BMW 318i Squeal

ANDYZ12

MEMBER
1931 BMW 318

BMW 318i, year 2000, mileage 80'000 engine 1.8.

Hi,
Recently we have noticed particually when you take your foot of the accelerator off of our BMW 318i it makes a very loud metallic squealing noise, the car doesn't need to be moving for it to do this, the car can be standing still but if you put your foot on the accelerator as soon as you take your foot of willl start squealing.
We recently took it to our local garage and they thought it was the 'tensioner' they replaced it but after a 40 minute drive the car started again.
We took it back and they said they thought it must be the air conditioning condensor, so everytime we now drive the car we never use the a/c and we always keep the blowers off, but still after a 30-40 minute drive the car will start to squeal.
We e-mailed you for a second opinion because they told us a new a/c condesor would cost around £600.
Many Thanks

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

I would be checking all the belt pullys and bearings.
The A/C condenser will not make that noise but a bearing in a pully will. You will have to get someone who knows what to look for and not someone who will change the lot "just in case" It could be a water pump bearing an idler pully or even in the a/c compressor. Is your car Auto or manual if manual think about thrust and spigot bearings as well These can be felt through the clutch pedal sometimes as a slight vibration if faulty. Don't leave it to long as if it is a bearing, if it fails it may cost plenty to fix.

Mark (mhpautos)