I was meeting up with a friend to work on a lab report for my AP Biology class at the Camden Public Library. When leaving, I drove up the street from the library, took a left, and a terrible noise suddenly began at the right front wheel in my E39.
I pulled over quickly and took a look at what could possibly be causing the terribly loud noise. Somebody waiting on the corner to pick up his kid from the school bus walked over to take a look. I couldn’t see anything wrong, so I drove about ten feet further, and the noise was terrible. Still not able to find a problem, I turned around and decided I would drive around the residential block before pulling out onto Route 1.
As a bit of a back story, I had previously noticed a rubbing sound from this wheel in cold or damp weather and assumed it was a failing wheel bearing. On the day I was returning from the library, I assumed that my wheel bearing may have been failing. As a result, I was strongly considering a tow at this point.
As I neared the end of a street, I decided to brake. While the brakes worked fine, the noise got twice as bad. At this point, it was a constant metal-on-metal shrieking sound. I pulled into a parking lot and decided I would call AAA.
Unfortunately, I had to go to tutoring at 4:30, and it was about 4:05 at this point. I called my mom, who promptly arrived and dropped me off at my appointment. She then called AAA and had my car towed back to our house (thanks). However, when the car was unloaded at my house, the noise was no longer existent.
Long story short, the noise had disappeared and was probably a rock. However, to be on the safe side, I used my mom’s car for the rest of the week, which was pretty nice because it has a heated steering wheel that mine lacks. On Friday, I went to inspect the problem, and lo and behold, my battery was dead. As a doornail. None of the dash lights came on. Nothing.
I optimistically tried to roll-start the thing all the way down our hill (which is very long) by gathering the speed in neutral and popping the clutch. Nothing worked. I ended up calling AAA again, but just for a jump this time. It was the same guy who had towed the car four days previously! The car came back to life, but required two jumper packs for enough juice. I drove it around the block and everything worked well. I also bought a battery tender, as the car would sit for another four days, and I didn’t want anymore problems.
Long story short, the noise from the wheel is completely gone. Whatever it was, it is not my problem anymore. And my battery is charged too–I think I am the winner in this situation.
Exhaust Fumes 