front end whirring sound driving me INSANE

[FoulGuttersnipe]

Hey guys new to the site and thought I'd try to tap into your expertise to help me finally get rid of a whirring noise coming from the front of my '90 325is that's been drivning me INSANE trying to find and fix.

It sounds like a high whirring noise that reverberates throughout the entire cabin but seems to be starting towards the front of the car. It sounds when I'm traveling between ~5-30mph and only when the steering wheel is dead center (traveling straight). The sound is unaffected whether I'm in or out of gear, accelerating or deaccelerating. The sound is quenched when I either apply the brakes or turn the steering wheel in either direction a little. The noise also seems to travel with the wheels, ie. one time I was slowing to a stop uphill without applying the brakes and the whirring was in tune with the turning of the wheel (or so I imagined).

In my quest to find/kill the noise I've balanced/rebuilt the driveshaft, replaced the rear bearings, replaced the half axles, replaced the driveshaft center bearing, replaced the brake rotors/pads, and replaced the front bearings. My last thought is the steering rack? I just don't know how that would whirr like this.

I've been going crazy trying to find this whirring. It started out small but has grown in the last three or four months to the point that I grind my teeth or just constantly swerve side to side in my lane to quench it. ANY help or input would be GREATLY appreciated

[E30_fiend]

I doubt its your rack but since it is a whirring noise. I would say you arent far off though. My guess is your power steering pump. Maybe it is bypassing fluid at a certain rpm and making a bit of noise.

With all the things you replaced, its hard to think of anything else. My absolute first guess would have been front wheel bearings if you hadn't said they had been replaced.


Taylor

[TimKninja]

Take off PS belt, go for a drive. See if noise is still there.

[FoulGuttersnipe]

bypassing fluid at a certain rpm and making a bit of noise.

Thanks for responding Taylor

It's independent of rpms. If I'm in gear when it starts I'm able to pop it out into neutral and rev as much as I'd like with zero effect on the noise. I also may have downplayed the whirring a bit. It's like a grinding/whirring that really does fill the entire cabin... along with my body and soul.

Because it's independent of whether I'm in gear or not it's not drivetrain I'm assuming. And because it goes away when I turn the steering wheel out of center it has to be front end correct? And because it quenches when I brake it has to be...? I also thought maybe it could be something entirely with the front brakes and turning the wheel actually changes the centripetal forces acting on the rotating brakes/wheel but there isn't much going on rotating-wise besides my now brand-new bearings up front.

I got a suggestion from socale30 to try and catch a video of it. I'll see if I can and post it if possible.

Vic

[FoulGuttersnipe]

Take off PS belt, go for a drive. See if noise is still there.

Good suggestion I'll give that a shot today as well.

[801coppertop]

Could be wheel bearing.... Iirc "whirring" noises are characteristic of bed bearing. Try lifting your car up and put a crowbar under the wheel and lift up and down looking for play.. Hope that makes sense. Good luck!

[FoulGuttersnipe]

Could be wheel bearing.... Iirc "whirring" noises are characteristic of bed bearing. Try lifting your car up and put a crowbar under the wheel and lift up and down looking for play.. Hope that makes sense. Good luck!

Nah I replaced all 4 wheel bearings on the car with zero effect on the noise.

[FoulGuttersnipe]

So today I drove downtown to work and the noise sounded as usual. After work I removed the powersteering belt and there was no change. I got a video of the noise as I came onto my street up to my house. The first half of the video is me in 1st or 2nd then I take it into neutral and coast to a near stop. At one point I rolled down my window to stick the phone out and get a better sound. Here's the youtube link to my video. If anybody has any ideas let me know.

http://youtu.be/Y6Z56Iqmwzw

[immajackuup]

wheels/tires are rubbing on something.

[FoulGuttersnipe]

wheels/tires are rubbing on something.

FTW!

Jacked up front end and took off wheels. Can't believe I never noticed the shiny spots on the strut housings with matching rings around inner tire-walls... Will take and have aligned today to fix this camber issue! Only thing is, my tire wear is even on both tires. Wouldn't this much neg camber also lead to one side of the tire wearing faster? My concern is that maybe it isn't so much my alignment being off as it is my suspension lacking it's original robust-ness. Stock springs with what I can only imagine are blown strut inserts.

[FoulGuttersnipe]

So after a quick search I now know you cannot adjust front camber on a stock e30 suspension... I think that the wheel hubs I purchased weren't direct OEM fitment (eBay- wont be doing that again) and don't space the tire out from the strut as much as my original ones did. Any ideas on what to do from here? Is my only option camber plates?

[FoulGuttersnipe]

Bought 8mm spacers along with new lug bolts from turner. Should do the trick. Thanks for the help guys I was about to go insane.

[immajackuup]

you need skinny tires for those 14's. I'm using 205 on 15's which give me half inch or less clearance from struts housing.

[FoulGuttersnipe]

you need skinny tires for those 14's. I'm using 205 on 15's which give me half inch or less clearance from struts housing.

These are 195/65r14 kumho solus tires. Ive also been running them longer than this noise has been present which makes me think the new front hubs are somehow to blame for all this.

Long story short I was chasing down a noise last august 2011 (turned out to be shot u-joint) but I had replaced my front hubs nontheless. Then this noise started, thought maybe the hubs were shotty so got a replacement pair from the *eBay* seller since they were still under warranty. I replaced the hubs with the new ones 4 days ago with no change in the noise. Then I saw it was the tires rubbing (after you told me). I still think the cause of all this is the hubs are somehow not the same width as my oem ones even though they are touted as being so.

[Jaxx_]

it's brakes, not the tire.

you would not have the problem go away when you hit the brakes and you were going in a straight line. Also, if it was the tire, you would hear the noise go away as you turn in one direction and get louder in the other direction, because tire would be deflecting from the sidewall.

You might have dropped a shim or something, something is rubbing in your front brakes, and as you step on the brakes the pads align and stop rubbing. check for rocks and other garbage at least. check the pads for odd wear.


edit: basically, you fucked something up when you did the front hubs, probably.

edit edit: also, rubbing from tires is like a groaning or a squeaking. (like if you're doing a burn out or having slippage of tire on a surface.) this is more like a rubbing of metal parts.