SERIOUS problem help please (Long)

[A_325i]

Alright heres the deal

I start my car this morning its running fine so i start to accelerate and i hear this faint clicking noise im like wtf is that? the clicking noise is in sync with the rotation of the wheels or driveshaft which ever i cant really tell and its coming from right under me so i drive a little more and go a little faster and it gets louder much louder soon it is an extremely Violent Clicking sound it sounds like somthing is banging off of the driveshaft with every rotation so im like WTF IS THIS NOISE...i pull the ebrake up 1 click and the nosie gets a little quieter i pull up one more click and it is almost gone i pull up just one more time on the ebrake which = 3 clicks and the noise is gone so im driving around with my ebrake up 3 clicks im like ok this is fucked i try to put the ebrake back down again and as soon as the ebrake is completely off the noise is extremely loud and violent clicking banging with every rotation of the drive shaft sounds like metal on metal and i cant even express how loud this noise is i have no idea what it could be ive never heard it before and my car was fine last night and what im wondering is .....my ebrake shot? maybe thats what is causing it? i dont know cause the noise almost goes completely away when i pull up 3 clicks on the ebrakes this is messed up and im worried about my car if anyone could help me that would be awesome i dont have money to take it to a shop right now so any help is greatly appreciated thanks guys

[E30 Wagen]

i don't know what the problem is. however, when you write something as long as u did, it would be nice if you placed some periods in there so it was easier to read, instead of it being one giant run on sentence.

i don't mean to be a smart alec, i'm just saying it's helpful

[uflnuceng]

When was the last time you did anything to your car? What did you do to your car? Have you hit any pot holes lately? Does the sound increase with engine rpm or with car speed? Does the noise sound hollow or more solid? Is the sound rythmic (bang... bang... bang) or irregular (bang... bang bang...... bang)?

And you are being a smart alec... I had no problem reading it.

[mspiegle]

If you put on your brakes lightly while driving, does that give the same effect as having the ebrake up?

Make sure all your wheel lugs and any other bolts on the brakes/hub assembly are intact and tight. If that's all good, then maybe its a wheel bearing going south.

[A_325i]

When was the last time you did anything to your car? What did you do to your car? Have you hit any pot holes lately? Does the sound increase with engine rpm or with car speed? Does the noise sound hollow or more solid? Is the sound rythmic (bang... bang... bang) or irregular (bang... bang bang...... bang)?

And you are being a smart alec... I had no problem reading it.

the last time i did something to my car was this morning right before i drove it all i did was replace a couple of wheel studs...but when i was driving home last night i hit a couple of big potholes but the car was still fine and no weird noises until after i put the new wheel studs on and washed the car this morning lol

the sound deffinatly increases with rpm/engine speed as speed increases the noise gets violent the noise sometimes sounds of a hollow sound and sometimes solid metal on metal sound and when it first started happeneing it was rythmic CLICK!!!!! CLICK!!!!!!!!!!!! CLICK!!!!!!!!!!!! but after driving for a little bit it was more of a CLICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CLICK CLICK CLICK!!!!! CLICK CLICK!!!!!!!!!!!! CLICK but as soon as i pull the ebrake up 3 clicks the noise goes almost completely away when it is at its loudest it scares the shit out of me

[A_325i]

If you put on your brakes lightly while driving, does that give the same effect as having the ebrake up?

Make sure all your wheel lugs and any other bolts on the brakes/hub assembly are intact and tight. If that's all good, then maybe its a wheel bearing going south.

no when i hit the regular brakes the noise still stays the same with engine speed THE ONLY time the nosie goes away is when im at a dead stop or if i pull the ebrake up 3 clicks all my studs and bolts are intact i dont understand this and im worried because i have to drive down to florida next month :-(

[arsevader]

no when i hit the regular brakes the noise still stays the same with engine speed THE ONLY time the nosie goes away is when im at a dead stop or if i pull the ebrake up 3 clicks all my studs and bolts are intact i dont understand this and im worried because i have to drive down to florida next month :-(

Maybe the rear wheel bolts are too long and are interfering with the e-brake mechanism.

James

[A_325i]

but what i dont get is why the noise sounds like its coming Directly under the ebrake handle

[arsevader]

but what i dont get is why the noise sounds like its coming Directly under the ebrake handle

Maybe becasue the sound is traveling up the brake cable. Or maybe the cable is loose and catching on the driveshaft or somehting. You really won't know unless you get the car up on stands and take a look.

This is all just speculation until then. Good luck.

James

[uflnuceng]

reinspect wheel studs. Sounds like it possibly could be the wheel isn't bolted on correctly (I'm assuming there is no vibration in the car?). I did that once on my audi tt and it sounded like someone was hitting solid metal with a ball pean hammer. If the sound is more of a grinding noise it could be your wheel bearing. I would check them for play just in case.

put the wheel up on jacks. Take off the wheels, check the studs for play, shake the wheel bearings for play, look for any loose wires or cables.

If you want to put your car on stands, start the car and put it in gear and just let it idle you can get outside the car and listen for where the noise is coming. Do not get under the car when the car is running on jacks. You can do this safely at idle speeds if you jack your car up completely with 4 or more jack stands on a level surface. You got some investigating to do... it could be any number of things.

[arsevader]

If you want to put your car on stands, start the car and put it in gear and just let it idle you can get outside the car and listen for where the noise is coming.

Good advice though this won't help if something is rubbing on the driveshaft.

James

[A_325i]

right the noise ONLY happens when the car is in motion even when im cruising in 4th and then shift into nuetral and coast its still there weather is getting cold so its gonna be shitty to get it up on jack stands but i gotta do what i gotta do

[uflnuceng]

just don't get under the car while it is running... be safe, do some snooping, but save yourself some time and torque down the nuts real good (90 ft-lbs) and see if that cures it.

[A_325i]

alright sigh....this sucks im going to wait until my mothers boyfriend gets home hes a mechanical engineer and works on cars a real lot so maybe he'll be able to check it out for me thanks alot guys

[uflnuceng]

Ok... just play it safe and hoof it if you need to go anywhere... people seem to be loosing their wheels left and right around here, well... just the front left ones... and only that one case, but lets not make it a trend.