Help Diagnosing Steering Wheel Vibration

[E92///]

Hi

Looking for possible diagnosis for mysterious steering wheel vibration persistent at 60 mph to 80 mph.

Parts:

Stock suspension, 19 HRE F1011wheels aftermarket, PSS, mileage 70K


Already inspected:


-NO spacers
-Hubcentric
-repaired bent in front wheel
-aligment
-road force high speed balance front/rear
-brakes(calipers balnced,rotors)
-Out of round tire in front (2 replaced)
-chassis and suspension
-wheel bearings(tight and no noise)
-rear driveshaft new



Reputable mechanic....

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

[EnVe46]

Change the wheels and see if it's there. Not the first thread I've read regarding vibration and aftermarket wheels

[E92///]

Wheels were swapped

[Richbot]

Check wear patterns on the front tires. This has caught me before chasing a noise, turned out both my front sets had the same camber wear and were making the same noise

[azndrunk74]

check/replace inner & outer tie rods, tension strut rods.

[E92///]

Originally Posted by azndrunk74

check/replace inner & outer tie rods, tension strut rods.

Will these parts show warnings of wear or damage?
I was told suspension is fine.

[Richbot]

It won't be obvious without taking them apart in some cases

[E92///]

Originally Posted by Richbot

It won't be obvious without taking them apart in some cases

Okay thanks I will begin with that. And what would be next thing to check?


Thanks!

[W Cole]

Originally Posted by azndrunk74

check/replace inner & outer tie rods, tension strut rods.

I second the thrust aka tension arms. Mine showed no signs of wear but helped with my vibration.

My understanding is the tension arms are the only rubber bushings in the front suspension.. everything else is spherical ball. Are there really more arms we need to be replacing?

[azndrunk74]

Originally Posted by E92///

Will these parts show warnings of wear or damage?
I was told suspension is fine.

No, it's hard to visually see. I purchased an 8 or 10 piece front control arm kit to replace everything while I was at it. My old arms, tension struts, tie rods showed no visual signs of wear. Massive difference when I replaced everything with brand new though!

[tlrid3r]

Torque your wheels to 95ft.lbs and while it's off the ground within now weight on it.
Most likely wheels or tires. I had a PSS fail the inner belting at 45k

[///M Power-Belgium]

Spacers ?

[E92///]

No spacers, wheels have maybe 5k on them rears only and front are brand new.
Wheels are made to be a specific m3 e92 model fitment.

Starting to believe that even thought wheel was straightened from allegedally being bent on the inside and balancing fine on road forcw m Hunter machine, there is still a defect no matter what how good to what fixed.

The most disturbing part of the story is that the mechanic who originally took in the car returned the vechile with a mlvery minor steering wheel shake from 1 to 10 being severe after it left his shop.😡

[SpartaEvolution]

There was a thread on e90post recently where a user's tire was spinning on the rim under hard acceleration and braking, causing the wheel to go out of balance almost immediately after being re-balanced. The general consensus was that a defect with the tire's bead was causing the issue. It sounds like you've eliminated the possibility by trying different wheels AND replacing 2 of the tires, but it might be worth marking the wheels and tires and making sure they aren't spinning on the rim? If not, at least it's a cheap test!

[W Cole]

Originally Posted by SpartaEvolution

There was a thread on e90post recently where a user's tire was spinning on the rim under hard acceleration and braking, causing the wheel to go out of balance almost immediately after being re-balanced. The general consensus was that a defect with the tire's bead was causing the issue. It sounds like you've eliminated the possibility by trying different wheels AND replacing 2 of the tires, but it might be worth marking the wheels and tires and making sure they aren't spinning on the rim? If not, at least it's a cheap test!

Wow never thought of this. I think I'm going to start marking the backside of my rim/tires after a balance to make sure this doesn't happen.

OP needs to try a known good set of wheels/tires, measure the runout of the calipers and rotors and replace the thrust arms.

I ended up replacing my thrust arms, 2 sets of tires, rotors and 1 front hub before I was able to fix my issue.

[E92///]

Got the wheels reblanced by BMW dealership after 3 shops said road force balance was fine. BMW said numbers were off and after driving the car the severe steering wheel shake went from 10 to 2. However, after highway driving especially in longer rides the shake comes back but not as bad and is felt in the pedals and seat which tends to point to test wheels being also out off balance. The shake and seat/wheels is felt 60 plus and at 80 to 100 car feels unstable.

My theory is wheels straight, brakes fine, tires fine, alignment/blance fine but the issue is somewhere in suspension there is worn out bushings but they don't show any visual wear so after longer rides the shaking gets worse.

I am,waiting on a different set of wheels factory, but not sure when I can borrow a set and I am pretty certain wheels are straight since 1 was. Repaired already and balances pefect.

What do I replace next ?

[E92///]

Bump

[MPower7]

Do warped rotors affect vibration even when not braking?

[Nazty Naze One!]

any updates on this issue? i seem to have some shake in my steering wheel as well, only at high speeds.

[azndrunk74]

properly mounted wheels and torqued bolts will also avoid vibrations. sometimes when i get vibrations i remove the wheel and remount it, and re-torque the nuts (i run studs).

[Pig Farmer]

I'm going to throw this out here, and by no means is this the likely issue, but something I experienced that you could check... Over time, I wore down the front edge of one of the "felt/cardboard" air dams (in front of the front tire). The bottom of the air dam began to sag and catch air. At speed, the buffeting air felt just like an out of balance front tire. I replaced the air dams, and the shake went away immediately.

[thatg]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

I'm going to throw this out here, and by no means is this the likely issue, but something I experienced that you could check... Over time, I wore down the front edge of one of the "felt/cardboard" air dams (in front of the front tire). The bottom of the air dam began to sag and catch air. At speed, the buffeting air felt just like an out of balance front tire. I replaced the air dams, and the shake went away immediately.

Hey any pics of this air dam you’re talking about?

I’m having the same issue right around 80mph the steering wheel has a pretty significant shake and the car feels much less stable. Changed wheels/tires but saw no improvement. The car needs an alignment as it pulls slightly right, but as many have said steering wheel shake is usually not related to alignment.