Vibration and steering wheel judder

[Johnny-p]

Hi all
I wonder whether some of you long time x5 owners out there can shed some light on this for me before I part with my meagre funds >:(
I get a very slight vibration through the chassis when under load accelerating away.
This then manifests itself into vibration through the steering wheel between 45-60mph.
It then settles down above this speed??
Now I know it's not wheel balance as I had all 4 done last weekend.
However I have 2 diamaris tyres on the front but two other different brands on the rears that only have about 3mm left and don't seem to have worn equally(or put on at different times)..
Could this be the culprit??
There are no problems with vibration or judder upon breaking so its not a sticky caliper or warped discs..
Any advice is gratefully appreciated as I have only owned this for a couple of weeks and want it running right as it is to be used for towing my caravan
Cheers
John.

[Sanj]

Have you had a KDS 4 wheel laser alignment done? Usually you can walk into Protyre and have them do a free check.

[Johnny-p]

No I haven't, only had the balancing done because the metal valve caps that were put on had all seized and one tyre looked a bit low so had to get new valves fitted.
I think I'm going to replace the rears anyway as I don't want to take any chances towing a caravan.
I had a newsletter from my local Indy with a voucher for 40% off a full geometry set up so may go that route..

Is there anything else untoward that it may be( I don't REALLY want to know ) but being new to the x5 world only two weeks old- I'd rather get a heads up from you guys and have a bit of a clue walking into the Indy- I've heard he knows his stuff but is not very forthcoming in finding the cheapest route of fixing problems 

[Horizon]

I would let your indie take a look for any play in the front bushes or ball joints. If you are taking it in for them to have a look at the alignment.
No point getting it aligned if something is worn. Someone on here had steering wheel judder under braking, replaced the disks and pads, only to find there was no improvement. Turned out to be worn bushes un the front suspension.
Good luck with the diagnosis.

[Nat]

Hi,

A shimmy @ 50-60 MPH is usually control arm bushes. Its a well documented problem on most 5/7 series BMW

Its usually these

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=31&fg=05

Regards,

Nat

[DougieV8]

I had a similar issue at the end of last year - the annoying thing was that the shudder would come and go at some speeds but was always there at others!

I got the wheel balancing checked - rebalanced but no major issue. Had no effect - arrgghh!

I ended up buying a new set of wheels - this sorted it. The fronts on my 20" wheels must be slightly buckled, nothing obvious to see and balancing up ok! Running it on 19" X6 wheels now.

BUT a week or so after this was done sorting the specific judder I got the irratic judder back again - On inspection I noted that my new X6 wheels were 3 in silver and and OSF in black! Yes - sticking caliper but obviously coming and going! I stripped down, popped out piston, cleaned up and put back together (remembering to be carefull with brake fluid level to save need for a computer bleed requirement). All sorted - Yay.

So two issues causing juddering at different speeds, one constant - one irratic. Need to get my 20" sorted and back on - nice to have a wee change

Hope this helps - All the best.

[Johnny-p]

Hi all
Just a quick update on this.
Took it into local Indy this morning and he took it on a quick run.
He new immediately what the problem was and you were all right it is very worn control arm bushes.
Quoted £240 all in to fit- sound about right??
Also did a good deal on a new set of rubber and 50% off a full laser alignment.
Hopefully this will cure it!!!
Thanks for all the heads up(great forum) !!!!!

[Johnny-p]

Well I've had the front bushes done and its tightened up the front end nicely..

However- the vibration is still there!!!!!

I haven't had the tyres changed yet as funds are a bit tight..

I did notice that one of the rears is a RFT, the other isn't.

The fronts are both Michelin diamaris and the vibration seems to manifest from the rear-

Coincidence ???