Hi,

I have recently looked at buying a '99 BMW 323i and upon the inspection I have noticed that every time I rock the front side of the car while stationary, the front left spring/suspension makes a squeeking noise as its bouncing/returning to its initial position, the bouncing up and down lasts very short time approx. 1-2 seconds. When I test drove the car, I couldn't hear any noises from the suspensions.

I was wondering if someone could give me an advice of what this problem could be and also the extent of it (i.e. how much does it cost to repair it).

Also, are there any other tell-tell signs that the springs, suspensions, joints, steering and other related components shot and busted?

This particular problem drove me away from buying that particular car.....wise decision or not? Also the car did 94k miles.

Thanks

Control arm/bushing is something that is a possibility.

i wouldn't worry about it. probably just the spring squeaking against the rubber spring pad, or maybe against the upper strut mount.

I had a similar problem with a 328 I bought with about 94K on it. Turned out to be a shot strut. If you can push the car down at the corner and it bounces at all (1-2 seconds it too long), it's likely the strut is gone or on it's way out. The suspension should rebound to it's proper position with no additional rebound with a simple push. If you're contemplating buying from a dealer, ask if they'll check it and replace if its gone. Struts aren't particularly cheap and the DIY requires some unusual tools like a spring compressor and so forth, so if you haven't already bought it, I wouldn't buy it with a bad strut. Other's likely on the way too at the mileage you're looking at.

Thank you all for the advice.........maybe it was a good idea not to buy that particular car.