Steering Wheel Vibration F10 M5

[W8PMC]

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?

[W8PMC]

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.

[W8PMC]

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.

[W8PMC]

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.