[feuer]

All of the above posters solved their problems. They all sold their BMW's

[CantCatchMe]

I've got the same issue. Replaced my LCA. Next up is the thrust arms and this caliper sticking issue. I'm going to hoist the car up Thursday and see what's at play. I'll come back once I figured out this steering vibration issue.

[borinous]

I have the same however im sure the vibration is only coming from the rear as i only feel the vibration though the seat of my pants.

the vibration is worse when i let off the accelerator at about 75/80 and if i hit the pedal again it goes away.

I originally thought it could be prop related but then wouldnt i feel vibration throught the gear stick also? that feel smooth.

[kyledoestheastro]

Has anyone had any luck on this??? I had a slight vibration last summer, got my alignment done, and wheels roadforce balanced which improved it but didn't get rid of it.
Later in the fall it got a little worse so I brought it to a reputable independent bmw shop cause I thought it was a bearing, they said it's not the bearing and once I switch to my winter tires I'll be fine.

When I switched to my winter tires I was told by Town Fair Tire that my front right summer tire had bad "chopping" (after I got it aligned twice within 6 months and roadforce balanced). The vibration persisted with new winter tires but less noticeable.

I just switched to brand new summer tires last week and got them balanced and an alignment. This made the vibration come back worse.
Now last Saturday I put brand new rotors and pads on all around, and the vibration is slightly worse and my wheel violently shakes when braking from highway speeds and I can feel it shaking when braking from any other speeds but not as bad.
I can also feel it in my seat just as much as I can in my steering wheel.

Anyone have any suggestions before I spend another $500 on doing all my bushings and whatnot? I really don't want to keep dumping money into this trying to get rid of the vibration. Nor do I want to ruin another set of new tires or warp my new rotors...

This is on a 2011 328i xDrive

[vladmury]

I have the same problem and never got it solved. The steering wheel vibrates from 80kmh changed the front end suspension, alignment, new tires and rims but its still there.

I am surprised how dealer does not have some vibration sensors to detect the issue. Apparently when its warm weather and car stays in the sun the vibration is not that obvious.

[Gohan335i7]

[borinous]

update for me, new tyres, shocks, rear suspension ball joint.

No change...feels as though vibration is getting worse.

Had it in the garage and mechanic checked over everything and said only thing he could find that had play in it was the front thrust arms.

i get zero vibration through the steering wheel only feel it though the seat so i cant see that being the culprit.

interesting about the comment about the rear caliper someone made. my rear pads and discs do need replacing so maybe its a warped rear disc?

[Camman]

I get a vibration in my car when I take the car above 80mph. Below that, it's fine. I have new thrust arms and lower control arms waiting to be installed. Hoping that will fix the issue. If not, it should fix the sloppy steering feel at least.

Hoping to hear more people chime in and report if they found a culprit that seems to be common.

[CantCatchMe]

Did my lower control arms and thrust arms with new ball joints, it worked like a charm. I had small tears in my thrust arms which caused the vibrations in the steering wheel.

[kyledoestheastro]

I ended up replacing my front thrust arms, control arms, and ball joints. Vibrations are pretty much gone, still get some around 50mph from the rear but that's barely noticeable at all.

Also, the vibration I was getting under breaking was from cheap ecs rotors having defects, replaced those with oem and the vibration under braking went away.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by borinous

interesting about the comment about the rear caliper someone made. my rear pads and discs do need replacing so maybe its a warped rear disc?

Had a similar issue which was caused by excessive corrosion on the inner hub face of the rear discs (couldn't be seen from the outside - discs looked perfect!).

[Gohan335i7]

Originally Posted by kyledoestheastro

I ended up replacing my front thrust arms, control arms, and ball joints. Vibrations are pretty much gone, still get some around 50mph from the rear but that's barely noticeable at all.

Also, the vibration I was getting under breaking was from cheap ecs rotors having defects, replaced those with oem and the vibration under braking went away.

Hmm... So the ECS rotors are no good?! Good to know, as I will stay away from them..

[kyledoestheastro]

Originally Posted by Gohan335i7

Hmm... So the ECS rotors are no good?! Good to know, as I will stay away from them..

I'm staying away from ECS in general, I bought all four ECS drilled and slotted rotors with hawk HPS pads. I took my brakes apart only to find that the pads didn't fit even though their site states that they will, I confirmed with hawk that they don't fit my car, so I ordered new pads from FCP. I got the new pads, put everything together hoping it fixed my vibration, and found it was worse even in the first 5 miles(I assumed fresh brakes were magnifying whatever was causing my vibration). After taking it to my local shop he pointed out that my front right brake looked off. It had a spot maybe the size of a post-it note that still had "geomet" coating on it because it was dipped down so low and not getting touched by the pads. I found another spot like that on another rotor as well. I ended up buying some OEM rotors and my vibrations under braking vanished.

[vladmury]

all the bmw I owned had drivetrain vibrations, my e90 lci drives like I have an out of round wheel. At 40-45 kmh it jumps up and down like having oval wheels. After new tyres and road force balancing the issue persists. I am curious after switch to winter wheels if vibration will dissspear.

Wheels are original style 194 not damaged so I cant imagine how they can get out of round.

Ideas?

[Camman]

Originally Posted by kyledoestheastro

I ended up replacing my front thrust arms, control arms, and ball joints. Vibrations are pretty much gone, still get some around 50mph from the rear but that's barely noticeable at all.

Also, the vibration I was getting under breaking was from cheap ecs rotors having defects, replaced those with oem and the vibration under braking went away.

I get the same vibration around 50-60mph, but from the front(steering wheel), and I'm running ECS slotted rotors. Wonder if that's my problem too. I don't get braking vibrations too much but every once in a while my steering wheel will vibrate under braking from higher speeds.

Also, replacing my control arms, thrust arms w/ball joints have fixed a lot of the vibrating I got at higher highway speeds (anytime above 80mph)

[kyledoestheastro]

Originally Posted by Camman

I get the same vibration around 50-60mph, but from the front(steering wheel), and I'm running ECS slotted rotors. Wonder if that's my problem too. I don't get braking vibrations too much but every once in a while my steering wheel will vibrate under braking from higher speeds.

Also, replacing my control arms, thrust arms w/ball joints have fixed a lot of the vibrating I got at higher highway speeds (anytime above 80mph)

Pull off your wheels and visually inspect the rotors, mine had obvious spots that the brake pads were not touching at all.

My vibration also seems to be coming back and from my rear end. Seems to only be there when it's cold. I got a misfire on cyl 5 recently a couple times so I will be replacing my coils this weekend, I have a funny feeling that could be what's causing my vibration for some reason.

[Junious722]

Don't quote me on this yet but I think I may have found the issue, I was reading another thread and the culprit may be the flex disc and the center bearing. The flex disc we have on our cars is rubber and after a while will deteriorate and eventually give a slight vibration feeling, the also recommend that you change the center bearing, seeing that if the flex disc is going bad it must be because the center bearing is hanging which can cause the driveshaft to fall and hit the exhaust. I have not tried this myself but just came across it a couple of days, I will keep you posted!!!

[Gran_tourismo_99]

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-febi-par...FZ5WDQodXnINkA

[puddyboy28]

I have recently installed new tires on my 19" wheels up front. No spacers but my car is lowered on coils pretty aggressively. I know this can cause handling issues but when i had it aligned with my old tires it was fine.

so new tires I had them balanced twice at the garage it brought it too. kinda skeptical still about their quality of work so i am in between right now when i have time to go again if i can diagnose this myself. and bring it to a friends garage who can do much better work.

took each wheel off and inspected the rotors and linkages .. everything seemed fine and secure. No spacers and factory oem pads and calipers.

the vibration is only is the steering wheel above and between 45-60mph stops at 70mph and dies down slowly when i hit over 90mph+ the car is planted and its not noticeable.

from feeling the car over the last few days and really paying attention it feels like its coming from the passenger front. as i can see a slight bob up and down which to me seems like a dent in the rim. when i am creeping at lower speeds the car bobs up and down (since i have my coils set on a hard setting its exaggerated) but this only happens SOMETIMES its very very weird. no vibrations at braking at high or low speeds. only in between 45-60mph.

If it is a dented rim id rather pay the cost of a replacement rim than go through all the bushings and control arms first.

I saw a few of you posted about a "road test I" .. i will see if i can have this done as well.

I will keep you posted if i can relate to a few other members.

[puddyboy28]

Originally Posted by Gran_tourismo_99

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-febi-par...FZ5WDQodXnINkA

this is a really overlooked culprit .. i might just buy one of these just because and install it just because its inexpensive.

[vladmury]

In my case the styling 194 rims were not round, after changing to winter rims and new tyres the problem dissapeared. The rims were not damaged, I dont know how a BbS rim can be out of round

[330iE90]

I had my fair share of tracking down vibrations. I will list all possible options below and you can try to narrow down by that:

- Control arms
- Bearings
- Tie rods
- Bad tires
- Wheel Balance
- Alignment
- Differential, believe it or not a few had problems with the differential bolt (behind driveshaft that preloads the bearings), my diff bearings went out had crazy vibration and had to replace the whole differential.
- Center drive shaft bearing with Flex discs front and back
- DUAL MASS FLYWHEEL, this ones for the manual guys. This flywheel is horrible and causes weird vibrations quite often.
- Brake rotors and pads
- Brake rotor rubber guides with pad springs
- Engine mounts
- Transmission mounts
- Differential and Transmission fluids

If something else comes to mind that I had addressed in the past I will update the post. This topic almost drove me crazy at one point... I just want to enjoy a nice fast highway drive .