Hey guys!

I have a 2011 r56 S hatchback. When lightly braking around 50-60mph I would get a severe steering wheel shakef (only felt in wheel, not in pedal). Once I got below this speed, the shaking would stop. If I braked hard at this speed, I would not get any steering wheel shake at all. I do not feel it if im braking below 50mph, or at highway speeds over 60mph. It basically happens when I slow down to take an offramp from the highway, or stopping in LA traffic.

At my friends suggestion I replaced all 4 rotors and pads (needed to soon anyway) and did the correct bed-in procedure, but the shake is still there.

Any clues on what it could be? Thanks for your help!

 

Control arm bushes? Get then looked at soon.

Worn bushes can cause brakes to warp but warped brakes can also cause the bushes to fail quickly. On my 320d I went through two sets of brakes and bushes in less than 5k by not knowing this.

 

that is odd I would have recommended the same thing I would grab a good ol dial gauge (if you know any one who has one)
and measure the hub where the rotor sits make sure there is no warping there

doesn't hurt to cheamck control arm bushings but I doubt it if they are worn enough to cause a shake they should make noise as well peak out your window and slow speeds and hit the gas than hit the brakes hard see if the wheel moves frontwards or backwards at all

 

All good suggestions above. I would certainly suspect something in the suspension assuming the rotors are good and installed correctly. Another long shot, would be a defective tire. That's easy to check, just rotate them..

 

yes could be a tire but I would think it would be noticeable at more speeds. I have gotten a few rotors from one of our suppliers that out of the box are a little out of round you would be surprised. it's in the steering wheel so I would definitely start with the front of the car

 

How would I check the control arm bushings? I've searched and found it to be a pretty exhausting DIY. so I'd rather know before tackling that....and also, no noise at all. I drive with my window down most of the time and no noise at all while braking or driving.

I will rotate the tires this weekend and see if that helps at all.

 

to check the control arm bushes just jack your car up and give the front wheels a tug up and down and then left to right. There should be no free movement at the wheel.

If you google "BMW E46 control arm bush fail" you can actually see the rubber bushes breaking away without even jacking the car up - that'll give you an idea what you're looking for

 

also like I said take off than hit brakes while your looking out your window at the wheel if the bushing are bad you will see the whole wheel move. you should check control arm bushing with a pry bar certain cars just tugging on the wheel isn't enough. Give them a visual inspection as well

 

Check those bushing LCAB, you can look at the rubber and see its its cracked to do that LCAB test to see how much the front suspension moves. If you do find they are bad I recommend the powerflex version, one time replacement and its done.

A great thread here for all things on the front suspension to check.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

 

listen to ECS and use the powerflex if that's the case but definitely shake the front end check out the tie rods ball joint make sure everything is tight

 

Thanks for all your help! I'll do some tests and rotate the tires front to back this weekend

 

At 61k I plan on replacing my bushings with the Powerflex bushing. What's the average labor for installing control arm bushing? Don't you need a special tool to pressure fit the new bushings into place?

 

I can look actually book time Monday but I'm going to guess both side about 4 hours but maybe more it's kind of labor intensive and you just need a press to press the new ones in