I have been having issues with front-end vibration since I got my car. There was slight vibration in the steering wheel while driving above 60 mph and very heavy side to side vibration when braking with moderate force. As the car approached a stop, it seemed as if the brakes would grip, then let go slightly, then grip again, and let go slightly and on until the car stopped.
At first I thought the rotors were bad so I upgraded the brakes with SS lines, new ZCP rotors, calipers, pads, etc. My recollection was that the vibration during braking had almost entirely disappeared but there was still a steering wheel shimmy at highway speeds.
The vibration upon braking has returned and seems to be getting progressively worse with the steering wheel shaking violently (and the whole car for that matter) when braking from speeds above ~40 mph. A friend keeps telling me it is radial pull from a bad tire (I have a new set of tires waiting for my new rims to arrive). So I decided to check the tires out this morning.
Lifted each front corner, spun the tire, and saw that the tire's rotation was off by as much as a 1/4 inch. I saw this from looking down at the tire, rotating it, and checking the tread against a fixed point on the floor. Both front tires are definitely way out of round. When checking the rotation of the wheels, the wheels seemed to be true. So the tires are definitely bad and need to be replaced.
But after taking the wheel off, I rotated the rotors and could hear them touch and scrape against the pads and then not scrape and so on as the rotor turned. I considered that there may be uneven pad deposits but I do not track the car and have driven it normally as a DD - no abuse of the brakes whatsoever. I then did a very primitive check against the rotor hub and same thing, it scrapes, then nothing, then scrapes again, then nothing.
Could driving the car with the bad tires for about 2,000 miles have caused brand new rotors to warp? The same is true on both sides of the car. What else could cause this rubbing, no rubbing of the rotors?
I'm at my wits end with trying to correct this issue. PLEASE HELP!!!!
By the way, car is an '06 with 34K miles (bought used with 31K miles).
I was hoping there was an answer to this... Have the same issue on an 03
Tires and rotors are two different issues/items.
If rotor is rubbing, use a dial indicator on pad surface, and if more than 0.005" TIR, warped rotor, regardless of brand.
Hotter rotor gets, the more 'wavy-er' it becomes.
Another item making for wavy rotors is uneven torque & wrong lug tightening pattern.
Also, usage of brakes - long slowing braking will heat up brakes more then short fast braking.
My '04 has 45K miles and still on OE(born with) parts.
Good luck.
This is my third M3. (sold one, wife got one, it was a vert so that's ok) and just picked this one up. Didn't notice anything during test drive, but driving home started to vibrate 65+ & also exacerbated when applying brakes. Put it up on a lift when I got home. Lower Control arm bushings looked new, no E to W / N to S play in the front wheels. The front driver wheel did not spin freely like the passenger, there was friction. Took the wheel off put it back on & it did begin to spin more freely - so maybe that is a good indicator of an issue there. I am going to swap my fronts with spare wheels tires from a friends car to see if its wheel balance or some other issue first in an effort not to throw a bunch of parts at it (Prev Owner put drilled rotors on and front pads are basically 100%). but considering the friction - wont be a surprise if its an issue with the caliper/rotor.
swap your wheel bearings. pretty cheap and easy job. I went through several sets of tires due to feathering and couldn't figure it out. Finally got pissed off and replaced everything...coil overs, new arms and bushings, tie rods, comp steering rack, maybe some other stuff, and bearings.
The wheels seemed to spin true with no noise, but when I got them apart one of the bearings had a bit of slop.
If you can change a rotor, you can change a bearing. Buy BMW or FAG brand (FAG, take a moment to chuckle if you wish, makes them for BMW as I understand). You'll definitely want new wheel bearing nuts, and you'll need a 46mm socket if you don't have one. I bought new dust caps, but I also saw that if I gently remove the old ones with a sharp chisel they won't be damaged. The lip may bend up a bit, but you can knock it back down when you hammer it in place.
If you're as frustrated as I was, then maybe this is your issue. I haven't put enough miles on mine to determine if the tires are going to wearing well, but after 5k miles or so its looking good.
-Aaron
2004 M3 - Coupe, 6spd, Silver Grey on Black
| RAC RG63, PSS, ZCP Brakes, aFe, SS (V1, Res. X-pipe, Street Muffler), Epic Alpha-N, 319whp |
2006 Jetta TDI/DSG, Pkg 2, Silver on Black - Sold
2004 M3 SMG - Silver Grey on Black, Convertible - RIP
1995 525I 5spd - Black on Black -Sold
2004 X3 3.0i AT- Blue on Tan - For the wife....
Bookmarks