Intermittent scraping sound from front wheel..

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Since I got the a/c fixed at a different dealer than the one where I made my June 2nd loaner appointment and I never cancelled it... I'm wondering if this is worth a trip to the service dept.

Today I noticed that from the right front side of the car after going over a bump and sometimes just turning a corner there is a schep.... schep.....schep....schep....schep sound from the front right wheel. So I decided that it might be the brake pad or a warped rotor maybe (but theres little or no shimmy in the wheel when braking, and if there is thats usually due to NYC and its uneven or unsmooth roads..) so I went on the brake with a decent amount of pressure and it went from a schep....schep....schep... to a very frequent "schep-schep-schep-schep-schep-schep-schep" sound till I came to a stop then after I accelerated to the next light and went on the brake again it was GONE. Then later that day (without going over a bump) I made a turn and the schep schep schep was back again... Could it be a damaged brake pad???

 

[Tom]

It could be your wheel bearing, I've heard of cars with less than 5,000 miles experiencing this problem. Definitely have it checked out.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

It's more of a light sound thats almost a hissing schep, not really a grind but I guess it's worth bringing it in since the appointment is there already and in NY it takes a month to get one with a loaner. My only concern now is that I don't really "trust" that dealers work and would be ambivalent about letting them do major work on the car...

 

[Tom]

You should take a tech with you along on the drive and point that noise out to him. This would be much better than trying to explain it to your service advisor.

 

[newguy]

I had brakes done on my car, and the same type of noise came from the back wheels. The back rotors were fine, and were re-used. It took a few stops to re-seat the new pads on the back, then the noise was gone...try applying the brakes gently under power for a coupla hundred yards...let then cool, and see what that gives you...Have the brakes looked at...

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

It turns out that when I brought the car in, it didn't have the problem for roughly a week and a half. On the way there I hit a nasty pothole on the exit ramp and the sound came back as a shh shh shh shh sound that increased with frequency when using the brakes. So I accelerated to about 60 and a minute later slowing down to exit the sound was gone. I decided it was a quirky brake pad, and I'd rather tolerate it than have the tech drive my car through every hole in the road he can find and then tell me no problem found... Aside from that I got the oil changed, emissions inspection done, brakes & tires checked, wiper inserts changed and they refilled the reservoir. The only problem is they changed the oil at 8100 miles under the 1yr interval, but they never reset the indicator. The indicator shows 4500 miles till my next oil change, were they supposed to reset it? Or do I get another free one when it reaches zero and goes into the negative?

On the bright side I got to drive a brand new loaner (39 miles on it), a 2004 325i sports wagon (36,895 msrp, sticker was in the glove box) and the paper mats on the floor. I guess they put it on loaner duty because it wouldn't sell. It had the prem package, cold weather package, full size spare, HK sound system, but NO Xenons... I guess even with 10k off sticker the fact that it's an 04 without Xenons and being phased out wasn't enough to move it. I'm sure the dealer would much rather make its customers happy with a new wagon loaner, than give the car away for about 26k to some bargain hunter. Or they just might be hoping someone totals it so they can get about 32k from insurance. Eitherway it was a great car, and I took her on her first roadtrip in her short 2yr lifespan of sitting on the lot. The 325iT is a very comfortable car, and coming from a 330i it didn't really feel that slow. I'm sure someone looking at a 25k econo-box accord, altima, camry, etc... would be more than happy to have bought it for 1,000 more...