Wierd vibration at high speeds - United Bimmer Community

**projal147** · 09-30-2005, 09:55 AM

now i have a new problem, i was on the highway the other day and was doing 80-85 in the left lane when i get to a left hand curve in the road, as i take the turn at about 75, my steering wheel begins to vibrate and i hear a vibration from one of the tires, i think it was one of the outside ones, but i'm not sure. i know i was not hitting the rumble strips on the side of the road bc there were none. any thoughts?

**01Mike330i** · 09-30-2005, 10:01 AM

When was the last time you had the tires balanced?

Storamin · 09-30-2005, 10:57 AM

check your lug nuts.

**komodo** · 09-30-2005, 12:26 PM

Also test if you let go of the steering wheel, does you car stay straight or turn any direction?

**bitcore** · 09-30-2005, 12:38 PM

alignment, wheel balence, bad ball joints, warped rotor (would be significantly worse when you applied breaks)

First, check the lugs, make sure they are all on there and torqued to around 80 ft/lbs, then try to wiggle the shit out of the wheel and see if it is loose in any way, if it is, then something is broken and that is bad. Get that wheel in the air and wiggle it again, if something is loose then get the suspension checked out. (try not to turn the wheel [ie: like you turned the steering wheel] very far since it could let the car shift if you are using a standard bmw jack) [PUT ON THE E-BRAKE & CHOCK WHEELS.]
You may have thrown a wheel weight, so get the tires balenced. If you can get them load balenced for not much more than a regular balence, thats better but not by much.

You can check the rotors yourself. Pump the brakes a bit to seat the brake pads. Then get the wheel in the air, quickly spin it by hand, and note how it slows down to a stop. If it slowly pulses to a stop, (even a tiny pulse!) then you have a warp in the rotor, if it just gradually slows down with no apparenty 'sticky' spots, it should be ok.
It's easier to notice the pulse if you take the wheel off and spin the rotor itself, less rotating mass which makes pulses more pronounced.

I would say you need new ball joints, so go ahead and get 2 new control arms with the ball joints pressed in, and new 96+ M3 LCA bushings.

**projal147** · 09-30-2005, 10:45 PM

thanks guys ill do that this weekend between work

**zeaq328i** · 10-13-2005, 11:03 AM

Well can you tell me what sound did you hear? On Tuesday night when driving back to home, I did not see the big Pot hole and suddenly there’s a loud noise “DUK”. That’s on the left tyre. Well today, driving at 120km I can feel a vibration at that tyre.
The sound will go “WUWUWUWUWUWUWU”.

Any ideas?

**Dudesky** · 10-13-2005, 11:25 AM

^^^Zeaq, either your wheel is out of round from the pothole, or you may have lost a wheel weight.

**catalyst** · 10-13-2005, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudesky_E36

^^^Zeaq, your wheel is out of round from the pothole. Sorry to say, but you either need the rim straightened or need a new one

Yea sounds like you bent a rim.

For projal - everything bitcore said is correct, balljoints, balancing, rotors, everything, ive dealt with this kind of problem myself and its just a good idea to go ahead and replace everything all at once.

**Dudesky** · 10-13-2005, 11:51 AM

^^Just changed my reply . . he may have just lost a weight. We hope

**catalyst** · 10-13-2005, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudesky_E36

^^Just changed my reply . . he may have just lost a weight. We hope

I doubt it, ussually when you loose a weight its not as intense as he made it sound, at least thats been my experience.

yeah, we hope :P

**zeaq328i** · 10-13-2005, 12:09 PM

Can you guys explain the meaning of “wheel weight”? So I can I do about it of it, if it is a lost weight?

Well if it’s the bent rim, I’ll ask the rims shops to straighten the rim.

**projal147** · 10-13-2005, 12:47 PM

yea zeaq thats the noise i get when i drive it around a sharp (for a highway, like maybe a 60 degree turn left) at like 70-80mph, i let off the gas and let the car get down to like 65-70ish and the noise/vibration of the steering wheel goes away.

**catalyst** · 10-13-2005, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeaq328i

Can you guys explain the meaning of “wheel weight”? So I can I do about it of it, if it is a lost weight?

Well if it’s the bent rim, I’ll ask the rims shops to straighten the rim.

When a tire is mounted on a rim, it has to be balanced so that it will not vibrate at high speed, to balance it a wheel weight is glued or crimped onto the rim.

**zeaq328i** · 10-13-2005, 01:07 PM

Thanks for the info.

I’ll go to the tire shop this Saturday to check everything. I just hope it’s not the rim.

Projal,

Did you hit a “pot hole” before?