Squeaky sound when turning left?

Q

quietlyspinach

Active Member
Has anyone noticed a rhythmic squeaking noise that happens only when turning left in the car, but not always?

I haven't been able to reproduce the sound on demand; it only happens when I am doing a 90 degree turn to the left, usually at an intersection. It sounds like stuck brake calipers, but it seems to happen regardless of whether I touch the brake pedal at all, and happens even when I am making a left turn without stopping.

But it doesn't happen all the time; maybe one out of every 10 turns. I'm at a loss as to how to reproduce this for my dealer.
 
quietlyspinach said:
Has anyone noticed a rhythmic squeaking noise that happens only when turning left in the car, but not always?

I haven't been able to reproduce the sound on demand; it only happens when I am doing a 90 degree turn to the left, usually at an intersection. It sounds like stuck brake calipers, but it seems to happen regardless of whether I touch the brake pedal at all, and happens even when I am making a left turn without stopping.

But it doesn't happen all the time; maybe one out of every 10 turns. I'm at a loss as to how to reproduce this for my dealer.
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This just happened to me today in the same situation as you described (but when turning right). It happened around two 90deg corners in a row at ~10-15mph without stopping and without hitting the brakes. Definitely was rhythmic and seemed to be timed with one rotation of the tire.

I did notice that it went away if I turned slightly less sharp and came back if I turned more. This could either be steering angle or turning g-force.

It did sound like brakes squeaking so maybe it's the pad shifting enough to just graze the rotor? I plan on looking under the car a bit when I get home from work.
 
ColdCase said:
Also check wheel lug tightness.
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Good call! All four wheels were way under the 101 ft-lb spec (started to move around 60 ft-lb). Shame on me for assuming the dealer would have checked that...

Not sure if that was actually the cause of the squeak since it was all four wheels but it was definitely a problem
 
Maybe some dust on the disks? I've noticed that sound also and it disappeared after washing the car... And then it returns again a few days after the wash...
 
Carsten Haase said:
Good call! All four wheels were way under the 101 ft-lb spec (started to move around 60 ft-lb). Shame on me for assuming the dealer would have checked that...

Not sure if that was actually the cause of the squeak since it was all four wheels but it was definitely a problem
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I decided to check my wheels and all of them were way under 101 ft-lb as well! I think they were lower than 70.
I torqued them up to 90 since frankly I'm a bit older now and it's a bit trickier for me to get it up above that comfortably. Hopefully with some test drives I will find out if that solves the issue, but either way, that is a bit worrisome just how much looser the wheels were!

Is there a reason they could all get so loose at once? Or was it sent from the factory this way and the dealer never bothered to check them?
 
quietlyspinach said:
Is there a reason they could all get so loose at once? Or was it sent from the factory this way and the dealer never bothered to check them?
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They're probably factory torqued while the car is in the air, but being set down on the wheels and then driving can shift wheels that weren't stressed and/or sitting perfectly flush. To do it right, torque once in the air, once on the ground, and once again after 500 miles. I've never seen lugs self-loosen after that routine.

If the inevitably advancing years make pulling the wrench tough, I highly recommend throwing a pipe on your wrench to give yourself some mechanical advantage, rather than under torquing the lugs.
 
Well, after tightening the lug nuts on all wheels, the sound has not gone away. :( Still haven't determine what causes it, and it still happens at the same rate, which is not frequently enough for me to bring it in to the dealer. Hopefully it's nothing serious!
 
Any chance you can capture a video of the sound? I wonder if it would be louder from outside the car? Bimmercode can silence the pedestrian sound to make it even more audible.
 
I will see if my dashcam audio captures it; it might be tricky because I definitely feel like it's coming from outside the car, but I haven't had my windows down a lot lately because of the heat!
 
I did notice the other day that it is much louder with the rear seats down so I'm pretty sure it's coming from the rear. There's not a whole lot going on in the rear of a FWD car that could make squeaking timed with tire rotation so my guess is still the brakes (maybe something to do with the parking brake?)
 
It's coming from the rear. This is getting worse on my car now. It happens mostly at low speed and turning left.
 
When the car was new(ish), I got a similar "sound" - it turned out to be brake rotor rust. We rarely if ever use the brakes, and they would get surface rust. When the car is new and the pads are full width (ie new), they could scrape. Turning corners puts different stresses on the wheel, and could either start or stop the sound. If found that turning regen to low, and using the brakes quite hard once or twice would tidy up the rotor and stop the sound. Now my car is 2 years old and the pads are slightly worn (I've used the brakes a handful of times in 2 years - mainly for emergency stops). I don't have to clean the rust any more. I guess the pads are far enough away, even with the self calibrating function that it doesn't happen any more.
 
vader said:
When the car was new(ish), I got a similar "sound" - it turned out to be brake rotor rust. We rarely if ever use the brakes, and they would get surface rust. When the car is new and the pads are full width (ie new), they could scrape. Turning corners puts different stresses on the wheel, and could either start or stop the sound. If found that turning regen to low, and using the brakes quite hard once or twice would tidy up the rotor and stop the sound. Now my car is 2 years old and the pads are slightly worn (I've used the brakes a handful of times in 2 years - mainly for emergency stops). I don't have to clean the rust any more. I guess the pads are far enough away, even with the self calibrating function that it doesn't happen any more.
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BMW I 3 brake rotors were always rusty they advise to use them once a while but SE rotors I never noticed they have any rust but I wash my wheels in garden hose as I’m seeing a dust on them pretty often and I can’t hear any noises I do this with all my cars for 50 years to remove a dust off a pads and calipers and as I look for run off of dust is pretty nasty brown stuff on my driveway.
 
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