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Hi all, it's been a while since I've been on BF as I've been busy with some other car projects and haven't had a lot of time to mess with my BMW. It's mostly been sitting but I try to start it up and take it for a ride at least once or twice every other week.
Anyways the inspection and emissions ran out on it so I took it in for inspection and it passed emissions (actually exempt as I put less than 5k miles on it annually, but it would pass if it needed to), but it failed inspection for a few minor things.
It needed one replacement tire, so I bought a pair of good used tires that match the fronts (Michelin Primacy MXM4 A/Ss) so I have four matching tires on it. It needed front struts as the passenger side was leaking, luckily when I bought the car a couple years back, the seller included a pair of brand new made-in-Germany KYB front struts with it, so I installed those. It also needed a front left outer tie rod, I ended up replacing the inner and the outer as I couldn't get the old outer to separate from the inner. Also one of my headlight halos wasn't working so I fixed it with back little solder and some shrink tubing. So after all these repairs, I brought it back to the inspection station and they put a sticker on it.
Now prior to them inspecting it, the car had fairly violent shake in the steering wheel starting at around 40 and getting worse as you went faster. It's a shake where the wheel turns a bit to the left then a bit to the right. I figured it was probably due to the loose tie rod end (which I was aware of prior to taking it in for inspection) but even after replacing the tie rod end it still has that shake. But only sometimes. It doesn't do it 100% of the time, probably only 65-70% of the time when you are going over 40 mph.
I took the front wheels off and checked everything for play. The lollipop bushings are tight, the ball joints are tight, the tie rods are tight. I'm beginning to think on of my wheels is bent. I have pretty low profile tires (225/45s) and our roads kinda suck, I've blown out tires on potholes before. Any other ideas as to the cause of this shake? Any idea what it costs to get alloy wheels straightened?
TL, DR: my car has a shake in the front end, all the joints are tight; bent wheel?
Thanks all!
Member
Swap the front and rear wheels (they should fit) and see if anything changes. That should help diagnose whether it's a wheel/tire.
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
Member
Well I did just that right after I posted this thread, swapped the wheels front to rear, rear to front and it made no difference. I guess that rules out wheels.
Here's a quick video of the shaking-
https://youtu.be/eu6TwEYVjZY
Member
I had a similar surprise with recent seized caliper piston. Wheel darted to shake really bad at FW speed.
Rebuilding the caliper is a fairly simple task.
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Last edited by bluptgm3; 08-16-2018 at 08:24 PM.
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What kind of rotors do you have? Is it worse or better while braking?
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I'm not really sure what kind of rotors I've got, they came on the car when I bought it. They are slotted and drilled though and dont look very old. Still have lots of thickness and no scoring or cracking. Braking doesn't make it better or worse, but it does feel slightly different when I hit the brake.Originally Posted by ArcticM
Maybe new rotors/pads/calipers or rebuild calipers might take care of the problem. No looking forward to drilling out those brake rotors screws though...
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Slotted and drilled rotors love to warp unless they’re high quality ones. Mine lasted about 5-10k miles before I started getting wheel vibration. Went to standard Zimmerman z coated blanks and no more vibration
Member
Yeah the s/d rotors look nice but I know they are very prone to warpage. Looks like my local Advance Auto has Wagner rotors for $50 a piece and I may as well swap the pads too. What was the OE pad material on these cars? Ceramic or semi-metallic?
Member
check bushings... rotors are out cus it happens at speed.. Tires are a huge possibility b/c they are a new add.. doubt the kyb are causing it but you can find out by following the advice for tire moved to the back... . did you properly preload your work done on the struts? after that lift it and check it out.
Member
Not sure what the oe pad material was. But if all your bushings are good, tires are good and the alignments good there aren’t many more options for things that are wrong except bad wheel hub bearing or bent axle which I highly doubt.
Replacing the rotors and pads is a max $200 job for the front and it’s win win scenario whether it fixes it or not.
Last edited by ArcticM; 08-17-2018 at 01:36 PM.
Member
Sounds like outer control arm ball joint. Jack up the front of the car, lay under the car with your head facing the tire, grab the tire and watch the ball joint.
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Did you get an alignment after replacing the tie rods?
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The ball joints are tight, there is definitely no play in them.
I haven't yet, but the shaking was there prior to the tie rod replacement. Also i counted the threads to match the length of the new and old, so it can't be more than a degree or two off.
The shaking was there prior to the tires being replaced, and front or back, it doesn't make a difference where the new tires are, the shake is the same.
Member
Quick update. Took apart the brakes today and found some interesting things. The driver's side pads and rotors are much more worn than the passenger side. Also when I had someone depress the brake pedal with the calipers off the brackets, the driver's side caliper piston didn't move nearly as much as the passenger side. The driver's side caliper looks to be newer than the passenger side, but it has "BMW" cast into it. Here are some pics of the rotor and pads wear. Im guessing g one of the two calipers is bad, not sure which one. I'm gonna put new solid rotors and brake pads on. I'm also gonna have to fix the rotor screws as they were stripped so I had to drill them off. Any ideas for fixing those? I'm thinking a helicoil and new screws. Let me know what you guys think.
IMG_20180818_144630424.jpgIMG_20180818_144701104.jpg
Member
Try threading them out they shouldn’t be in that tight. Cut flathead notch into them or It may be and I’m saying maybe quicker, easier and less time consuming to just replace your hubs. I think they’re like 50-100each and you’ll have new bearings
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Well the passenger side screw came out but it took the threads with it. The driver's side is looking like the same thing. I'll drill and helicoil them before I replace the hubs. Helicoils are no biggie.
Anyways I think the passenger side caliper is the failed one. I reassembled the brakes and had someone step on the pedal while I tried to spin the rotors. The driver's side was locked up tight but the passenger side wasn't nearly as tight, it wasn't squeezing very much on the pads. Defianately seems like a failed caliper.
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What about bleeding them? In any case I think you’re gonna fix your problem
Member
Rotor retaining screws are so very unimportant. Just convert to wheel studs and you won't even need them.
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Rebuild all your calipers if you're going down that road. At least do them in pairs (eg. both fronts or both rears). You want all your brakes to function evenly side to side, so you don't want to just rebuild the worst one and call it good.
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
Godbless our soldiers!
Exactly, just rebuild your calipers. The seals aren't too expensive and probably a good time to buy some new front brake lines while you're at it
1997 Arctic Silver/Black M3
CES Stage IV (651rwhp/615rwtq @ 24 psi)
1999 Techno Violet/Dove M3
Auto/Convertible and staying stock!
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