Help.. knocking or creaking sound from the rear

[slam]

So I'm getting this knocking/creaking sound from the rear when I take off from a standstill. Doesn't happen all the time, but usually when weight shifts from front to back. I just did the RTAB's, rear sway bar bushings and endlinks, which did not fix the problem. Planning to do the rear shock mounts next, but I am wondering if that does not fix it, what else could it be? Any help would be appreciated.

[Sockethead]

Rear diff bushing comes to mind... notorious failure point...

[slater]

Rear diff bushing comes to mind... notorious failure point...

+1, definitely the big ol' fat rear diff bushing.

[nsk040]

When I did shocks/stuts/mounts/reinforcement plates at 110k miles I eliminated a lot of noise I was getting while going over bumps, however I wasn't getting any noises based on a little weight transfer (i.e. getting moving). Can you get a video of the noise?

[Dave1027]

When you do the rear shock mounts , remove the shocks and test drive it to see if it affects the noise.

[slam]

just did the rear shock mounts and the noise is still there. good news is my mechanic said he saw a crack in the rear diff bushing, the rear one. so i guess im gonna replace that next. question is what else should be replaced at the same time to save on labor cost?

[Sockethead]

might as well replace the two front diff bushings... nothing else bushing related has to come apart for that other than the rear sway bar bushings.

You should have him check your subframe mounts for cracks while he's under there though. If he's worked on a lot of e46's then he should know about that

[slam]

did the rear diff bushings and the noise is gone. thanks guys.