F30 - "knocking" sound from steering/absorber
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humms
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Dear club members,
i've been following the forum for more than 1 year ever since i bought a f30 320d in 2012. since i took possession of my first ever bmw, there were already the "knocking" sound coming from the steering and also the absorbers. Coming from honda civic yr 2006 and VW golf tsi mk6 year 2011, the experience of owning this BMW is quite a letdown; with the knocking sound issue and the "floaty" drive compared to my golf. however, i'm quite satisfied with overall ownership compared to the services offered by VW service centres.
in order to address the "knocking" sound issue, i've sent in my car to Quill PJ 3 times, beginning in early 2013 (february). Diagnostic is that they have to change the entire steering rack, and they need to order the parts from Germany. Waited for 6 months no news from them, called them up and arranged for another service in August 2013 and this time they said they had found a solution, that is to tighten the steering rack / rod / shaft whatever they call it. after the service, the sound had been reduced, but it is still there.
then in October 2013, i had a stone chip on my front windscreen, and luckily i have bought the additional windscreen cover with Allianz and Quill did the entire windscreen change for me FOC, with just a week's notice. Kudos to Quill for fast service for this. since i'll be leaving my car for few days there to replace windscreen, might as well telling them about the recurring "knocking" sound issue and they did the same thing, that was to tighten the steering rack / shaft / rod.
Got my car back, they did a superb job on the windscreen replacement. it just looks exactly like BMW factory fitted, like the first day i got my car! however, the "knocking" sound is still there. Frustrated with it, i decided to look around for services out of Quill. that's when i remembered i played around and used Titan shocks before in 2003 for my old ricer boy satria and was quite satisfied with it. so decided to look for them and enquire about it. Talked to Richard and Wai Loong and surprisingly, they mentioned that they have actually done more than 30 f30 cars!
straight away i decided to have a go at Titan shocks. They recommended their new dampers specifically for luxury cars like BMW and Merc, while maintaining the stock springs. The dampers are height and stiffness adjustable, albeit the height adjustments are quite limited, because these "luxury" titan dampers are not the full fledge coilovers. nevertheless, i requested for my ride height to be lowered slightly with a medium stiffness setting, and wai loong did a good job getting the setting right the first time.
got my car back in the evening and checked with them whether the stock f30 absorbers have any problem, they mentioned that the top moutings are all in very good condition. the absorbers are a bit on the soft side. once i get hold of my car again and test driven it.. surprise!!! no more "knocking" sound from steering and absorber. there's no more rebounce after going through bumps, and even going over uneven roads or potholes the steering feedback and the feel to the road has been improved tremendously! this is what a BMW should be from the start. not the half baked suspension that BMW is offering at stock.
so for those who wish to have better handling but still would want some comfort level, go for Titan, and it may as well eliminate the "knocking" sound entirely! and it's so much cheaper compared to other suspension solutions out there.
Thanks for reading!
i've been following the forum for more than 1 year ever since i bought a f30 320d in 2012. since i took possession of my first ever bmw, there were already the "knocking" sound coming from the steering and also the absorbers. Coming from honda civic yr 2006 and VW golf tsi mk6 year 2011, the experience of owning this BMW is quite a letdown; with the knocking sound issue and the "floaty" drive compared to my golf. however, i'm quite satisfied with overall ownership compared to the services offered by VW service centres.
in order to address the "knocking" sound issue, i've sent in my car to Quill PJ 3 times, beginning in early 2013 (february). Diagnostic is that they have to change the entire steering rack, and they need to order the parts from Germany. Waited for 6 months no news from them, called them up and arranged for another service in August 2013 and this time they said they had found a solution, that is to tighten the steering rack / rod / shaft whatever they call it. after the service, the sound had been reduced, but it is still there.
then in October 2013, i had a stone chip on my front windscreen, and luckily i have bought the additional windscreen cover with Allianz and Quill did the entire windscreen change for me FOC, with just a week's notice. Kudos to Quill for fast service for this. since i'll be leaving my car for few days there to replace windscreen, might as well telling them about the recurring "knocking" sound issue and they did the same thing, that was to tighten the steering rack / shaft / rod.
Got my car back, they did a superb job on the windscreen replacement. it just looks exactly like BMW factory fitted, like the first day i got my car! however, the "knocking" sound is still there. Frustrated with it, i decided to look around for services out of Quill. that's when i remembered i played around and used Titan shocks before in 2003 for my old ricer boy satria and was quite satisfied with it. so decided to look for them and enquire about it. Talked to Richard and Wai Loong and surprisingly, they mentioned that they have actually done more than 30 f30 cars!
straight away i decided to have a go at Titan shocks. They recommended their new dampers specifically for luxury cars like BMW and Merc, while maintaining the stock springs. The dampers are height and stiffness adjustable, albeit the height adjustments are quite limited, because these "luxury" titan dampers are not the full fledge coilovers. nevertheless, i requested for my ride height to be lowered slightly with a medium stiffness setting, and wai loong did a good job getting the setting right the first time.
got my car back in the evening and checked with them whether the stock f30 absorbers have any problem, they mentioned that the top moutings are all in very good condition. the absorbers are a bit on the soft side. once i get hold of my car again and test driven it.. surprise!!! no more "knocking" sound from steering and absorber. there's no more rebounce after going through bumps, and even going over uneven roads or potholes the steering feedback and the feel to the road has been improved tremendously! this is what a BMW should be from the start. not the half baked suspension that BMW is offering at stock.
so for those who wish to have better handling but still would want some comfort level, go for Titan, and it may as well eliminate the "knocking" sound entirely! and it's so much cheaper compared to other suspension solutions out there.
Thanks for reading!
humms
Club Guest
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- Oct 6, 2013
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guys, just fyi, since there are a lot of enquiries about changing the dampers to aftermarket ones, note that once you change your dampers, BMW SC will most likely not entertain or honour your car's warranty for suspension related works. since my car left about 6 months of warranty, the change for me is not a problem.
