Front End Shudder - Part II

[hayaku]

yes, number 7 is the sway bar endlink.

JV has instructions for replacing those... i have pics and instructions on how they mount up to the shock body in the rogue engineering camber plate install... both found in the articles section under suspension.

[UCrewX5]

Originally Posted by hayaku

yes, number 7 is the sway bar endlink.

- and yes, I replaced mine with OEM parts.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by diogenes!

With the wife's X5, it only happens at highway speeds(65+) when you apply the brakes, and will stop completely when the speed drops below 45. There's no pedal pulsing that would indicate a warped rotor. Temperature doesn't seem to matter either. It actually seems worse with light pedal pressure and pressing the pedal harder slows it down. The fact that replacing the control arms had a definite effect makes me think that I'm still dealing with worn suspension components.

Sway bar end links is prob'ly the least expensive thing to try next. UCrew - did you go OEM or aftermarket?

Diogenes, that is almost exactly the descrip of my situ, too!

Hayku, re: "when was your brake fluid last flushed? the guideline is at least once every 2 years." I had it done, under Maint, by Stlr less than a year ago...the anomaly seemed the same, before and after new brake line juice.
BR,md

[01X52Quick]

I have the EXACT same problem. Stlr told me I "ran through water" and needed new brakes. They wanted $700 to do the job. $200 in parts from egerman and 3 hours later, new brembo brakes, same problem.

Control arms/Ball joints are next, ordering them Monday from Rob_

I will have them on Wednesday and let you know the outcome.

After that will be sway links. After that.... a Volvo XC90. I have had enough of this BMW and the "CPO Warranty".

BTW Its a 2001 3.0

Rodric
Charleston, SC

[diogenes!]

Originally Posted by 01X52Quick

Control arms/Ball joints are next, ordering them Monday from Rob_

I will have them on Wednesday and let you know the outcome.

Please keep us updated - I'm sure this thing can be beat. The car drove great when we bought it - AAMOF, that's what sold me on it; an SUV that handled almost like a sports car.

BTW, is "Rob_" the source that gives discounts to forum members? I'd rather patronize a friend of the group than a stlr any day - especially if I can save a couple $$.

After that will be sway links. After that.... a Volvo XC90. I have had enough of this BMW and the "CPO Warranty".

Hang in there. I've never had much faith in stealerships - any decent mechanic can make better money on his own. Not to say there aren't good mechanics at dealerships, but IMO they're hard to come by. I doubt Volvo stlrs are any better...

[UCrewX5]

Originally Posted by diogenes!

BTW, is "Rob_" the source that gives discounts to forum members? I'd rather patronize a friend of the group than a stlr any day - especially if I can save a couple $$.

Yes, the dealership that Rob works at is giving X5world members excellent discounts. We are in talks right now about how to make it easier for members to make parts requests via the site. In the mean time, send Rob_ a PM with your needs.

Jeff

[jst2878]

hi, my name is justin and I am a victim of high speed steering wheel shake from 65 to 80. im not sure what it could be now that I have already changed the front tension bushing and ball joint, front swaybar links, cut front rotors, front control arm, and I still have it. i just balanced the wheels yesterday and there balanced. my bentley manual tells me that 60mph shaking is a leading problem caused by thrust arm bushing but I'm not sure if thats it. i guess its going to be more time and money to solve this crap

[primetime]

Thrust arm bushing is the correct. Meaning that its most likely the reason for the shudder.

[jac]

jst2878: Sounds like your problem is different than the one being discussed in this thread. From your description, your shake is when increasing speed between 65 and 80. In contrast, the issue being discussed here is between decreasing speed (i.e. braking) betwen 65 and 60 and then again between 50 and 45 (or something like that)... IMHO, your issue sounds like an alignment problem.

Anyhow, I also have had the issue with shudder/shaking of the steering wheel (but not on brake pedal) when braking at the speeds listed throughout these posts. In my case, I have replaced the pads and rotors and the tires and had alignment done. And the issue has remained. I even had the "runout" gauge through the rotors to make sure they were perfect and they were... That happened about 2 yrs ago.

Now I am replacing the brakes and tires again... Got it aligned again, so I think I am going to try the sway end links repair and see if that fixes it. If not I will move to the control arms.

BTW, mine is a 2001 3.0 X5 (Standard suspension not sport) with 130K miles and the issue above started to occur around 100K.

[jac]

For those looking for the front "sway bar link end", they are also referred to as front "swing support". The part numbers (different for passenger and driver side) are:

31 35 6 750 703 and 31 35 6 750 704.

It is item #7 in the diagram below.