Driveline knocking sound

[DirtyDan13]

So I just bought my first E30 a few days ago and I have noticed that there is a rather loud “knocking” or “clunking” sounds coming from the driveline somewhere. The sound is gone whenever it’s cruising. As soon as I put the driveline “under load” from a start or shift gears and “unload” the transmission it makes a loud clunk. If I drive at low speeds and “pop” the throttle it is very noticeable as well. It’s a manual if that helps at all. I’m not sure where to begin looking as I am new to E30’s. I know the Getrag transmissions are very heavy and clunky transmissions but this for sure feels like something is amiss. Thanks for any help you guys can provide!:shock:

[mitchlikesbikes]

more than likely the center support bearing (CSB). they are fairly easy to replace. you have to drop the exhaust and heat shields to access it though which can be a pain if your exhaust is really old and rusty. there should be plenty of diy documentation online for the job, do some searching.

[Originale30]

It’s going to be your center bearing on the driveshaft itself, usually you have 1 or more u-joints that’s binding up and it causes the center bearing of the driveline to wobble and destroy itself... there is no replacement of ujoints unless you have a speciality driveshaft shop around you, so usually you’ll need replacement of the driveshaft to remedy this issue.


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[Steve Corbett]

Also look at the transmission rubber mounts. I had same noise on mine, found the mounts were completely separated.