XSeries-forum

So at Christmas I had a front end wobble under braking. Tyres needed replacing so get them done along with tracking and balancing and the problem was still there. Turned out to be drivers side disc was warped slightly. I have a good relationship with my local garage and as the discs had very few miles on them (I had had over 100k out of previous set so it isn't down to my driving), they replaced them at cost.

Less than 2000 miles later the wobble is starting to reappear. I do 400 motorway miles a week across two journeys, Sunday and Friday with a short commute each morning/evening to/from office.

I've noticed the wobble is worse when the discs are hot. Any ideas as to why this has started to happen again (of course it good be that a wheel weight has come off and I will get this checked, but Im wondering is something else afoot. Sticking piston on the caliper maybe?

Smee

hi are they BMW ones or after market ? is the wobble on one side or both ? if one side swap the wheel over it might have a slight buckle if the problem goes to the otherside you have an answer .
  Do you have the original wheels on or after market ? also if you have gone down the E70 wheel route they need to have spigot rings on to centre the wheels even a few mm out would cause a wobble at relatively high speed .

Could be discs just had a set on my f15 less than two years old warped all round you could even feel it through the seat of your pants

[quote="sid10"]
hi are they BMW ones or after market ? is the wobble on one side or both ? if one side swap the wheel over it might have a slight buckle if the problem goes to the otherside you have an answer .
  Do you have the original wheels on or after market ? also if you have gone down the E70 wheel route they need to have spigot rings on to centre the wheels even a few mm out would cause a wobble at relatively high speed .
[/quote]

Original E53 wheels but after market discs

[quote="sid10"]
hi are they BMW ones or after market ? is the wobble on one side or both ? if one side swap the wheel over it might have a slight buckle if the problem goes to the otherside you have an answer .
  Do you have the original wheels on or after market ? also if you have gone down the E70 wheel route they need to have spigot rings on to centre the wheels even a few mm out would cause a wobble at relatively high speed .
[/quote]

Wouldnt a wheel buckle be addressed by balancing?

Sounds like the discs they used are too soft?  What make are they?

Yes but once the flimsy weights fall off you have the same problem , had a new tyre fitted last month and from putting taking the wheel off the balancer to fitting on the car the weights fell off in front of me , tyre fitter didn't even see ! Just the luck of the draw with fitters .
 

I've found buckled wheels and out of balanced wheels tend to cause a vibration at certain speeds,and usually you can drive around the worst of the vibration.
As you ay your wheel wobble is under braking I would suspect either discs or worn suspension bushes.
As you have had 100K out of your previos discs it shows your driving style and the fact that you do a lot of motorway cruising which doesn't involve a lot of braking per mile. You've only done 5k on these discs as well, I would be tempted to suspect worn bushes .
Very frustrating all the same, hope you get to he bottom of it soon and without great expense.

When I've had warped discs you can feel the brake pedal sort of moving up and down slightly under your foot too. Do you feel this, or is it just through the steering wheel that you can feel it. ?

A buckle or wheel weight falling off would only be at certain speeds generally in terms of the steering wheel shake. If it's under braking then either it's discs of the front control arms (that's another common issue for wheel wobble etc).

What make discs did they use?

I don't know what make of discus they sued but will find out. What are the OE spec - is it Pagid?
I will get the balance checked first and have the garage look at the bushes too

R

[quote="Smeeagain"]
I don't know what make of discus they sued but will find out. What are the OE spec - is it Pagid?
I will get the balance checked first and have the garage look at the bushes too

R
[/quote]

If they fitted Pagid then that would be the issue LOL. I only know because I fitted Pagid discs twice (second under their warranty) and both times warped very quickly. Got the BBKs now and no issues at all.

if you have a calliper binding, it will cause the disk to warp until it cools down again.

The warped disk can give symptoms of wheel balance issues when the disk gets hot & causes steering wheel wobble as it snatches.

Simple way to tell, is check wheel centre temperate after a journey or a long braking... and see which is the hottest.

Interesting as I've picked up that the wobble appears to egt worse the longer the journey - ie shot commute in the morning not much of a problem. 200 miles on Sunday night as its much much worse and of course there is more braking

So when you say the piston will cause it to warp until it cools, are you saying replace the calliper (if that's the fault) and the disc will subsequently be fine, or will it need to be replaced too. The garage originally said it could be a sticking piston

Smee

NO....dont replace the calliper... just get a repair kit off Flea-Bay..
i did my fronts & rears  when I had a jamming front calliper 6 months ago....

each kit does Both fronts or Both rears & cost about £30 each kit.
came with both pistons, the O ring seals & an outer gaiter for each side.
Took about an hour each side... and easy too...

Thanks. Is it this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E53-20 ... xyi-ZTXNjp