I have a question about a noise my 1994 525i has been making for a while. It's very hard to describe, and is only noticeable/audible to me when coasting at low speeds (5-10 mph, like in a parking lot) with the window down. The best way I can describe the noise is a metallic clinking/rattling like if you were to drag a thin metal bracket or something slowly down the road (minus the scraping sound of course ). I have noticed no abnormal handling or behavior at high or low speeds, just the noise, and there is no clunking sound along with it. I could try and record the sound if it would help diagnose the problem. Has anyone encountered this or know what it may be? Thanks
See if it correlates with braking. My rear calipers were pretty well shot, and one of the pistons would be over-retracted, leaving enough room for the brake pad to clatter noisily and very annoyingly away, until the brakes were pressed.
the last time I heard a sound like that it turned out to be a key I ran over that got stuck in the tyre threads.
E34's have a lot of exhaust heat shields which can rust, loosen up, rattle in various ways - if you had a brake pad rattling, it would stop when you press the brakes, unless the caliper's not working at all.
