Thought I'd broke my car!

wrw199 · 11-18-2015, 11:13 AM

Slowing down to a roundabout earlier today, I heard a horrible metallic scraping sound coming from the front of the car. I gingerly accelerated away from the roundabout and the sound got louder and worse. The next thing, the chassis warning display flashed up on the dash.

I crawled back home (fortunately I wasn't too far away) with my hazards on and the other traffic staring at me as the sound was so bad. I had a quick look around the car once I was parked up but couldn't see anything. I suspected the sound was coming from the front nearside brake disc and possibly the metal shield that surrounds it scraping on the disc, but everything looked in place.

Several phone calls later and I had BMW assist out to the house. The guy got me to reverse off the drive whilst he listened to the front of the car from outside. As I pulled away there was the same sound, followed by a 'ping'. Then no more scraping sounds and all was back to normal. The BMW assist guy then bent down and picked up a small stone with a metallic deposit on it. This little b*gger had been caught between my brake disc and the aforementioned brake shield and caused all the noise. I felt like a bit of a plonker at this stage, but the guy was pretty cool about it.

He plugged his diagnostic kit in and showed me that the adaptive suspension had thrown an error at the time of the noise, but that it had cleared itself.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share this story as if I'd have just put my car into reverse as soon as the noise started, I could have saved myself (and BMW Assist) a fair bit of time and hassle!

creepy coupe · 11-18-2015, 11:15 AM

This happens a fair bit. I'm surprised you had a chassis warning flag up though. I suppose the adaptive measured a vibration anomaly and threw the error.

wrw199 · 11-18-2015, 12:17 PM

Yes, it was the chassis warning display that worried me as much as anything, although the sound was pretty bad too!

Bricktrix · 11-18-2015, 12:19 PM

I've never known another car make to be as bad as BMW's with this problem.
It happened so often on one of my M3's, I think I ended up removing the guards completely.

wrw199 · 11-18-2015, 01:58 PM

I never knew this was such a common issue. I had an E90 for 4 years and never experienced it, guess I must have been lucky

11-18-2015, 11:13 AM	#1
wrw199 Enlisted Member 6 Rep 35 Posts Drives: F31 330d M Sport Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: United Kingdom iTrader: (0)	Thought I'd broke my car! Slowing down to a roundabout earlier today, I heard a horrible metallic scraping sound coming from the front of the car. I gingerly accelerated away from the roundabout and the sound got louder and worse. The next thing, the chassis warning display flashed up on the dash. I crawled back home (fortunately I wasn't too far away) with my hazards on and the other traffic staring at me as the sound was so bad. I had a quick look around the car once I was parked up but couldn't see anything. I suspected the sound was coming from the front nearside brake disc and possibly the metal shield that surrounds it scraping on the disc, but everything looked in place. Several phone calls later and I had BMW assist out to the house. The guy got me to reverse off the drive whilst he listened to the front of the car from outside. As I pulled away there was the same sound, followed by a 'ping'. Then no more scraping sounds and all was back to normal. The BMW assist guy then bent down and picked up a small stone with a metallic deposit on it. This little b*gger had been caught between my brake disc and the aforementioned brake shield and caused all the noise. I felt like a bit of a plonker at this stage, but the guy was pretty cool about it. He plugged his diagnostic kit in and showed me that the adaptive suspension had thrown an error at the time of the noise, but that it had cleared itself. Anyway, I just thought I'd share this story as if I'd have just put my car into reverse as soon as the noise started, I could have saved myself (and BMW Assist) a fair bit of time and hassle!
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11-18-2015, 11:15 AM	#2
creepy coupe Lieutenant General 1867 Rep 13,043 Posts Drives: BMW M340I G20 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK iTrader: (2) Garage List 2015 BMW 435d [0.00] 2009 335i [0.00]	This happens a fair bit. I'm surprised you had a chassis warning flag up though. I suppose the adaptive measured a vibration anomaly and threw the error. __________________ -------------------------------------------------------------- Current car.M240i. Previous.MINI JCW. E92 325i. 435d M235i.M135i. 635d Coupe, E92 M3 manual, E92 M3 DCT Competition Pack. E92 335i, Porsche Cayman S Gen2, 135i Coupe. E92 320d, MK5 R32. MK5 Golf GTi,MK5 Golf GT-TDI,E46 318Ci.
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11-18-2015, 12:17 PM	#3
wrw199 Enlisted Member 6 Rep 35 Posts Drives: F31 330d M Sport Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: United Kingdom iTrader: (0)	Yes, it was the chassis warning display that worried me as much as anything, although the sound was pretty bad too!
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11-18-2015, 12:19 PM	#4
Bricktrix Captain 402 Rep 659 Posts Drives: Audi RS5 Sportback Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Staffs iTrader: (0)	I've never known another car make to be as bad as BMW's with this problem. It happened so often on one of my M3's, I think I ended up removing the guards completely. __________________ ------------------------------------------------------ Previous BMW's owned in last 30 years: E30 C2 2.3 Alpina, E30 325i (multiples), E30 M3, E36 M3 x2, last one owned for 9 years. 11 years out, got an F36 4GC then Merc AMG C43 Coupe. Now Audi RS5 Sportback.
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11-18-2015, 01:58 PM	#5
wrw199 Enlisted Member 6 Rep 35 Posts Drives: F31 330d M Sport Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: United Kingdom iTrader: (0)	I never knew this was such a common issue. I had an E90 for 4 years and never experienced it, guess I must have been lucky
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