake apart and clean it. So far this has stopped the noise. I will let everyone know if this lasts.

[JJunkins]

Cow bell strikes again! Happens to me occasionally as well. I drive thru loose gravel at times and I pick some up. I never use my hand brake and my car had less than 1,000 miles on it the first time I heard it which somewhat nullifies the cleaning-handbrake theory. Like others, pebble in the rotor shield is the best I can come up with too. Eventually it goes away.

[meez]

Originally Posted by JJunkins

Cow bell strikes again! Happens to me occasionally as well. I drive thru loose gravel at times and I pick some up. I never use my hand brake and my car had less than 1,000 miles on it the first time I heard it which somewhat nullifies the cleaning-handbrake theory. Like others, pebble in the rotor shield is the best I can come up with too. Eventually it goes away.

^ cow bell is the perfect description.

Dealer said they had to clear some rocks from a 'heat shield' behind the rear wheel...

[iatros]

Funny, This was also happening to me last week on my 08. And just as others have said, it mysteriously went away this week. I also took the wheel off and didnt find anything. I had an appt with BMW service this week....I guess Ill cancel that....It does sound like a rock tinging around the right rear wheel well. I only heard mine at slow speeds or in reverse.

[HAR13Y]

Glad i came on here! Just bought a 62 plate frozen silver edition m3 with 34,000 miles on the clock and i heard this exact noise the other day. I thought a coke can or something was stuck or rattling around the inside of my rear right alloy, Then I thought it could be a piece of metal wire etc flicking off the disc.. But then it came to me.. A stone! I had a look everywhere but couldn't see a thing! It has to be a stone and after reading all these comments it has to be! I only realised the noise after parking on my mums driveway a few times which is a loose stone driveway lol and the wheels sink into it a fair bit also i park on my dads sometimes which is made of the exact same shit haha

[CH4SE]

I currently have this issues, it’s certainly the hand brake, if I drive off at low speeds I can hear the cow bell, if I pull the hand brake up and off again it stops.... It has to be the hand brake sticking. Going to clean them out see if that helps

[E36dude420]

Needs moar cowbell