X5 wheels from 17" to 20" wheels
 

Hi,
I have a 2006 3.0i X5 and switched the 17" wheels to Y spoke 20" the look is awesome but I notice that the steering wheel shakes a little but when I am reducing speed to almost stop (freeway) shakes really hard. what could be causing this? do i need to take the wheels to balance ? any help will be appreciate.

I had a similar problem previously but the shaking occurred only at higher speed (in excess of 100km/h) and it was the result of the wheels not being properly balanced. Mine were off 50g per rim and it was major shakes!

wheel shakes during braking is generally a bushing not a wheel. Wheel shaking at speed is a result of mis-balanced wheels.

You might need hub centric rings. Style 214's (or Y spoke as you call it) were designed for the E70's and have a 72.6 center bore - (The E53's have a hub size of 72.56 mm and the E70's have a hub size of 74.1. In order to ensure that the rim are centered properly on the hub, a set of hub centric rings must be used to convert from the smaller size to the larger size.) I know because I have them on my '06 4.4:

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...-my-bimmer.jpg

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...-rear-shot.jpg

Looks good Chile1 :thumbup:

:thumbup:Nice ride Chile1

Beautifull looking X5 , congrats !

Usually when you feel a shake when braking, is a rotor problem, probably bent, it will be good to check it right away. (not good for suspension parts)
Wheel balance usually is between 55 and 60mph ( 90-110 kph), shaking at slow speeds usually is a bent brake rotor.

Another posibility is, if you are using not OEM brake pads, generic pads sometimes leaves a very thiny residue or pad coat over the brake rotor face, that translates to shaking when braking. One easy way to chack this problem is to find an empty street, go to 55mph and then brake as hard as possible until almost a complete stop, do this 4 or 5 times, your brakes will smell, but dont worry, you will have to drive 3 or 4 minutes without touching the brakes to cool them off, this is the best way to clean the rotor surface.

Good luck

Hubcentric rings for starters, then check control arms....period.

Control arms.
 

:iagree: It sounds like you need new control arms. I replaced mine at 85K and all my suspension/braking problems went away.