Hi,

I have a E34 535i 89 and in the last couple of months there has
been developed a kind of creaking noise from the rear.
It is of course most noticble when the car is standing still
and engine off, but also when driving slowly on very
bumpy ways or over bumps.

However, I always hear it when I have parked the car and
in the moment I get out of the car.

Anyone has suggestions of what usually can cause such noise?

Read somewhere that such noise could be caused by worn out
bushings on the two small links holding the anti-roll bar.
But I realise it could be quite a lot, but I took a quick look (had
no equipment to raise the car) and applied some force on the
anti-roll bar, and a similar creaking noise could be heard
(although it was hard to really locate where it came from).

Anyway, is there something one can rule out? Can one rule
out shocks, springs and those mountings?

Maybe the easiest is to wait until one can raise the car and
examine it more closely and track down the source of
the sound more exactly?

/Henrik

um, not much of a bmw guy, so I never answer the detailed questions...but
this one sounds pretty simple to answer....
it sounds like a suspension problem.
possible causes....
body bushings (not very likely)
or the struts/springs in the back end.
or something else back there....
try to push down (using the bumper, and if that doesn't do it...a stable
part of the trunk area that wont cave to pressure) on the back of the car
when its parked to re-create the problem....maybe have a helper do the
pushing while you go crawl under that joker to find out what is making your
noise...or to at least isolate it so you can talk about a solution.

Eric.
"Henrik Johannisson" <henrik.johannisson (AT) telia (DOT) com> wrote

um....ooops....got distracted...only read half of the post....
Now that i read the whole thing...
as a suspension guy, with your information...I would drive the car on the
"roll on" rack...the one always used for alignments....and jerk and shake
the car around...If I thought the noise was comming from a bushing...i would
spray the bushing (one by one) with lubricant to see if that took the squeek
away...and then replace as neccesary.

now...I hope that can help you a bit.

eric.
"Henrik Johannisson" <henrik.johannisson (AT) telia (DOT) com> wrote

"Henrik Johannisson" <henrik.johannisson (AT) telia (DOT) com> wrote

suspect. They're about 5 inches long and shaped like a dog bone, and prone
to wear out quite quickly. If you jack the car up on the diff it's quite
easy to see from underneath.

Steve Burley