Brake issues - end of my wits!

[mdat25]

Hi all,

I have a 2003 x5 4.4i - in a pretty awesome shape. Bought it as a second car a couple of months ago (from its only owner ever) and has no problems except for one: the steering wheel shakes when braking.

The obvious answer was of course rotors. Got those changed - with OEM parts mind you - along with the front pads at a reputable, national car repair chain. Unfortunately, the shaking of the steering wheel did not stop (again only during hard braking). Took the car back and they said that the lower control arms and the bushings were in a bad shape and that could be causing it. Again, got those changed, too. But the problem persisted. Finally, the shop said that it could be that the rotors they installed were somewhat warped to start with, so (you guessed it) they installed another set of new rotors and pads.

Then, we did wheel balancing, another alignment, and prayed to every car god that the problem was finally exorcised!

Unfortunately, that didn't work either - although it did get better. The only time the wheel shakes now (rather violently too) is when braking hard on freeway, right around 60mph.

I have asked them to look at front suspension, the caliper pistons, and anything else I could think of. They said they saw no issues.

Can anyone think of anything else that could be the source? Car has around 190k but mostly highway miles and again, in pretty good shape.

Thanks!