steering wheel shaking

[DONONE69]

hi, my steering wheel shakes under braking at certain speeds, i've had new discs and pads as they were on their way out but the shaking still persists, any ideas to what could be causing this? any help much appreciated, thanks

[Weasel]

I have this right now too, front lower control arms have slack in ball joint ends causing loose front end to shake under braking at certain speeds while braking. Maybe jack up the front and give it an old fashioned shakedown while having another set of eyes look at all the ball socket joints to find if that's the cause.

I'm installing new control arms this coming Saturday along with alignment, next stop rear airbags as I've finally developed a small leak. (96k miles I know just what to expect!)

[DONONE69]

Now that you have mentioned it, i remember having this problem on my previous e46 m3 and it was the wishbones, i begining to develop a love/hate relationship with my X5.. mines nearly hitting the 100000 miles mark

[DONONE69]

if it was the wishbone would it not shake just by driving along at certain speeds aswell as it happening whilst braking? i cant remember now if my previous car did!

[PMPNX5]

I just solved this problem on my X. It was only shaking while braking at certain speeds and not while driving. However it would make a "clunking" sound when going over even light bumps. While changing over my wheels I noticed play in the bushing at the inner end of the wishbone and went to the stealership to order the bushing and they told me they never replace the bushng they replace the entire wishbone and quoted me an absurd price. At the same time one of the techs I knew walked into the parts dept and told me to just replace the bolt that goes through that as the bolts wear and rust and prevent further tightening. I said the whole way home that there was no way it could work, but it did. 2K later (140K on X) no vibration and no clunking over bumps. Instead of the hundreds on a new wishbone and a day at the shop, it cost me $6 and 10 minutes to solve it. Deff worth the shot for anyone before attempting to go to the stealership. Just make sure you tighten the bolt/nut when the X is at it point of rest (lowered back to the ground) and not while in the air. Hand tight in the air obvi, but not cranked til at rest.

[PMPNX5]

Number 12 in this diagram if it helps.

[Weasel]

As I said, worth a shakedown. I myself have never seen the bolt wear and cause problems... but I live in the mild wintered south that never sees snow and the roads have never been salted. So I don't deal with the rust and corrosion problems seen elsewhere.

And on the X5 it doesn't cause a shake while driving, only under braking.

[akashyap]

Its going to be your FCABS

[Weasel]

Do you mean front control arm bushings? If so you're probably talking about the thrust arm bushings. These can cause a thump upon braking and can accentuate any shaking by allowing more movement, but don't cause the shaking discussed in this thread.

Oh, and

[akashyap]

I had the same problem in my X5 and yes it turned out to be my front control arm bushings. They were cracked and leaking oil. And i had the exact same symptoms the OP is having. And thanks!!