[digis]

Hi all, I am chasing down a steering wheel shake at high way speeds and I have run out of ideas as to what it could be. The car has had the issue since I bought it about a year ago and I’ve just recently decided to try and fix it. I began by getting a wheel and tire balance but that did not help. Next was new tires all the way around followed by an allignment and that still was not the issue. Started looking towards actual suspension components and replaced my control arms with the M3 upgrade and it’s still shaking. After the control arm upgrade, the shake speed change changed from around 55-60 to around 70+. I also replaced brakes and rotors within this time frame. When I get home from work today I’m going to jack the car up and just ensure that everything is tight, but at this point I’m clueless. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

Car is an 07 E90 335i

[Donutz]

I had a similar issue last year, but my steering wheel shake was intermittent; would happen always at highway speed when happened, but didn't happen every time I drove. Ended up being a tpms that came apart inside the wheel. I assume it would move around from time to time, getting stuck in different locations against the tire. Eventually it turned into a clanking noise before I found it.

[ppointer]

Originally Posted by digis

Hi all, I am chasing down a steering wheel shake at high way speeds and I have run out of ideas as to what it could be. The car has had the issue since I bought it about a year ago and I’ve just recently decided to try and fix it. I began by getting a wheel and tire balance but that did not help. Next was new tires all the way around followed by an allignment and that still was not the issue. Started looking towards actual suspension components and replaced my control arms with the M3 upgrade and it’s still shaking. After the control arm upgrade, the shake speed change changed from around 55-60 to around 70+. I also replaced brakes and rotors within this time frame. When I get home from work today I’m going to jack the car up and just ensure that everything is tight, but at this point I’m clueless. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

Car is an 07 E90 335i

Don't assume your wheels are straight.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by digis

Hi all, I am chasing down a steering wheel shake at high way speeds and I have run out of ideas as to what it could be. The car has had the issue since I bought it about a year ago and I’ve just recently decided to try and fix it. I began by getting a wheel and tire balance but that did not help. Next was new tires all the way around followed by an allignment and that still was not the issue. Started looking towards actual suspension components and replaced my control arms with the M3 upgrade and it’s still shaking. After the control arm upgrade, the shake speed change changed from around 55-60 to around 70+. I also replaced brakes and rotors within this time frame. When I get home from work today I’m going to jack the car up and just ensure that everything is tight, but at this point I’m clueless. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

Car is an 07 E90 335i

While there are a myriad of problems that can cause this, nearly 90%+ of the time, it is due to a wheel balance problem.

I know you said you had them balanced and it still persisted, but just how 'balanced' did you get them? Just a generic wheel balance or a road force balance? If RFS was done, what lbs did they get the road force down to? Many shops will consider 40lbs to be 'balanced'. Many are sensitive to wheel vibrations and can easily detect issues even if balanced below 20lbs. Before replacing anything else, I would take it to a quality shop and pay a 'per hour' rate to RFS the tires down to 'as close to zero pounds' as possible. If still having issues, then move on from there. This will also bring to light any bent wheel concerns like ppointer mentions, since a bent wheel won't balance down to anything close to zero pounds without tons of weights.

[digis]

Hello, thank you for the replies everyone. I had one shop balance the wheels and another check the balance just to be safe, both said the rims were straight. One shop did the RFS test and one of the wheels was 17lbs, but they said that was likely not the issue then left it. I haven't heard any clunking noises like Dountz described and i'm not too sure how I would check for the TPMS sensor coming apart. I have no TPMS errors on the dash. Thank you for all the help everyone!

[digis]

Just in case anyone was curious, after taking it to two other shops, one found that my front right wheel was bent. I already ordered one, hopefully this solves the issue. If not next step is to sell the car .

[agustincuenca]

I chased the same behavior and for me it was to mount the tires and make them be road force balanced, no issues ever since....I see that you already did that, I really hope you can find the solution. Good Luck!

[digis]

Thanks agustincuenca. I ordered the bent wheel replacement and had it mounted and balanced. The shaking still continues . I was really hoping to have this figured out by the weekend as i'm taking the car on a 4 hour road trip, now I get to hold the vibrator on high for an extended duration . Really not too sure what to do at this point. Going to go have discount tire road force balance all four one last time, then its tie rods next I suppose.

[miker2013]

while this may not be your problem, i was dealing with a very slight shimmy of steering wheel lately... i am very sensitive to vibrations and so i noticed it at most speeds altho it did increase with higher speeds

anyway, i recently took all 4 wheels off and noticed alot of dirt and grime and grease buildup on the wheel and hub mating surfaces... so i cleaned these surfaces really well and the shimmy went away completely

also, u can try changing the index positions of your front wheels one by one and see if you notice any change in the vibration or the speed at which the vibrations occur... if you do notice a change this suggests the wheels are the culprit

also check the play and the rolling resistance of your bearings

let us know how u make out

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by digis

Thanks agustincuenca. I ordered the bent wheel replacement and had it mounted and balanced. The shaking still continues . I was really hoping to have this figured out by the weekend as i'm taking the car on a 4 hour road trip, now I get to hold the vibrator on high for an extended duration . Really not too sure what to do at this point. Going to go have discount tire road force balance all four one last time, then its tie rods next I suppose.

15lbs is a decent amount. This is almost always a balance or wheel issue. swap wheel with someone and see if the shimmy goes away.

Also try swapping your front wheels to the rear. If the front wheels are causing the issue then you won't feel it as much with them mounted on the rear.

[digis]

Hello again everyone and thank you for all the experiences and suggestions. The dude who road force balanced the wheels at discount swore up and down that the wheels and tires were good. He told me the fronts were 2 and 4 lbs. He didn't mention the backs but they were also tested.
I also considered swapping my fronts with my rears the other day, but the wheels and tires are different sizes so i'm not sure if they would be alright, but I will give it a shot when I get back from my trip. I don't have any friends and I sold the stock wheels . As far as the hub and wheel area, I scrubbed all of the surface rust off and applied a small amount of permatex anti-seize when ever I replaced the rotors and brakes which was done 2 months ago so unlikely it would be any build up. Thank you again everyone.

[autoart]

Have you checked the tie rods. On my wife's car the wheel was shacking. with the car on the ground, I just grabbed the tie rod and it moved around.Fixed the problem and their only about $40 a side and easy to do. I got a alignment after.

[digis]

Hello all, little update. I managed to put the rears in the front (barely) and took the car for a quick drive. Got the car on the highway and the shaking was about the same so that leads me to believe that it is something other than the wheels or tires. Going to have another look and see if I can find any loose joints or anything in the suspension tomorrow.

[digis]

Replaced the tie rods and shaking continues, also in need of another alignment now. I want to say its a wheel and tire issue but seeing as how I swapped the rears with the fronts and was it still shaking, that crosses that off the list no?

[tlow98]

I would think that would eliminate the wheels.

How are your shocks, shock mounts, etc?

[digis]

Hello again everyone, I inspected the shocks and mounts, the mounts were shot but the struts and springs seemed fine. I replaced the mounts and the issue is still occurring. Kind of over messing with the car at this point, i'll give it another go in a few weeks or so. I'll probably address the flex disc next.

[PhilNAmazing]

OP, I had a similar issue as you recently. It drove me nuts. Fortunately, I found out it was my motor mounts that were blown and had them switched out with OEM ones. Vibrations went away after that and car feels solid now!

-Phillip

[MEN54]

OP, Any update?

[NinetyEight740]

Are these aftermarket wheels? You said you sold your stock wheels. Whatever wheels you have, are they the right size hub? Hub centric rings?

[digis]

Hello everyone, the wheels are Varrstoen ES1's with a hub size of 72.6mm which is the correct size for the e90 as far as i'm aware. There are no hub rings or spacers on the car. When ever i'm messing with the car next i'll make sure to take a look at the motor mounts like PhilNAmazing suggested. Thank you for the help again everyone it is much appreciated.

[digis]

Hey guys, 10 month update.
Still haven't figured this out. To fully ensure it wasn't a wheel or tire issue I went and found a used set of 162's, had some new tires mounted and road forced, annnnd it still has the shimmy. Next time I go for a drive and it starts acting up I will try and get a short video. I took a look at the flex disc pretty recently, it's a bit hard to see but it looked alright. Could there be cracks that couldn't be seen with a quick look over? My gut at this point is telling me either very slight caliper drag or something to do with the driveshaft. Any other thoughts?

[digis]

Another update. I've surprisingly managed to reduce the shimmy by around 85-90%.

The only thing I've changed since the last update is do a front end alignment with toe plates at my house. It's mostly stock, so the only front end adjustment is the tie rods. The front end was toed out quite bad (despite an alignment on a hunter machine not too long ago) and the end result was my fronts being chewed on the outside edge of the tires. After being screwed around with at a few different shops, I decided I would try my hand at it. I aligned it at 1/16th toed in with a tape measure. It doesn't really make any sense that this made a difference as I had replaced the tie rods and had it realigned and it did nothing. I was under the impression that an alignment would not effect the vehicle shimmying but I have done nothing else to it. At the end of the day the shimmy is still slightly there but I think i'm going to take this victory and call it a day.

Thanks for everyone's input and attempts to help, they were all greatly appreciated.