Hey guys/gals, first post here.

I have a 2006 3 that I just replaced the shocks all the way around and got an alignment and new tires. I noticed when my wife was driving (it's her car and she drives it harder than I do) that if we hit a dip harder than what I would call normal it would make a loud thunk noise from the front passenger side.

Driving normally produces no noises. I took the passenger wheel off and looked everything over and it all looks good and is tight. Is there anything they could have done during the alignment to cause this?

I know asking you to guess about a "thunk" is asking a lot. I just thought maybe someone else has run into the same issue before.

thanks for any help.

 

There's a bump stop on each corner, there's a chance one needed to be replaced & it's different from the other side. Or did you do the struts yourself?
I just did mine and notice the same small thunk over bumps as I had before - mine's from all 4 corners though and doesn't seem like anything very unusual, just happens on a sharp bump.

I haven't looked when the car's in motion, but the suspension bushings could move a bit and bottom out.

OOH - you've got an 06, and there's a recall on the #3 engine mount - which is on the passenger side near the serpentine belt. See if yours is leaking... Then again a couple people mentioned noise / thunking from that and it wasn't apparent that it was bad until they pulled if off the car. Have a search on the forum for that motor mount issue.

 

Thanks for the reply. I had been told by the dealer (the one time I had to use them for an airbag light) that I had a broken motor mount. It never affected the car or caused any noises so I let it go. Well since I was trying to fix this noise I went ahead and got the mount and replaced it. That #3 mount was definitely bad and I can't believe it wasn't causing some noise.

After replacing it the suspension "thunk" is still there! The only thing I've noticed is that after the first hard dip and thunk, if I hit bumps hard after that the noise is almost gone or gone completely. It must be something with the coilover/strut assembly or bushings like you say... I don't know, I didnt' want to take it all back apart just to find ... nothing... but now that I've recently been laid off I have plenty of time.

If I do tear it apart I'll report back if I find anything.

 

Just to update this, I never did take it back apart. I didn't have to since after a few weeks of my wife driving it and hitting bumps in her normal (harsh) fashion, the noise has gone completely away. I guess the new strut just needed to break in...?

 

Maybe an endlink or swaybar bushing or something. I'd take a peek under there and make sure everything's cool.