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  #21  
Old 06-11-2019, 01:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omodos View Post
Believe it or not have a slight slack in the steering wheel when car is off I believe (for years), garage tried to tighten in (got to it from below) but still the same
Well that's a problem. I posted on here with some details of how I fixed it back around Feb 2015. After the fix, there is no free-play at all. I can see how that is the sort of thing that if you're holding the wheel and driving, you won't feel any vibration due to the dead zone. But with hands off, it can wobble a little.
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  #22  
Old 06-11-2019, 03:02 AM
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Originally Posted by oldskewel View Post
Well that's a problem. I posted on here with some details of how I fixed it back around Feb 2015. After the fix, there is no free-play at all. I can see how that is the sort of thing that if you're holding the wheel and driving, you won't feel any vibration due to the dead zone. But with hands off, it can wobble a little.
Well looks like the guys posting here have convinced me of the risks of driving with odd tires.....gonna go get em alla swapped to same spec brand etc....I will for sure check your post but do recall the garage trying to rectify from below and it would not tighten up anymore......ok thanks again
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  #23  
Old 06-11-2019, 07:02 AM
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Originally Posted by oldskewel View Post
Sometimes you go and find the problem. Sometimes you sit back and let the problem find you. This might be something in the latter category.

But hey, something completely different that should be easy to check ...

Sometimes the steering wheel gets a little loose on these cars due to a problem at the double u-joint in the steering column.

With the car parked and off, can you feel any loose wiggle in the steering wheel?

When I first got my '01 3.0i, it had about 2 cm of left-right wiggle like that. For me, it turned out to be a simple matter of loosening, recentering, and torquing/threadlocking the set screws that hold the double-u-joint assembly to the column. That assembly is visible with not too much effort on the 3.0i, looking down in the engine bay. Once tightened properly, it should be perfectly tight, with no slop.

Had all four tires changed to be the same tread brand etc and still at 65mph and over i get the steering wobble left to right not as far as 2cm maybe 0.5-1.0cm, have to check the looseness when the car is parked and off and will revert.
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  #24  
Old 06-11-2019, 08:23 AM
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change your rotors i had the same problem fixed 95% of the vibration next i would do bushing or ball joints but start with the rotors
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  #25  
Old 06-11-2019, 08:37 AM
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Hmmm good thinking, maybe an idea to get another alignment too? as for rotors gonna get them skimmed at some point but was not getting this steering shake at 65mph and over in recent past....
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  #26  
Old 06-11-2019, 09:20 AM
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I wouldnt do alligment again trust me get rotors done

do you get vibration 0 -60 too and worse at 65?

try northsideimports.com out of new jersey great prices
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  #27  
Old 06-11-2019, 09:43 AM
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Originally Posted by tmat1977 View Post
I wouldnt do alligment again trust me get rotors done

do you get vibration 0 -60 too and worse at 65?

try northsideimports.com out of new jersey great prices
My friend wish i was state side, am pretty long way out.

I don't get any wobble until i hit 60-65mph, and stepped on it a little today and it doesn't get less or worse at higher speed, when i say 'it' i mean the motion indicated by crude arrows in pic (0.5-1cm motion), and as I said cannot feel it in normal driving or steering, only if I use the 2 fingered andrewwynn driving tactic or let go altogether is when i see it wobble, but stays centered and I don't skew off to the left or right of road
Just don't want this to be the reason my tires get chewed especially as they are new.....
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Last edited by omodos; 06-11-2019 at 09:48 AM.
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  #28  
Old 06-11-2019, 10:34 AM
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Originally Posted by wpoll View Post
Yeah, all bets are off with mismatched tyres..
Got em all swapped today (so transfer case damage worries kinda gone) now reading up the posts and replies wondering if it is my U joint knuckle being loose causing my 60-65mph slight wobble in steering, any ideas on how cumbersome this is to do on our 3.0d? oldskewel posts it took him 5 odd minutes to do on his 3.0i.
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  #29  
Old 06-11-2019, 10:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldskewel View Post
Sometimes you go and find the problem. Sometimes you sit back and let the problem find you. This might be something in the latter category.

But hey, something completely different that should be easy to check ...

Sometimes the steering wheel gets a little loose on these cars due to a problem at the double u-joint in the steering column.

With the car parked and off, can you feel any loose wiggle in the steering wheel?

When I first got my '01 3.0i, it had about 2 cm of left-right wiggle like that. For me, it turned out to be a simple matter of loosening, recentering, and torquing/threadlocking the set screws that hold the double-u-joint assembly to the column. That assembly is visible with not too much effort on the 3.0i, looking down in the engine bay. Once tightened properly, it should be perfectly tight, with no slop.
When you say left right you don't mean of course that the steering wheel went from left to right do you? but you were just able to wiggle steering wheel on axis of steering column as such by 2 cm while car off and steering unlocked? darn mechanic just called him up querying the slight slack, and he said there is no way to remove this slack.....so am starting to fume a bit now
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  #30  
Old 06-11-2019, 02:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by omodos View Post
When you say left right you don't mean of course that the steering wheel went from left to right do you? but you were just able to wiggle steering wheel on axis of steering column as such by 2 cm while car off and steering unlocked? darn mechanic just called him up querying the slight slack, and he said there is no way to remove this slack.....so am starting to fume a bit now
Sorry to hear you got all new tires and no improvement.

Here is that old post of mine on my fix back in the day:
https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ring-play.html

The 2 cm I'm talking about is the rotational motion of the steering wheel about its normal axis, and 2cm is measured at the wheel. So for example a point on the top of the wheel moves 2 cm left to right while a point on the bottom of the wheel moves 2 cm right to left.

And before the fix, this was a true loose dead zone. I could wiggle the wheel back and forth and nothing at all going into the steering rack would move.

After the fix there is no dead zone. Of course if you bump or pull on the steering wheel there will be some motion, but it is a compliance as if from a spring, vs. a free dead zone.

So to be extra specific regarding what your mechanic is telling you, it's the difference between compliance and a dead zone. With engine off, steering unlocked, parked, etc. ... Before my fix, I could rotate the wheel to the right, let go and the wheel would stay in a certain spot; then I could rotate the wheel to the left and it would move 2 cm to the left, I could release the wheel, and it would stay there, 2cm to the left of where it started. After the fix, although I may be able to pull firmly on the wheel and make it move (spring-like compliance), when released, it returns to where it started unless the wheels actually moved. That is normal.

And the fix I'm talking about is not from below, it is from above, through the engine bay. I had one of my kids wiggling the steering wheel left to right while I was looking and feeling around the double-u-joint assembly to figure out exactly what was loose. Before doing it carefully, I thought the problem was in the steering rack.
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Last edited by oldskewel; 06-11-2019 at 03:03 PM.
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