[Gaspo]

Hello! For about 1,5?months ago the steeringwheel started to vibrate a little bit. I had my winter tires on then. Now I have brand new summer tires on and wheels are balanced. But still the irritating small vibrating. It doesn't vibrate more when I brake. So the brakes it shouldn't be. I have also jacked the car and did the wheel bearing test doesn't seem that's a problem either. Maybe bushings in the front axel? It's a N47 engine maybe timing chain issue? I never heard of anyone having problem with steering wheel vibration because timing chain issue though. It's not vibrating enormous a little bit just. I'm must ad that I'm a car hypochondriac :-) every little thing makes me worried :-)

What do you guys think?

[Nicky92]

Tie rod ends, control arm bushings, sway bar end links

Could be a lot of things

[Gohan335i7]

im thinking one of the above mentioned also. ☝🏻️

[twinboost_MD]

maybe you bent your wheel a tad.. in addition to what nicky92 said warped rotors can also cause this

[Gaspo]

Thx guys for your comments. I will check the front axel bushings etc. How can I tell if a rotor is warped. It doesn't vibrate more when I brake. But is there any other way to tell? You guys don't think it has anything with timing chain? I never heard of bad timing chain causing this issue though.

[CrippledLucifer]

Originally Posted by Sobeus

Thx guys for your comments. I will check the front axel bushings etc. How can I tell if a rotor is warped. It doesn't vibrate more when I brake. But is there any other way to tell? You guys don't think it has anything with timing chain? I never heard of bad timing chain causing this issue though.

This is more than likely your front suspension parts that require a refresh. What is the mileage on your car and have you replaced any parts previously?

I had similar issues to yours and took the opportunity to replace and upgrade my entire suspension with M3 parts. If your car is RWD and if funds permit, it's a great option to consider as it improves the handling of the car. Nicky92 did a good job of outlining what all you'll need to replace.

I doubt your issue is warped rotors, but have you tried braking at highway speeds? If the vibration gets worse, you might also have warped rotors in addition to the above.

As for timing chain causing a vibration in the steering wheel, I've never heard of this happening (is it even possible?).

[BravoJohny33]

I have had the same problem for almost 2 years now and it drives me insane. My steering wheel vibrates pretty bad when I am going faster than 65. My tires have been balanced so many times and have lifetime balance from DT. I have pretty much given up on fixing the problem as the last mechanic almost made me straight up to call him a jackass. I paid 170 dollars and they come out and say Hey, we found your problem!!! I was like awesome what is it. YOU HAVE THE WRONG TIRES!!!!.. By wrong tires they mean I was not running BMW staggered tires but square setup. So yep 170 dollars to be told Im stupid and put the "wrong" tires on my car.

Oh and I did end up going back to BMW staggered tires just so if I did move forward and paid another fuck wit to take a crack they don't blame the tires. The vibration is of course still there with staggered OEM tire size.

I have concluded that it is caused by one of two things.

1) Slightly bent rim that balance machine can't catch
2) Bad bushing somewhere...

Id fix these problems if someone could identify what rim is bent or what bad bushing. But it seems like this is not possible so I would have to replace all the rims and hope it fixes it. Or just replace all the bushings. Something I can't afford to do.

[Nicky92]

My vibration comes and goes...ever since I got the car. lol annnoying as hell

[BravoJohny33]

Originally Posted by Nicky92

My vibration comes and goes...ever since I got the car. lol annnoying as hell

Yep Yep.. Sometimes its almost not there other times it is really bad.

It actually feels worse on brand new smooth roads compared to rough roads.

[olivojoe]

For those saying they have vibration coming and going...

Sometimes the softer compound tires can form a temporary flat spot from sitting, and cause a "vibration", but it should go away after the tires warm up.

[spiderspider]

motor mounts

[Gaspo]

Im also in to motor mounts. I had my car jacked today and a mechanic had a look on the front axel. He bent the control arms from side to side and up and down. There are to control arms on each side. On that's has a really crocked shape. When he bent these from Side to side they were very soft and went back and forward. But when he bent up and down they were stiff. He said we have to change these. But the thing is I changed these 5k European miles ago. About 3/3,5 years ago. How can they go bad that quick again. And aren't they supposed to have a flex? I don't know we're the motor mounts are fitted? I'd like to check them. And how to check them? Sorry for my poor English.

[mlifxs]

op, if you have aftermarket wheels, check for any hubcentric play.

on my car, a shop discovered this issue. they reduced the play by wrapping hub lip with foil tape, then torquing lugs with wheels off the ground. it made a noticeable improvement but didn't completely eliminate.

[Gaspo]

Today when I parked the car I tried a thing. I rolled one of the tires back and forward. And I felt a tiny play. I tried the other side and the same thing. Is that normal? The wheel bearings were checked at the garage yesterday with the car jacked.

[Gaspo]

Jacked the car up today! And tried to check control arms and other front axle related things. When i came to nr 9:http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=UX31-EUR-09-2008-E91N-BMW-320d&diagId=31_0715. It flexed very easy when you bent it back an forwards. Normal? It seems that it has very much room to flex with. The bushing is much wider than on nr 14. Nr 14 haven't much room to flex in and dident flex much. Should nr 9 flex very much and quiet easy with so much force? I also tried the to check rear axle suspension control arms etc. There were a lot of bushing control arms etc. The ones that I could check flexed a bit but not much. unfortunately I just had a socket wrench extensioner to bend with. A crow bar had been optimal:-) The bushings should flex a bit otherwise the car would be absolutely stiff :-). I also tried to shake the engine mounts by arm force. Wasn't much room to this. The left one moved a bit the right one dident move that much. But there was a much more heavier piece of the engine or whatever over that one.

So guys your conclusion are? :-)

[BruceJ]

saw another thread on this and I turned out that the OP's rotors were slightly off-center.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...9&postcount=15

Good Luck
Bruce

[rick100]

you could have a slightly bend rim causing the vibration. They could still balance a bent rim

[snayko]

Originally Posted by spiderspider

motor mounts

Yep. It's the reason described in all manuals

(engine vibration transmitted from it to the steering column)