Steering Wheel Vibration F10 M5

Steering Wheel Vibration F10 M5

Author
Discussion

W8PMC

Original Poster:

3,345 posts

237 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
Morning all, over the last few weeks i've noticed an increasing level of vibration through the steering wheel on my F10 M5. This only occurs at speeds over 90mph (private roads of course) & when braking hard.

New OEM front discs were fitted about 3 months ago, but this issue has only become noticeable in the last few weeks. The car's not been on track this year & not clipped any kerbs so i can't see it being a simple Geo issue. I was intending to get the Geo done next month so perhaps that may help, but i'm just of the mind that steering wheel vibration wouldn't be caused by the tracking or toe in being out of kilter.

Any suggestions as to what could cause this?

HoHoHo

14,974 posts

249 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
When I had a similar problem in my 997 it turned out to be tyres (not balancing but the actual tyres had gone wonky!)

Is that a possibility?

ds666

2,604 posts

178 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
I had similar on mine . I was due for a change of front tyres anyway so didn't investigate. New tyres fitted and no vibs upto and including 168mph on the autobahn . May just be balance ?

likesachange

2,630 posts

193 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
Check tyres for a small pleb or mishapen bit. May be a fault with a tyre .. Had same on one of our cars (wife insists she never hit a kerb )

Nish

601 posts

211 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
I had this on mine, occurred at 92mph onwards.

BMW investigated and changed out some sort of arm in the steering rack?? Sorry I don't know the technicalities but it was covered by the warranty so didn't pay too much attention


helix402

7,824 posts

181 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
likesachange said:
Check tyres for a small pleb or mishapen bit. May be a fault with a tyre .. Had same on one of our cars (wife insists she never hit a kerb )
Those pesky plebs keep getting in tyres.

Mr Gearchange

5,892 posts

205 months

Thursday 18th August 2016
quotequote all
My M3 had this only evident at high speed and under braking - wheel was slightly buckled. Hit any potholes recently?

mikeN54

607 posts

180 months

Friday 19th August 2016
quotequote all
Does it continue after 90 or pass?

If it carries on, does the wobble frequency (speed) increase with the car speed or stay the same?

W8PMC

Original Poster:

3,345 posts

237 months

Friday 19th August 2016
quotequote all
Thanks all.

How would i go about checking if the wheels buckled? Obviously i've checked this visually & can't see anything obvious, but as said a small variation would perhaps be enough to cause the wobble.

The wobble carries on above 90 but doesn't appear to get worse the higher the speed. Saying that when North of 90 i'm concentrating on other things.

Someone suggested warped front discs, however given they're fairly new & have suffered no abuse such as track activity or VMAX, this could only really occur if they were bad from the start such as a bad batch of OEM discs.

HoHoHo

14,974 posts

249 months

Friday 19th August 2016
quotequote all
W8PMC said:
Thanks all.

How would i go about checking if the wheels buckled? Obviously i've checked this visually & can't see anything obvious, but as said a small variation would perhaps be enough to cause the wobble.

The wobble carries on above 90 but doesn't appear to get worse the higher the speed. Saying that when North of 90 i'm concentrating on other things.

Someone suggested warped front discs, however given they're fairly new & have suffered no abuse such as track activity or VMAX, this could only really occur if they were bad from the start such as a bad batch of OEM discs.
You could simply take the car to your friendly tyre fitters and on a balancer you'll see immediately if there's any damage.

I'm still thinking fecked tyres yes

Mr Gearchange

5,892 posts

205 months

Friday 19th August 2016
quotequote all
I took mine to my local tyre place who diagnosed the buckled wheel and straightened it. They pretty much knew what it was as soon as i described the problem.

M5ABO

6 posts

91 months

Sunday 21st August 2016
quotequote all
We had 2 F10s at the Ring last weekend and both suffered vibration exactly like this on the way home, around the 100mph mark. We'd both lost over 40g of weight from the wheels. I note that you haven't tracked the car recently, but I know you do, and maybe it loosens them up and they only recently fell off?

As also pointed out by other replies, worn tyres can also cause this.

I'd doubt you buckled a wheel without noticing, but a tyre centre can spin them up for you and check at the same time as checking the balance?

As for the suspension arm, this was a massive issue on the E39, but I've yet to hear of it on the F10, especially bearing in mind their still lowish mileages. I'll stand corrected on this though?


Charliesum

246 posts

142 months

Sunday 21st August 2016
quotequote all
Get the wheels balanced first, but make sure it is somewhere used to balancing bigger wheels as some of the back street garages machines may not be accurate.
I know this as my amg cls needs balancing every 6 months or stand I've taken it all over the place over the years.
I bought new contis once and the garage fitting them couldn't get rid of the vibration above 90. They even sent the tyres back and got new ones in, but even then it turned out to be their machine not the wheels or tyres.
I only go now to a garage I can trust to do it properly.
It may be the tyres or cracked wheel, but if they know their stuff then they should give you a verbal report on condition of wheels tyres etc anyway

XMT

3,774 posts

146 months

Sunday 21st August 2016
quotequote all
W8PMC said:
Thanks all.

How would i go about checking if the wheels buckled? Obviously i've checked this visually & can't see anything obvious, but as said a small variation would perhaps be enough to cause the wobble.

The wobble carries on above 90 but doesn't appear to get worse the higher the speed. Saying that when North of 90 i'm concentrating on other things.

Someone suggested warped front discs, however given they're fairly new & have suffered no abuse such as track activity or VMAX, this could only really occur if they were bad from the start such as a bad batch of OEM discs.
Get yourself to someone for a road force balancing machine, it tells you everything you need to know about the alloys/tyres, bunckled, kinks, run out, high spots etc etc

I would be suspect that if nothing has changed and only brakes were changed recently then it will be that.
Some say if disks are not bed in correctly it causes deposits on the disk and causes the vibrations.

I hope your not like me I lose a lot of sleep over vibrations - the one of the most annoying and frustrating things in life are car vibrations and rattles of course.

M5ABO

6 posts

91 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
W8PMC - have you read about the F10 Lane Departure Warning issues on m5board? Loads of folks with apparent vibration issues that turned out not to be the wheels or steering, but the warning system.......

mikeN54

607 posts

180 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
M5ABO said:
W8PMC - have you read about the F10 Lane Departure Warning issues on m5board? Loads of folks with apparent vibration issues that turned out not to be the wheels or steering, but the warning system.......
What? you mean people mistook the buzzy little steering wheel vibrator for drivetrain / chassis wobbles?

Crikey.

W8PMC

Original Poster:

3,345 posts

237 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
M5ABO said:
W8PMC - have you read about the F10 Lane Departure Warning issues on m5board? Loads of folks with apparent vibration issues that turned out not to be the wheels or steering, but the warning system.......
Now that's funny. I didn't opt for that feature as my eyes have always been able to tell me where the lane boundaries are, also if a car's on either blind spot so didn't opt for that one either. In fact anything i've not missed in the 30yrs i've been driving, i'll not be speccing now. My hateful option (had it on an A8) is that adaptive cruise control, it's quite possibly the nastiest of all such features on a car.

I'll get the wheel balancing checked & start from there.

Harry_S

26 posts

149 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
This exact same issue happened on my F10 after having new tyres fitted.
Cost me ALOT of time and hassle getting resolved.

1. Get all four wheels balanced at ATS or somewhere equivalent that has a "dynamic wheel balancer"
90% OF places inc kwik fit only have normal balancing machines which can only run upto 75-80mph and they do not account for the front wheels which steer hence why u need a dynamic balancing machine which check both the inner rim and outer rim and make sure the tyre fitting centre places weights on either side on the inside of the rim (if required) of course.
Over time and especially at the ring these weights can come off in hard driving or even over zealous water sprayers @ car washes!
They should also be able to tell you if you have a kink or buckle in the alloy wheel without taking the tyre off as the dynamic balancing machine is super accurate.
He showed me i had a slight kink in one of my alloys right in front of me.

2. If this does not solve the issue then get the car alignment checked all 4 wheels up on a ramp but this is usually only an issue IF you have uneven tyre wear and not usually affecting steering or wheel vibrations.

3. If the two solutions above do not sort your problem then a trip to the dealer it is.

4. Tyre pressures and tyre choice play a role also and i am assuming u have checked these are at the correct psi/bar.

5. Could be a mechanical issue in the steering arms, ball joint in the suspension but this is unlikely if the car has done <50k miles but then again on our potholed roads in the UK anything is possible!

Goodluck and let us know how you get on.

Harry

W8PMC

Original Poster:

3,345 posts

237 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Harry_S said:
This exact same issue happened on my F10 after having new tyres fitted.
Cost me ALOT of time and hassle getting resolved.

1. Get all four wheels balanced at ATS or somewhere equivalent that has a "dynamic wheel balancer"
90% OF places inc kwik fit only have normal balancing machines which can only run upto 75-80mph and they do not account for the front wheels which steer hence why u need a dynamic balancing machine which check both the inner rim and outer rim and make sure the tyre fitting centre places weights on either side on the inside of the rim (if required) of course.
Over time and especially at the ring these weights can come off in hard driving or even over zealous water sprayers @ car washes!
They should also be able to tell you if you have a kink or buckle in the alloy wheel without taking the tyre off as the dynamic balancing machine is super accurate.
He showed me i had a slight kink in one of my alloys right in front of me.

2. If this does not solve the issue then get the car alignment checked all 4 wheels up on a ramp but this is usually only an issue IF you have uneven tyre wear and not usually affecting steering or wheel vibrations.

3. If the two solutions above do not sort your problem then a trip to the dealer it is.

4. Tyre pressures and tyre choice play a role also and i am assuming u have checked these are at the correct psi/bar.

5. Could be a mechanical issue in the steering arms, ball joint in the suspension but this is unlikely if the car has done <50k miles but then again on our potholed roads in the UK anything is possible!

Goodluck and let us know how you get on.

Harry
Thanks Harry. I have checked the pressures & all fine as i do this every few weeks regardless of what the iDrive states. Next step will be a Dynamic Balancing machine (not sure where one exists locally so i'll hunt one down). The 4 wheel alignment is a good point & is about due now as was close to 12mths ago when i last had this done & even BMW state on the M5 this should be an annual event & more so if doing track work, however mine's not been on track since last October.