Steering wheel vibration

[davesz4mc]

Mine does the same thing has 90k miles, Interested to see if this fixes it or is a combination of the geometry and 0 front toe.

[Shipkiller]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Just ordered both side lollipops from Tischer.
And 4 new bolts. Don't forget new bolts.

We'll see if a box shows up in a week, or I get an email from them saying "you can't get those".

And thanks for the punch-mark tip Ship.
At least somebody's reading the instructions.

I usually save the instructions for after I do something. To see if they wrote them correctly.

The punch mark is really only necessary if your puller does not have a very small tip. If the center screw has a really small tip, then it will bite into the control arm and make its own centering hole/mark. Also, the centering mark does not have to be perfectly centered on the control arm.

I bought this kit several years ago. It is really a nice kit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[StickMon]

I was just inspecting mine and they look OK for now.
Ordered new ones just because I'll need them eventually and it sounds like they're getting hard to find.
Looks like you could just knock them off from the backside with a piece of 1x2 and a mallet.
I take it it's not that easy. Nothing ever is.

Just got robo-mail from Tischer:
"**UPDATE** Part #s 31107836862,31107836863, (wishbone right, wishbone left) are currently on national backorder from BMW. Typical backordered items arrive to our facility in 2 - 3 weeks from Germany."

[CFoote]

Folks, just to add to this thread, make sure you are going to a shop that has a Hunter GSP9700 road force balancer. These machines are $15k+ and are used in the factories for balancing. A lot of good shops and dealers have them now, but I would double check and make sure the shop you are using has the GSP9700.

Hunter even has a website dedicated to finding one in your area due to requests. Its worth the hassle of finding a shop with one if you are having vibration issues.

www.gsp9700.com

Chris

[BMW Maniac]

Just to keep you all posted, I went to my dealer which has this machine and the vibration got worse! So, either three different shops are incompetent, or I have a non balance issue....unfortunately, its going to have to wait til I get back

[mtrhed]

Just got robo-mail from Tischer:
"**UPDATE** Part #s 31107836862,31107836863, (wishbone right, wishbone left) are currently on national backorder from BMW. Typical backordered items arrive to our facility in 2 - 3 weeks from Germany."

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of when I got the same response from ECS. That's why I changed my order to just bushings which should finally be here today. Even then I had to wait over a week to get them
Starting to have have "M" withdrawl(it's my escape/therapy car-).
I'll throw them on as soon as they get here and should have the car back together tomorrow and will report back.

[RobertRO]

Originally Posted by StickMon

"**UPDATE** Part #s 31107836862,31107836863, (wishbone right, wishbone left) are currently on national backorder from BMW. Typical backordered items arrive to our facility in 2 - 3 weeks from Germany."

You can also buy the Lemforder wishbones, if their availability is better. Lemforder is the OEM of the BMW parts mentioned above.
Lemforder part #s: 25367 01 (left wishbone), 25368 01 (right wishbone).
I have them on my car for 2 years, no problems. Bonus, they are cheaper than BMW parts.

[CFoote]

Originally Posted by BMW Maniac

Just to keep you all posted, I went to my dealer which has this machine and the vibration got worse! So, either three different shops are incompetent, or I have a non balance issue....unfortunately, its going to have to wait til I get back

That is a bummer! The GSP9700 is pretty easy to operate, but sometimes workers don't pay attention or do everything correctly.

The machine is good enough that it can detect tire/wheel issues.

I know the Z4s sizes are somewhat odd, but any chance you could fit them to another vehicle for a test drive? If I was closer I would say stop over

Chris

[mtrhed]

Sweet! Got my control arm bushings today, pressed them into the brackets and installed. I haven't gotten an alignment yet but took her out for a test drive. Steering feels rock solid again! No steering vibe. No wiggle. I was really feeling the steering wiggle/shimmy under hard braking. Not anymore....
I also installed VT competition mounts and there is a little more NVH at idle but I don't care! Throttle response is instant, shifting is F'n sweet! Feels much more sportscar like. Pretty happy!!!

Also did the timing belt and water pump on the wifes e30 325ic. A fine shop day. Next......RTAB"S, limiters and an alignment.

Was all finished, opened both garage doors and found about seven neighbors across the street chatting. Heads turned, jaws dropped e30, e28 and e85 all in a row. They all came over and I had to put on a mini car show for them. They all want rides in the Z4MR before the BBQ tomorrow!

[StickMon]

If you had steering wiggle/shimmy under hard braking, are you sure you don't have rotor runout?
Maybe the new FCABs just do a better job of hiding it.

[mtrhed]

Brakes are all new within 2k miles. The 65-80mph steering vibration and wiggle in the steering wheel suggested(correctly in "my" case) that it was time for new CAB's. My control arm bushings had visible tears.

Also, I've had lots of pad transfer cause brake judder on different cars but in 25 yrs of performance cars I don't think I've ever had warped rotors. Have always re-bedded and all was good. Just sayin....

[Shipkiller]

Vibration under braking is one of the classic symptoms of FCAB's going bad.

[i2ichal2dZ4M]

Check the gold metal cap that covers the front hubs center bolt. For some reason both of mine now are super loose and fell out with no effort and it may have caused my vibrations (60mph+). When I switched wheels vibration went a way so I thought my wheels were the issue but my friend balanced them and i know they balanced perfect. During the wheels swap I notice these covers spin while seated and kept falling off the first time i mounted these wheels, when I gave the wheels a second try, I added one drop of super glue to one edge of the covers and tapped them in place (because it became frustrating to mount wheels). Vibration is now gone! I'm thinking these covers spin off and sit on the wheels center bore messing up the balance? Or maybe I got lucky and gremlins found another home.

[BMW Maniac]

Cfoote, the car is in Orlando now, so I was definitely thinking about this as an option.

That gold center cap weighs next to nothing so I doubt it falling out would make any impact. I will order some new CABs from Turner and see what happens.

[jdoublehcubed]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Just ordered both side lollipops from Tischer.
And 4 new bolts. Don't forget new bolts.

We'll see if a box shows up in a week, or I get an email from them saying "you can't get those".

And thanks for the punch-mark tip Ship.
At least somebody's reading the instructions.

I usually save the instructions for after I do something. To see if they wrote them correctly.

StickMon, can you hook us up with the bolt part numbers? Just about to place an order.

[BMW Maniac]

The two bolts holding each side of the lollipop are one time use? They aren't on my E30 or E36.....

[Shipkiller]

-

[StickMon]

Not one time use.
I tend to buy bolts if I need them or not, just in case.
Part number here.

They look suspiciously like reinforcement plate bolts.
M10x35 in both cases, but different part number.
May be different hardness.

$1.51 each at TheBMWPartStore.

P.S. Ordered lollipops from Tischer June 27. Still no word on delivery.

[goomanchu]

Here is a different issue that was found for same symptoms. I had significant steering wheel shake (type A shake above...) with braking on a 2003 honda accord that is a teen-ager car for my kids. Went through same process trying to sort out problem. rotors were warped (interesting only 1 year old...) these were replaced and hub and wheel bearing on one side were replaced. problem was much better but still there and then began to rapidly worsen again. back at mechanic and wheels removed, rotors again appeared warped.?. Car alignment done, tires balanced - no help. All compontents removed, cleaned and reassembled. In cleaning brake components - Mechanic discovered that at some point in the past, during a brake change - calipers were reversed side to side and inverted. So left caliper was on right wheel bolted on upside down. I guess the caliper is close enough to symmetric that it was not obvious at a glance that it was backwards but there is a large bolt and a much smaller bolt that holds it in place. Apparently in the reversed/inverted position the small bolt is exposed to all of the torque in braking and it is inadequate - causing the rotors to warp and problems as described. I have not been under car to inspect it myself, but It seemd to make sense to me when he explained it and I was satisfied. calipers are labeled so should not have happened. Since that time, car doesnt shake at all. Not saying this is the problem with anybody's M - just found it interesting.

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by goomanchu

calipers were reversed side to side and inverted. So left caliper was on right wheel bolted on upside down.

They had to be trying hard to screw up that bad. Why did they completely remove the caliper anyway? I thought they were left attached by the brake fluid line during a pad rotor change?

[goomanchu]

Agree. They had to have been changing the calipers or flushing the line. Should not even disconnect them from the hose for pads/rotors. I have only owned the car for a year so I have no idea.

[jdoublehcubed]

That would make me really hesitate to go back to whatever shop had been working on it. Usually the markings on the inside v outside are different, the fluid line and bleed screw are on the top of the caliper, etc. To not notice that when putting the caliper back is pretty bad.