Hello fellow B5 owners,

I'm having an ongoing issue which I can't seem to identify for a while.

I can hear some sort of slight "grinding" noise when I'm turning left at low speed, usually comes on when turning 1/4 - 1 full turn, for example coming out of parking space or turning into a narrow lane. It only comes on left turn only and not on right turn. The noise is more evident when the engine is warm, and sometimes (SOMETIMES) I almost feel the "grind" through driver's footwell. When the engine is cold it's nearly non-existent.

Garage couldn't find anything but slipping off-side tracking rod gaiter. The noise went away, but soon came back and the gaiter was off upon inspection. They didn't do a fine job securing but I eventually got it secured (Question Spower steering noise (rubbery squeal, not loud but noticeable)). But the noise is still there; it hasn't improved or worsened.

I had a look into the off-side wheel well and I noticed that one of the upper control arm bushings (the left oneon the pic) looks quite flat compared to the others:

IMG_0768.jpg

I'm not sure if the bushing needs replacing or whether if this is causing the noise in question so I wanted to ask here if I'm on the right direction on troubleshooting this "grinding" noise. Compared to the near-side, the equivalent bushing is not as flat as the off-side so I'm assuming it needs to be inspected anyways?

What are your thoughts?

Thank you in advance for helping me on this.