Hi All,
I'm after some advice on fixing an annoying steering wheel vibration on a BMW E92 80,000 miles, 2009.
I have tried:
Road force balancing x2
Both front wheels straightened by a professional company
Allingment x2
All new TRW/lemfroder front control, camber, end-links & tie rods
All new bilstein front struts and tops hats (Old springs)
All new TRW rear control, camber, end-links & track arms. (Old bushings in spindle)
All new sachs rear shocks & top and bottom brackets.
Powerlex rear subframe inserts front and rear.
Steering rack, steering column, front subframe all tightened.
New M-tec slotted and dimpled rotors front and rear, all calipers pins lubed etc.
The steering wheel vibration started about 2,000 miles after i put new michelin PS4 235 30 19 and 265 30 29 on the OEM staggered wheels. And about 1000 miles after i installed mtec front and rear rotors with EBC pads.
Vibration is slightly worse at 50mph, but it is present at almost all times. It doesn't change that much with engine RPM. It is still present when in neutral or clutch in. It goes away for about 3 miles after i have jacked the car up. It slightly reduces when traction control is off (Could be physcological). It is still present when i brake, i have even tried left foot braking and accerlating and it is still there. No odd noises over bumps or turning. No obvious damage to the chassis and the car has been looked over by a performance Garage and they only told me to fix the buckled wheel, which i did and it didn't change the vibration.
It can also just dissapear randomly and that reminds me what a steering wheel should feel like.
My next options:
Replace all rotors with Brembo plain rotors (ordered)
New EBC pads
SKF front bearings (ordered)
OEM engine & transmission mounts
Possibly a new flex disk/guibo & drive shaft centre bearing (avoiding it, as i don't want to drop the exahust, plus visually it looks fine)
Any other options or ideas?
I'd check for stuck calipers. I know you got new discs but I'd check runout on discs with dial guage. If there is runout on the new disc I'd take it off and check runout on hub. Having had the wheels straightened seems odd to me. Was this vehicle in an accident?
I had a stuck caliper on the rear right, i replaced it with a brand new caliper, and then greased all of the sliders and replaced some of the boots. Im pretty sure, none of them have stuck again, but i will double check with a temperature gun etc.
The mtec rotor had about 0.006" runout, but i had all 4 corners skimmer with a pro-cut down to 0.001" so that should be fine. But im going to replace all four corners with brembo plain rotors next weekend anyway, as the slotted brushing noise annoys me.
I live in London and there are lots of potholes, plus these wheels are 19" and used to have crappy runflats on them. It was only a minor buckle. No accidents thankfully.
Any other ideas? As im about 2 weeks from taking it to a BMW dealer...
"just dissapear randomly "
NOT tires, they don't just balance themselves.
That is it diminishes after jacking tells me it may be the half shafts. Jacking extends the CV joints.
I'd be looking at the driveshafts between the diff and hubs. Maybe just dismantling, cleaning and re-lube is all it needs.
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
I have been on two long drives, between 50mph and 100mph, and checked the brake rotors with a heat gun and for extra brake dust etc. But they were all the same, so pretty sure there is no stuck rotor.
I have also replaced all of the rotors for plain brembo rotors, to rule out the cheaper M-tech rotors.
Not 100% sure about the CVs but they all look good and about 2 months ago, i had a professional look over most of the car, so for now i want to rule them out.
I did my usual and cleared the codes using the foxwell nt520p, the only codes were NOx sensor. Does anyone know if this could cause a vibration, with no check engine light?
I have brought a new one anyway and will replace it as soon as it stops raining.
If the Giubo hasn't been replaced yet I would definitely consider doing that soon, even if it looks fine. Same with the engine and trans mounts. I had a similar (though not identical) vibration issue on my E46 and I ended up fixing it by replacing engine mounts.
You said you replaced brakes? Did you check if the lateral runout is within spec? I think it should be 0.2mm or something in that area.
A guibo/drivesharft vibration would not randomly disappear though.
I replaced the trans mount, which made a difference and i will replace the engine mounts soon, i just need an okay day to work outside.
Previous brakes rotors where 0.002 runout, new ones are closer to 0.001 runout, so shouldn't have caused the issue.
I would rather crash the car into a tree and claim insurance, than replace the CVs, as i know it will cause me soo many issues.
GOOD NEWS - I think it is related to a leaking injector on clyinder 2, that was only showing a ghost code on the reader.
I have ordered a second hand injector to try and prove the fault, before spending $1400 on 6 index 11 injectors.
I will also replace the spark plugs and coils on all 6 cylinders.
On a side note i have also replaced the NOx sensor which possibly helped.
Once i have 100% confirmed the solution i will update.
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