Steering Wheel Vibration FAQ

Just spitballing here, but could varying pressures in the tires also create vibration? E.g. one tire at 28psi another at 32psi... etc

SilverDust wrote  

Just spitballing here, but could varying pressures in the tires also create vibration? E.g. one tire at 28psi another at 32psi... etc

Nope. Uneven pressures will cause handling issues but not vibration.

Had an annoying vibration at 120km/hr as well.

turns out the tyre had to be rotated 80 degrees around the wheel rim. took 3x Road Force test to figure it out.

heavy spot in the tire wasn't matching up. fixed it and shaking was gone. took more than 1.5 years to figure out ffs.

I have been having this annoying rhythmic steering wheel vibration usually above 80mph on most freeways. However, there are /some/ stretches of freeways where I don't have such vibrations, and there are some where the vibration is quite bad. All the above stretches of freeways seems equally smooth to me.

My front tires are probably in need of replacing and rebalancing. Mech also commented on how the inside of the front tires are wearing faster probably due to improper camber. I'll have those fixed soon but in the mean time any idea why some stretches of road is vibration free while others aren't? and that this only happens above ~80mph?

aleck wrote  

I have been having this annoying rhythmic steering wheel vibration usually above 80mph on most freeways. However, there are /some/ stretches of freeways where I don't have such vibrations, and there are some where the vibration is quite bad. All the above stretches of freeways seems equally smooth to me.

My front tires are probably in need of replacing and rebalancing. Mech also commented on how the inside of the front tires are wearing faster probably due to improper camber. I'll have those fixed soon but in the mean time any idea why some stretches of road is vibration free while others aren't? and that this only happens above ~80mph?

I have experienced what you are experiencing. It does appear to be your wheel/tyre being out of balance. You're actually getting vibration all the time, but some roads have a sufficiently coarse surface texture to cancel out the vibrations you would otherwise feel on a smoothly textured road.

Go to a good tyre balancing shop. Ask them to check whether there's too much runout in the tyre or alloy wheel. Excess runout is the number one reason why you get vibration even when the wheel and tyre is perfectly balanced on a dynamic balancing machine. If the runout is not excessive but sufficient to cause vibration, you'll need to have the tyres road force balanced. If your alloy wheel has excess runout, get it straightened or replaced.

aleck wrote

I have been having this annoying rhythmic steering wheel vibration usually above 80mph on most freeways. However, there are /some/ stretches of freeways where I don't have such vibrations, and there are some where the vibration is quite bad. All the above stretches of freeways seems equally smooth to me.

My front tires are probably in need of replacing and rebalancing. Mech also commented on how the inside of the front tires are wearing faster probably due to improper camber. I'll have those fixed soon but in the mean time any idea why some stretches of road is vibration free while others aren't? and that this only happens above ~80mph?

If your tires are worn and need replacing, do it before you spend a bunch of time trying to find the problem.

They will be balanced and ready to then fix the issue if there is one. A bent rim may be discovered during tire change on the balancing machine. Dirt on the mounting surfaces. You say but how would dirt get in there? It develops chemically because the wheel is aluminum and the rotor is steel. Clean all the old weights and crap off the wheel while it's off the car.

Inside tire wear could be alignment but more likely it's the factory camber settings.

I was having wheel vibration starting at 65mph.
Solved my wheel vibration by removing the spacers installed by the previous owner.

I was also having steering wheel vibration between 60 and 80 mph, both with and without spacers (15mm front and 12mm rear). Had an alignment done and had the tires balanced. Vibration gone. Haven't reinstalled the spacers yet to see if that causes a vibration.

Hello guys. Thank you mlhj83 for the details. Really helps alot. I would like to share my situation before i attempt to replace some parts. I might get some help here to determine the problem.

I have sunday drive 08 e93 m3 with KW Sleeve overs for about 5 years now. But i owned the vehicle since 2012. And the intermittent vibration is really annoying me. When the car was stock height with stock wheels it was solid and never had any issue. Then i got custom made 20 inch wheels with F : 265/30/20 and 285/30/20 setup. Wheels made for the car they re hub centric 72.6 exact. I also added BBK 380s all around so had to use 4mm custom made spacer in the rear with hub extender. But never had any issue. Vibration was there before or after. I dont think there is nothing to do with that spacer. Fronts never had spacers and they are torqued correctly.

2 years ago i had this wobbling feeling on high way and decided to replace the control / thurst arms using oem product. While i was doing it i also got new Hankook tires v12 k120s. And i am running this tires since i have my custom wheels. SO with the brandnew control arms + brandnew wheels + really good alignment i was still getting this vibration randomly. The weird part is one day is rock solid , one day shimmy. i cant really understand the logic. Thats why i am writing here.

After having the issue with brandnew setup, i took the vehicle to a brandnew tire shop here which they were just opened and had brandnew laser balance machine. They only do tire replacements and balance nothing else. so they found out the front driver or passenger side was little bit out of balance so they rotated the tire around the wheel to make perfect balance. And all my balances done Road Force so i was having little hope that would solve the problem but did not.

After that rotation process, i have a little air leak on passenger side which i will address it soon, so i try to keep each wheel at the same psi before start driving. And i know that uneven tire pressure also causes shimmy steering. But all being in the same psi also doesnt help.

My next step is replacing the front Wheel hubs and front struts but before i do that what is the impact of the tire brand?

If i replace them to Michelin PSS, them being better sidewalls might solve the issue? Or getting a monoball control arm bushing can decrease the shimmy steering wheel feelings on a lowered e9x m3?

After having this issue, i have talked my 3 buddy. They all have this shimmy feeling at 60-80 and one of them has brandnew bbs with brandnew tires w KW v2 kit. SO lowering the m3 definitely causing some issue on steering feel i think.

(As a note here, when i was stock i did push the gas little hard while i was turning on intersection and the car slide little further than i expected and the front driver side wheel touch the side wall slightly and made a curb rash. but it was really minor. This always make me think of what if the driver side wheel hub somehow effected.) . I put the new rims quickly after this situation. and slightly sanding my old rim really remove the curb rash before i ship them out to the new owner.

I hope i explained my situation enough to find some solutions here. Thank you.

I know this is an old thread but some really good information.
However , I have had an 2012 e93 m3 for about 8 months now , and as many of you , I am getting
vibration in the steering wheel around 65 mph into the 80s. I have two sets of rims , and I have replaced tires as well and same issue. One set (437m) require front spacers but they were removed and all 4 stock wheels were put on , same issue. Got the car this way unfortunately but can’t figure it out.
I also got an alignment which they said it was slightly off but nothing crazy.

Yeah seem to be no answers anywhere...
I have a 2013 M3 80k miles, shake at 75-88mph got super noticeable with ecs and bimmerworld spacers. This is across multiple wheels, have a slight shake on my BBS RIA, and 359 with no spacer and I think spacer on my 359's exaggerate to the point of undrivable. Ive read so many forums trying to find an answer and there really are none. Yes my wheels/tires are RFB since everyone seems to say this fixes it lol. Even my most recent 359 with brand new michelins I got RFB by Firestone and then redone at BMW dealer (I'm 500$ into balancing these wheels this month and dealer was cheaper than firestone LOL). suspension arms have been replaced, not really sure what could be causing this and it seems like a ton of people are in similar boat.

Make sure everything on the surface of your Hub and on the back surface of the wheel are absolutely clean of any sort of oxidation or dirt

Cross threaded..
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpost.php?p=31712285&postcount=3
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpost.php?p=31715869&postcount=5
.

4corners wrote

Make sure everything on the surface of your Hub and on the back surface of the wheel are absolutely clean of any sort of oxidation or dirt

Yep I have wire brushed them, even the dealer took them off and put them back on during the RFB and wasn't any better. I've followed all the crazy tq ideas of half on the ground, etc

DrFerry wrote

Cross threaded..
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpost.php?p=31712285&postcount=3
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showpost.php?p=31715869&postcount=5
.

Yeah this is across multiple wheels/tires. I have brand new Michelin psas on 359m comp wheels with spacers. Spacers exaggerate the issue to undrivability, without spacers it still shakes but is livable.
I've had the wheel road force balanced by Firestone and BMW dealer after. Both noted no noticeable bends.

ethhaynes7 wrote

Yeah this is across multiple wheels/tires. I have brand new Michelin psas on 359m comp wheels with spacers. Spacers exaggerate the issue to undrivability, without spacers it still shakes but is livable.
I've had the wheel road force balanced by Firestone and BMW dealer after. Both noted no noticeable bends.

Sorry to hear that. A couple of other things come to mind. #1 It’s possible a front rotor is warped or pad deposits are the cause. #2 If the tire beads are not seated properly on the rim vibration will result. Even 0.5mm of lateral run out will cause noticeable vibration. Sometimes the shop may need to put the tires in a cage and inflate to a high pressure after relubing the tire beads and rim. I’ve seen videos recently where loose pad carrier slide bolts can cause vibration - as can lateral run out of the brake rotor. When did this all begin? With the new tires or before that?

I’ve had pad deposits cause shimmy before on other cars. Bedding them in again fixed it. I’ve also been successful other times with roadforce balance. On the M I had poorly manufactured spacers cause vibration and poorly powder coated wheels where they didn’t mask the hub surface/centerbore. It made my wheel not sit flush against the hub unless I was super careful with the lug nut tightening sequence. I converted to studs because I swap wheels a lot during the year.

DrFerry wrote

Sorry to hear that. A couple of other things come to mind. #1 It’s possible a front rotor is warped or pad deposits are the cause. #2 If the tire beads are not seated properly on the rim vibration will result. Even 0.5mm of lateral run out will cause noticeable vibration. Sometimes the shop may need to put the tires in a cage and inflate to a high pressure after relubing the tire beads and rim.

I’ve seen videos where loose caliper pad carrier slide bolts can cause vibration as can lateral run out of the brake rotor. When did this all begin? With the new tires or before that?

I noticed it a lot with 359m wheels got new Michelin all season pilot sports and and ecs and Bimmerworld spacers. My summer setup 18x10 BBS RIA don't need spacers, I actually put the summers back on and also feel the vibration and 79-90mph its just less with no spacers. Spacers make it undrivable with the vibration. I had my 359's rebalanced road force balance and all at BMW dealer after getting tires road force mounted by firestone. Dropping car back off at shop later this week to see if they find any bushings

ethhaynes7 wrote

I noticed it a lot with 359m wheels got new Michelin all season pilot sports and and ecs and Bimmerworld spacers. My summer setup 18x10 BBS RIA don't need spacers, I actually put the summers back on and also feel the vibration and 79-90mph its just less with no spacers. Spacers make it undrivable with the vibration. I had my 359's rebalanced road force balance and all at BMW dealer after getting tires road force mounted by firestone. Dropping car back off at shop later this week to see if they find any bushings

FYI: Spacers exacerbate wheel vibration IF the spacers are not hub centric. The back side center bore of the wheel face has a conical chamfer to center the wheel on the hub (which also has the matching conical male chamfer). Tolerance stack up with non hub centric spacers (example = stud centered type) causes excessive radial run out. Are your 359M wheels actually German BMW OEM wheels or are they made in China, or similar? Sorry to ask but even many “imported” Asian wheels today may have run out dimension variations exceeding BMW specifications.

DrFerry wrote

FYI: Spacers exacerbate wheel vibration IF the spacers are not hub centric. The back side center bore of the wheel face has a conical chamfer to center the wheel on the hub (which also has the matching conical male chamfer). Tolerance stack up with non hub centric spacers (example = stud centered type) causes excessive radial run out. Are your 359M wheels actually German BMW OEM wheels or are they made in China, or similar? Sorry to ask but even many “imported” Asian wheels today may have run out dimension variations exceeding BMW specifications.

Appreciate the help here so far and the lots of quick responses!

Yes hub centric ECS spacers and then I got 12mm hub centric Bimmerworld spacers. Car shakes without and with its just exaggerated. Yes they are OEM BMW 359M wheels that should only have about 35k miles on them although they are very curbed up from the first owner. No refinishing on them yet. My bmw dealer said they looked good on the road force since I mentioned maybe bend, but I know my BBS RIA I got I'm pretty sure arnt bent and those have a tiny shake I feel that I assume if I put spacers on would get worse.
My car has had the thrust arm and tie rods replaced about 20k miles ago when a prior owner also felt the shake. My thought process is its tension arm, control arm, wheel bearing or brake rotor

ethhaynes7 wrote

Appreciate the help here so far and the lots of quick responses! Yes hub centric ECS spacers and then I got 12mm hub centric Bimmerworld spacers. Car shakes without and with [them] its just exaggerated. Yes, they are OEM BMW 359M wheels that should only have about 35k miles on them although they are very curbed up from the first owner. No refinishing on them yet. My BMW dealer said they looked good on the road force since I mentioned maybe bend, but I know my BBS RIA I got I'm pretty sure aren't bent and those have a tiny shake. I feel that I assume if I put spacers on would get worse. My car has had the thrust arm and tie rods replaced about 20k miles ago when a prior owner also felt the shake. My thought process is its tension arm, control arm, wheel bearing or brake rotor

Some road force machines only capture radial force variation and don't sample lateral force variation caused by lateral run out of the assembly from a bent wheel. Though it's unusual to have lateral run out and not some radial run out at the same time. Since your 359M wheels were very curb scrubbed - from the previous owner - it's possible those wheel(s) were slightly bent. A 0.5mm to 1mm bend is quite hard to see with the naked eye. You mentioned the previous owner also felt the shake and replaced some parts (thrust arm and tie rods) so it's possible the root cause could just have been bent wheels from curb impact scrub.

This logic is supported by the fact that your BBS RIA wheels considerably reduce the shake. Before spending more money ($$) on suspension parts you could ask the Dealer to try some different (and newer) wheels and tires to confirm the reduced shake as seen with your BBS RIA wheels. The BBS RIA assemblies could also be slightly out of balance.

Possible Root Cause Analysis Cascade:

1) Ask Dealer to try alternative set of wheels and tires
2) Check 359M wheels for lateral and radial run out by a wheel repair service
3) Check lateral run out of the brake rotors
4) Check for pad deposition on the brake rotors (discoloration) and clean the brake rotor surfaces
5) Check for wheel bearing play (though a bad bearing is audible)

Good luck. Please report back with what you or the Dealership discover.

Check also alignement i noticed front TOE near 0 or out (opened front axle) exacerbates vibrations,

where as a little TOE in (closed front axe) reduce them

But it's a complex assembling of root causes, rims, tires, brakes, suspensions, it's difficult to cure them