BIG Front End Vibration..
 

First off:
2001 X5 4.4i Sport Package
99,980 Miles

I have an odd vibration that starts up only after about 5-10 min of driving. It feels like a wheel is going to fall off. With both hands on the wheel you can't make it stop. Shakes to bad to go much more than 40 mph. Seems to be worse under engine braking, or weight transfer to the front. If you apply the brakes, that seems to stop the shaking. Untill you let go of them. Here are some of the things I have done:

1. Had a wheel alignment/balance done.
2. Jacked up and checked for wheel bearing play, didn't have any. No noise from them either.
3. Pushed and pulled all the sway bar links/bushings. All seems fine.
4. Front axles seem fine, all the boots are in good shape.
5. Rotors seem fine, light or heavy braking actually make it better.
6. Lugs on wheels are all tight.
7. In the snow you can goose it and all 4 wheels spin, so I don't think the transfer case has a problem.

So, I'm stuck. Anybody have any ideas?

Could I have a front differential problem? If so, how do I check it?

Thanks in advance. Sorry I only take from xoutpost, maybe someday I can provide help to others.

U may wanna check ur thrust arm bushings, lower control arm bushings. ball joints and tie rod ends, at that kind of milage those things start to go just from normal wear and tear.

So, got me thinking.. Why the 5-10 min of no problems. Must be a temperature related problem. So I drove it around till it started shaking, then went home and jacked it up. Front right wheel turns no problem. Front left was stuck and what hot as hell. So, I think I have a caliper sticking that is causing all of this. I'll update the thread after I replace the caliper.

I guess first 5-10 mins with no problem is probably it hasn't reached to the speed that would trigger the shimmy. it sounds to me the control arm(wishbone) ball joint.

do you get more vibration when driving over manhole or pothole at 30-40 mph speed?

Hey, I think it is the caliper. I usually search things just to read and I do recall a scenario like yours. Do a search and just open threads that have allot of replies.

Goodluck and update!

I agree it sounds like a stuck caliper..That has happened before on X5's (and other vehicles I'm sure) and isn't rare for that to happen..

It was a stuck caliper for sure. Replaced both front calipers, rotors and pads. All seems to be in good shape now.

I know a lot of poeple pointed to all the ball joints/bushings in the front end, but man.. even with 100K on it, this thing is solid. All the front end parts are in great shape, and no sign of play.

Anyway, thought I would update for anybody that might find this odd shaking after 5 min of driving.

Thanks,
Tom

My 2001 X5 3.0L has started showing exactly these symptoms, and I too was leaning towards something loose in the front suspension - but that did not explain the 7min (at local driving speeds) that the car seemed to be fine before the problem started. I too noticed that the front wheel (left front) smelled hot, and I am suspecting the brake is binding..

I just need to look up if that is the caliper that was replaced only a couple of years ago, in which case I won't buy that brand again..

Axles.
So I just went through this same shit. I also thought it was binding calipers, ordered rebuild parts, which were surprisingly cheap for a 4.8is. Went to install and pushed in all of the pistons by hand. Only ended up changing the slide pin bushings, just because the pins were greased by me at one point to try and fix this problem. You do not greese slide pins, just FYI.

Had to drive for a while to get it to start shaking. Nothing would stop it, just make it less slightly. Getting on the brakes hard made it stop. Once shaking started, it would be at all speeds.

Then I did an alignment. Then road force balance. Nothing helped. I must be retarded and can’t find bad bushing? Went to mechanics and started driving on a lift. Found out that one of my brand forking new continental dws 06 were not straight treads. There is a slight wobble in one of my tires, wtf? Anyway, mechanics and I agree that that is only visible in the air, and it would make car shake all the time if that was the case. Most likely a belt problem, and not visible on road force machine. Ok.

Then they grabbed my axles. And my drivers side sounded like a bag of nuts. 110k miles, nyc pothole riddled roads, not bad for original axles. Anyway. Axles in the front have some slide and give due to steering. When you grab the axle by hand, car not moving lol, and try to wiggle it UP and DOWN, not side to side, it should be solid. Mine was clanking and had a good 1/4” deflection.

None of us were sure this is the fix, but at my mileage, and me suspecting my axles are shot anyway, I went ahead and swapped them out.

So far issue has not returned. My theory is that once the greese in the axles warmed up, there was noting holding them in line, and since they are not balanced, only some miracle at 120 mph made it go away.

I have a shimmy in the steering wheel at 98-105 kph but it's not felt in the car only the steering wheel and you can apply force to the wheel and it gets reduced. I have all new joints, tie rods, bags etc. plus rebuilt the steering rack and nothing has fixed it not even high speed balancing. Any ideas?

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