Why is my front suspension popping?

[quadna71]

My Z4 is a 2005 3.0, 26,500 miles, 100% stock/original everything. For day to day driving there is never an issue - only once in a while when I have the car in an off-camber situation. For example I have a curved apron to climb when entering my driveway and the driveway is sloped upwards to the house. Due to that severe curve I have to enter the drive at an angle, turn the wheels towards the house, and creep slowly in so that the front clip doesn't rub just before the front wheel climbs the apron. It is while I'm creeping the first tire up and over that apron when I hear the pop pretty regularly. That is when the car is seeming to experience an unusual off-camber flex the most - and the popping is just a single pop coming from the front suspension to the point that you can even feel it through the car. Once the second front tire climbs the apron the car will level out and the suspension will pop back again. That's the only way I can describe it - it pops one way and then pops back again once leveled out. It does it once in a while while pulling out of our development onto the main road as the exit is directly into a banked curve in the main road so a similar off-camber situation exists....just not as severe of an angle so it only happens there once in a while.

I checked all corners for broken springs as that was the most common item found when I was doing some searching in the forum - nothing there. Everything is very clean, no leaks or excess grime so I was able to see that nothing seems physically damaged anywhere...but I still can't for the life of me pinpoint the source of the popping. Any ideas?

Just cleaned/detailed the car yesterday afternoon to be ready for a road trip north today - we love this car!!!

 

[Adam D]

Check the big nuts holding the two black braces in the engine bay are tight, it has been known for them to be loose and can cause a noise as the body flexes.

Park the car on a flat even ground before tightening them though

 

[mystik]

Check your bushings on the control arms

 

[quadna71]

I'll try to check both of them this afternoon. Any rough ideas on the torque on some of the stuff? I can snug everything up but don't want to overtorque anything.
Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Rick Hunter]

IIRC, 35Nm (25.8 ft.lb) for the strut braces.

 

[Sephanite]

mine is popping aswell.

first time it popped, it was my shock bearings

the second time, that is this time, i have a strut tower bolt that is loose. have to take the wheel off to tighten this one

 

[Dreamer]

Is this something caused by the hard suspension setup and too many potholes?
Mine feels a bit clunky driving over rough ground, or going up/down a curb. Like something is not tight in a socket somewhere.