BMW E91 335i Touring, Le Mans Blue
Discussion
roadie said:
Very tidy, I love an E91.
How has the car been since the last update?
Good thanks. I am a bit behind on updates. The wheels have been restored in Ferric Grey. It is being MOT'd this afternoon, and I suspect it will have no advisories. The car has only once ever failed an MOT, some years ago, for a cracked alloy. Before we go away on the 9th I need to book it in to the local garage, as it's developed steering wheel vibration under braking. God knows what that is, disc and pads appear good? How has the car been since the last update?
Fermit said:
Good thanks. I am a bit behind on updates. The wheels have been restored in Ferric Grey. It is being MOT'd this afternoon, and I suspect it will have no advisories. The car has only once ever failed an MOT, some years ago, for a cracked alloy. Before we go away on the 9th I need to book it in to the local garage, as it's developed steering wheel vibration under braking. God knows what that is, disc and pads appear good?
Good to hear it's going well. Vibrations under braking seem all too common on BMW's and can be difficult to diagnose unless something is glaringly obvious. Common causes are, cheap discs warping or poor mating face (though OE discs aren't immune), lower thrust arm bushes. Ball joints. Sticking calipers. Wheel balance or buckled wheel. I'm only mentioning this as garages can often just start blindly firing parts at problems like this and it can get needlessly expensive. If there is nothing obvious wrong and you can live with it, it may be better to do that until the problem becomes significant enough that the cause is obvious if that makes sense. I speak from expensive experience. I've had brake wobble on at least 4 BMW's and the cause has never been the same. My E39 Alpina was particularly bad and we replaced what seemed liked everything on the front axle until eventually discovering a buckled wheel. Funny how these things can hide themselves in normal driving but become obvious under braking. Gad-Westy said:
Good to hear it's going well. Vibrations under braking seem all too common on BMW's and can be difficult to diagnose unless something is glaringly obvious. Common causes are, cheap discs warping or poor mating face (though OE discs aren't immune), lower thrust arm bushes. Ball joints. Sticking calipers. Wheel balance or buckled wheel. I'm only mentioning this as garages can often just start blindly firing parts at problems like this and it can get needlessly expensive. If there is nothing obvious wrong and you can live with it, it may be better to do that until the problem becomes significant enough that the cause is obvious if that makes sense. I speak from expensive experience. I've had brake wobble on at least 4 BMW's and the cause has never been the same. My E39 Alpina was particularly bad and we replaced what seemed liked everything on the front axle until eventually discovering a buckled wheel. Funny how these things can hide themselves in normal driving but become obvious under braking.
Good first hand experiences to take note from. I'll use them to list when speaking with the garage, if nothing else it will suggest to them to get to the root of it rather than undertaking random things. Here's hoping it's not too dear, I'll call the garage this afternoon. It's unlikely, due to a recent refurb it is unlikely to be a buckled wheel, or unbalanced, as the fronts had new tyres recently, and there was no issue after putting them on.I guess with regards to the wheel balancing, it depends on how good a job the wheel refurbers did (like alignment, it’s only as good as the operatives doing it). The guys who fitted my tyres to my CSL wheels did a s
te job of balancing them so I was happy to have it redone by a well regarded tyre fitted who commented on how far out they were.
At least checking the balancing is relatively cheap, certainly better than replacing braking system parts.
te job of balancing them so I was happy to have it redone by a well regarded tyre fitted who commented on how far out they were. At least checking the balancing is relatively cheap, certainly better than replacing braking system parts.
That's a good shout to start if it is only a development post wheel refurb.
Otherwise checking the inside faces of the discs might be the next easiest job if you have been unable to see them as a result of the brake shields.
I love the look of the car and am a fan of the MV3 wheels. I'm tempted by a set to run on my E92, but the closeness of some of the spokes to one another makes it look like cleaning them could be a pain!
Otherwise checking the inside faces of the discs might be the next easiest job if you have been unable to see them as a result of the brake shields.
I love the look of the car and am a fan of the MV3 wheels. I'm tempted by a set to run on my E92, but the closeness of some of the spokes to one another makes it look like cleaning them could be a pain!
@ roadie, yes, they are a bit of a pain to clean, but I can't think of a wheel which (IMO) would look better on it.
It's just failed its MOT
The offside front brake pipe needs replacing, as does the near side front shock. In addition the OSR 'lower suspension arm pin or bush is excessively worn, with the NSR of the same worn as an advisory.
Any ideas what that lot will cost? Going to call the garage looking at the vibration next Weds, and ask them to add the jobs to the list.
On the plus side, the tester said the car was incredibly clean on the underside.
It's just failed its MOT
The offside front brake pipe needs replacing, as does the near side front shock. In addition the OSR 'lower suspension arm pin or bush is excessively worn, with the NSR of the same worn as an advisory. Any ideas what that lot will cost? Going to call the garage looking at the vibration next Weds, and ask them to add the jobs to the list.
On the plus side, the tester said the car was incredibly clean on the underside.
Edited by Fermit on Wednesday 1st May 15:40
Fermit said:
In addition the OSR 'lower suspension arm pin or bush is excessively worn, with the NSR of the same worn as an advisory.
Any ideas what that lot will cost? Going to call the garage looking at the vibration next Weds, and ask them to add the jobs to the list.
I struggle to translate from mechanic into a parts diagram (case in point - drumstick!)Any ideas what that lot will cost? Going to call the garage looking at the vibration next Weds, and ask them to add the jobs to the list.
But there's three joints (ok, ones a ball joint) on the rear wheel, and one is part of an arm and the other is replaceable separately.
SnowySpeeder said:
With a recent wheel refurb, I’d be checking for poor masking/overspray on the hub facing centres. Was the cause of braking wobbles for me…
So, to the rear of the alloys? Why would overspray etc here cause such a wobble? To add, the quicker I'm driving, the worse it appears to be. Fermit said:
SnowySpeeder said:
With a recent wheel refurb, I’d be checking for poor masking/overspray on the hub facing centres. Was the cause of braking wobbles for me…
So, to the rear of the alloys? Why would overspray etc here cause such a wobble? To add, the quicker I'm driving, the worse it appears to be. pmorg4 said:
Where the wheel touches the brake disc, any significant contamination will mean that the wheel isn't sitting true on the face, causing it to be unbalanced during rotation even if the wheel itself is perfectly balanced.
I think I get that. I'll take the front wheels off today and have a look. So, the part of the wheel touching the disk, will I be able to tell if it's not right by touch (feeling for anything un-even) If it is, should it be mirror smooth, and is it a case of genteelly sanding it smooth? Fermit said:
@ roadie, yes, they are a bit of a pain to clean, but I can't think of a wheel which (IMO) would look better on it.
It's just failed its MOT The offside front brake pipe needs replacing, as does the near side front shock. In addition the OSR 'lower suspension arm pin or bush is excessively worn, with the NSR of the same worn as an advisory.
Any ideas what that lot will cost? Going to call the garage looking at the vibration next Weds, and ask them to add the jobs to the list.
On the plus side, the tester said the car was incredibly clean on the underside.
That’s a pisser. It's just failed its MOT
The offside front brake pipe needs replacing, as does the near side front shock. In addition the OSR 'lower suspension arm pin or bush is excessively worn, with the NSR of the same worn as an advisory. Any ideas what that lot will cost? Going to call the garage looking at the vibration next Weds, and ask them to add the jobs to the list.
On the plus side, the tester said the car was incredibly clean on the underside.
Edited by Fermit on Wednesday 1st May 15:40
BMW brake pipes are pretty notorious for going crusty. At least it’s the fronts which should be a bit cheaper to sort. I got stung for quite a big bill on my E46 due to crusty rear brake lines.
Front dampers are relatively easy to sort and shouldn’t be too expensive if you pop in a Bilstein B4S (I’d be tempted to get both done but that’s just my OCD).
Depending on how much they need to strip the car for access etc, you’ll probably need to cough up for another alignment.
That’s a good shout from the other poster re paint in the mating face of the wheel.
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