Need help diagnosing an issue
 

Hey guys, so my 160k 2000 Boxster S has developed this awful low drone that presents at speeds above about 20 mph and gets worse the faster you go. The noise presents whether I am in gear or not and seems correlated with vehicle speed, not engine revs.

I did some Googling and it sounded like the wheel bearing might be the most likely culprit, but I jacked up the car and gave all four wheels a wiggle and they are solid as a rock. I took it out for another drive on a deserted road and started weaving back and forth to load and unload the wheels. When doing a hard right and loading the front left wheel and unloading the rear right wheel the noise goes away. It's definitely something that corner but when I visually inspect it I don't see anything obvious.

Any ideas what it might be or perhaps other tests I can do to more accurately diagnose the issue?

Check your tires.
As they wear, they tend to get noisy and it can sound like a wheel bearing

Anything I should look for in particular? Or seems to have decent tread.

What is decent tread? On my tires, when even 1/2 gone they started getting noisy

Does the sound change when driving over different types of pavement like concrete and asphalt

Just for fun, swap your wheels/tires around left to right. Even better if you can put your rears on the front - Let us know, I'm curious if they'll fit without spacers.

Does the sound move with the tire? If it does the problem is most likely the tire. ;)

I tried swapping the tires but the person who put my on drivers side wheel WAY over torqued the lugs and I can't get them off, even with power tools.

I'm starting to think the issue is not the wheel, nor the suspension. The wheel was just rebalanced yet the problem persists. I don't think it's the suspension because even on brand new pavement I still hear the noise.

I'm thinking it's got to be a component that rotates while the car is moving. I'm not sure if it's warped rotors as there is no vibration in the brake pedal.

I haven't completely ruled out a wheel bearing because although the wiggle test is negative the swerving back and forth test is positive.

I also jacked it up and put it into drive to see if I could get the noise to present itself while the car was stationary, but I started hearing other strange noises so I stopped immediately.

I'm kind of at a loss here. Any other thoughts before I take it to a mechanic?