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Steering wheel vibrating

Discuss the problems with your BMW X5 (E70).
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b21playa
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Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Mon Mar 25, 2019 2:13 pm

Hi all

Popped out at lunch and while driving on the motorway the steering started to vibrate vigorously. I thought the wheel was going to come off. Stopped car and checked and visually everything looks ok

Any ideas what it could be?

Thanks

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by weirdfish » Mon Mar 25, 2019 2:29 pm

First thing would be to get the balancing checked, one of the weights could have come off.

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Mon Mar 25, 2019 3:03 pm

Many thanKs

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by marti » Mon Mar 25, 2019 3:33 pm

As said check balance also wheel nuts......after that your in to suspension parts.

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:10 pm

I will check torque on bolts when I get back and get wheels balanced tomorrow.

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by mr angry » Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:58 pm

Check for one of the front wheels hotter than the other after driving, also excess brake dust on the rim, this could be a sticking front brake caliper.

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by X5Sport » Mon Mar 25, 2019 6:08 pm

mr angry wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2019 4:58 pm Check for one of the front wheels hotter than the other after driving, also excess brake dust on the rim, this could be a sticking front brake caliper.
That’s what did it to my X6 last year. Front offside caliper sticking randomly. In the short term you can stamp on the brakes (at slow speed) to get the piston moving for a little while.

I had to replace the caliper, both front discs, pads and the wear indicator. All parts bought from ECP.
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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Mon Mar 25, 2019 8:22 pm

Thanks all for the suggestions.

Drive home (approx 8miles) and all was ok. Checked wheel bolt torque and that was fine, no wheel was hitter and brake dust is same on both front wheels.

Could it be wheel bearing? I’ve had a rumbling noise for a while now, but it’s not excessive

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by X5Sport » Mon Mar 25, 2019 8:26 pm

I only had a hotter wheel when the vibration was there. It could be a bearing but that should cause an issue all of the time. I had no extra brake dust on the sticky side either.

Try jacking the wheel off the ground, grasp it at the 6 & 12 o’clock position and see if it moves more than a small amount. If you can get both off the ground at once then you can compare.
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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:34 pm

I think it maybe the caliper on the passenger side front. Although I didn’t get any vibration on the way home, that wheel felt hotter.

Will try stripping it down on the weekend to looker closer

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:05 pm

Thinking of rebuilding caliper, anyone know if it’s a single or twin piston? I have a 2008 3.0sd

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by mr angry » Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:08 pm

I think it is a single piston and there are loads of kits on ebay for very little money. It is a straight forward job to do as well.

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by X5Sport » Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:30 pm

When you take the caliper off you should replace the two bolts and you must use blue thread lock on them as well. They’re done up pretty tight too.

Instructions on newtis.info.
Torque settings..single piston caliper and E71 but it’s the same brake unit/disc on the E70 for single types.. https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e71- ... es/5ZGpkoO

The guide pins in the single piston setup need a 7mm or 9mm Allen key and a bit of care in case they stick. Don’t clean the pins with anything mechanically aggressive! The surface finish needs to be smooth and shiny (not super polished though.

Some models are single and some are twin piston with no rhyme or reason as to which you might have. Realoem may say twin and you have single fitted and vice versa! Need to either take the wheel off or look carefully through it.

It is very likely that with a sticky caliper you will get a warped disc - hence the vibration - so be prepared to do them too.

I used a pair of fuel hose clamps to close of the brake pipe at two points to make sure no air got in and back up as far as the ABS unit as sorting that out means needing BMW software (INPA) to cycle the ABS system and get any air back out again. You definitely don’t want to go there!!

These would do - though mine are an identical pair from decades ago:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pack-Hose-Clam ... ay&sr=8-14
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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by b21playa » Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:30 pm

Getting conflicting info on single or twin. Discs are 365mm which some are twin piston. Tried a 7mm Allen socket on the pins and too small, went all the way up to 10mm and still small, 12mm too big so guessing it’s 11mm which I don’t have - so couldn’t take caliper off

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Re: Steering wheel vibrating

Post by X5Sport » Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:38 pm

For the slide pins? They shouldn’t be that big. I’m certain mine were either 7mm or 9mm. The pins themselves can’t be much more than 11mm diameter total. The main bolts are M12X1,5X43 ZNS3 Torx - or at least mine are.
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