Vibrations still
 

Hey,


So this has been a battle with no end for me. I had a vibration in the steering for a bit now and decided to buy the ebay( seller deutschepartsusa) fake german kit and first sign showed very tight but on left or right turns i had horrible shaking which was due to faulty lower control arm bushings...so replaced with Febi brand new low control arms and well the shaking went away except for at 80 mph i have a shudder so after new lca i still have this problem i then took my rotors to have then cut to make sure their also even and arnt the source of the problem but my pulse feel went away and no more shaking when braking at like 50mph so that was fixed but at 80 i still have this shudder.

I was told by the guy cutting the rottors that it could be the wheel bearings if i still have some shudder while driving without braking or warped discs.

I just want to have some opinions from ppl who have delt with warped discs to bad CV joins that can cause a vibration. Its just getting really frustrating. I just did a full A/C overhaul wiht new everything except the evap.


TIA

check tire pressure!!! and the wheels themselves maybe you caught a pothole and the rim is bent. that would cause vibration when accelerating or braking. my problem though is that when i turn left or right at low speeds it seems as if wheels catch onto something and it clicks and vibrates? i dunno underneath everything is rock solid fluids i\are at top also! anyway check tire pressure

Well the tires are less then a month old and were new and balanced. I also had them swapped from front to back and no difference.

Do you feel it only when braking? if not leave the rotors alone. how about the long tube(sorry don't know name in english) that travels from tranny to TC. it has teeth that might be worn out.

Well my rotors had lines on them bc of the cheap fake branded parts so thats on me so i felt pulse and vib from pedal and once i got them shaved the vib from pedal and when braking went away but i still had the vib around 70-80 and i the drive shaft is what you mean i think. Well i have been paying good attention and i can add that when turning left at speed like a long left or a long right i can hear oscillating sound that sounds like a bad bearing on the wheels since once you go straight and less pressure on left or right the sound softens.

I am open to as many suggestions as possible...If this cant be solved then its the end of the line. Ive spent enough time with this.....I just want it fixed but even the dealer wants to just through parts at it at my expense...so please give me some input and ill check them out....it cant hurt ....

Here try this. I hope this will solve your problem. http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/73890-vibration-under-acceleration-flex-disc.html

hmmm Read about the flex disc ill take a look under this weekend. Thanks

Keep em commin....

So I would like to update my situation thus far.

The flex disc is just fine no issues its not even worn out....looks brand new and no play at least from visual and trying to move it around inspection by mechanic.

my tires were new but goodyear brand and i noticed a lot of bulges/lines on teh side wall so they rebalanced teh wheels and things improved a bit and after a week the vibration came back. looks that the tires are not wearing evenly.

so put new front breaks and today returned the goodyear tires for upgrade to the michelin energy mxv4 tires.

so when driving up to 60 everything is fine. if you floor it to 80 the steering starts to shake as you floor it once you let go allow the car to cruise around 75-80 the whole car vibrates yet again.

like i said front suspension has been inspected twice now and there is no play anywhere. the wheels dont seem to be bent...but i will ask discount tires to do roadforce balance and see how that goes afterwards.

so any suggestions as to what else i should do?

only thing i can do is replace the front end components one more time but thats another 600 dollars...

are you the only owner of the car? i am asking to see if there was ever an accident with it... if there was impact on the rear end, actually anywhere after accidents cars aren't the same!

I can say i had 2 accidents. the first was front the second was rear end. HOWEVER!!! most important after both accidents there were no vibrations.!!! this started around 80-90K

my first accident was around 30K front end but no damage to suspension or frame just bumper and upper hood.

my second accident i was clipped in the rear just bumper damage.

The only other thing that comes to mind was that one point i was short on cash and needed tires and found a shop that had the standard 17" rims with michelins on them that were only 1.5yrs old and pretty good thread left. I just swapped my rims for those but i did not have any vibrations at that time so that a side could i have bent rims ....that go unnoticed when balancing at low speed but become pronounced when speed is higher?

Hmmm.... This is probably not the fix but, I did experience something similar and it ended up being the bolts for the upper (forward) control arms needed to be torqued a little tighter and it fixed that little shimmy I had. Try it and I hope it works! Good Luck!

mine was a left front wheel bent... fixed and no more vibrations.

but was it the 17" i have 17" standard all around so...but either way saturday im gonna have them roadforce it to see...if that helps

hmmm it looks pretty tight but your right wont hurt to double check the nuts.

OK here is a question i hope someone knows how to answer.

If you raise one side (in this case left side) of the car. so that right front wheel is touching the ground then take the left wheel.

hold the left wheel at 9 and 3 and try to move left to right...in my case there is no movement i mean i forced as much as i could and in turn the whole car was moving on the jack so no bushing problems. however this part the whole assembly Attachment 49205

when i moved left to right the whole assembly in that pic would try to turn left and right just a bit (same amount as the wheel) but its very little. So i took hold of that spring and i could move it left and right just a bit.

so i opened the hood and took the dust cap (5)off the strut nuts.
Attachment 49206

so when looking down you have the main nut then the 3 smaller nuts and blow that is a rubber thing (i think number 7). large rubber bushing i guess now mine had fine hairline cracks i will take a picture tonight and post.

my question is: is the strut supposed to move like that? and if i have wear marks on that rubber thing (i think number 7) at the top of the strut is that normal and should i replace as in could that be causing my vibration?

I am having similar vibrations. Cruising at 110-130 Km/h there is an annoying shuddering of the entire vehicle. Rotated front to back and balanced all 4 wheels and tyres (today), and I still have the shuddering.
My front end shows no bad movement when I shake the rim/tyre when the car is in the air, neither did the rear. This week I'm going to return to the shop and ask them for a re-visit to the balancing. I will keep you informed of my progress. Hopefully it's progress. BTW, I have 20" wheels, non staggered, 285/something/20
PS. I think the assembly is supposed to twist as a whole unit. Not sure about the spring alone. Hopefully, an informed member will teach us!

I hope so...because i just replaced a brand new set of tires i drove at normal speeds 60-80mph and after just 3K miles tires were gone....so if this problem cant be found it has to be traded i can not sustain the amount of tires its going to go through lol

i knw the whole unit moves but should it be moving when all the components are tied together i though it supposed to be steady.....

Update 05/11/11

Went to the shop yet again to have that rubber thing looked at and it was all ok. so my left driver axle seems loose i mean you can grab it and shake it a bit...

second, my car has lost its alignment which is odd ive been driving very nice and just got one done 4-5 months ago. but I decided to replace the whole tierod assembly with lamfounder whatever brand. then i will go to butler tire. They do great alignment and highspeed roadforce balance at 130mphs so after that i would have spend 150+220+120labor=490.....and last would be the ball joints which are 34 bucks each from bilstein and if its not resolved bye bye goes the X.

Hey buddy, I too have this issue. But think mine is less sever then yours. I do have tire ware issues. But I do have the steering wheel shake as you described.
Has anyone looked around or pointed the finger at the steering box? I personally feel that the type of shakeing that the steering wheel does, I do feel (not hear) a slight hard material on hard material tap. Again, I don't hear it, just feel it.

Maybe a better definition is at each stroke of the shake, it has a definite, solid end point. Like shakeing a stick between two bricks. ( <-- but not that sever) This feeling does not remind me of a loose, worn out, or misaligned front end.

It reminds me of too much play between gear teeth to gear teeth. We will find these parts in the steering system, not the front of the chassis.

I'm just thinking out loud.

that might be the axle....on mine with all four wheels on the ground. if you go under and grab the front left axle you can try to move it from left to right as in from wheel to the transfer box so left (towards out side of car) and right ( towards the inside of the car) if that makes sense either way just wiggle it and see how much play you have....i hear it when sometimes going over bumps and its not the trust arm bushings....so i saw a post on youtube some guy with a 330xi replaced his axle and joint cuz of vibration but that was cuz he had a torn boot and never fixed it. now who knows mine is definitly worn cuz when compared to the right axle the right axle has almost no play at all just a hairline and thats with all your weight....so take a look at yours. BC i tried to move the tierod also and it didnt wiggle so steering is not the main cause of the vibration.....possible to not as severe.

I've just skim-read this thread, so I don't know if anyone has suggested this already, or indeed if you have done this....

I had a skyline a few years back and had similar to what you have described. It was the 3-piece alloy wheels that were buckled.

Basically I took it to a skyline specialist and he suggested swapping the front wheels with the back. The wheels were NOT staggered so we did. I took it for a drive and BINGO! It WAS the problem.

I'm assuming your wheels are the one piece standard, and that they are staggered as standard, so obviously it wouldn't be a good idea to do what I did, but perhaps borrow a set of wheels, all 4 to be sure, and then go for a run. This would at least elliminate the wheels/tyres, so you can then look at other sources if its not the wheels/tyres...

Forgot to add, the way we found out was to put the car on the ramp jacking it under the chassis so the wheels could turn. We started the car, put it in gear and saw all 4 wheels turning, and could physically see the wheels out of true. If you can't borrow another set of wheels, then just simply go to a garage that can do this.

Sounds very plausible. Most definitely worth the effort to see if this is the problem or not.

If you don't have access to an extra set of wheels you could put the spare on, that would let you test one corner at a time. Come to think of it, I might do that myself !

I have some shaking through the steering but it's not consistent. Sometimes it's quite bad by the time I get to 65mph, sometimes it's barely noticable all the way through to 80mph. Its peak is always about 70mph.

I will try that too...but when they balance the tires they barely added any weight to them....usually when its a bad rim they add and add and finally say its bent...but not a bad idea i have 4 jack stands too so will try...

on a second note about the bad CV causing some issues here are some vids on youtube that have the same sound as min...

1) YouTube - bad inner CV joint noise on driveaxle

2) YouTube - Clicking axle? Maybe this is your problem...

3) YouTube - BMW DIY #7 E-46 AWD FRONT AXLE SWAP

and 3rd is on a 330xi so same as our X's and he had bad cv that was causing vibration under acceleration. Now when im driving i feel the vibration but right when you floor it its realy bad...and the speed has not increased drastically thus i am going to replace my left front axle and joint. its only 80 bucks form partsgeek.com same part as ECS tunning (124) so ill do that then tierods then alignment and see how it goes.

Balancing a wheel is the balancing of its centrifugal forces using weights, not the shape and roundness of the wheel, which is what is in contact with the ground (albeit with a lump of rubber wrapped around it).:stickpoke

Imagine an egg that has been 'balanced' using weights. Roll that egg along a flat surface.... get the picture? Its exactly the same, as it was exactly the same for my skyline which I too had the wheels balanced time and again....until I got to the specialist!

Ohh dont get me wrong i know what you are saying...but i have a going bad cv joint and i had put new tierods (cheap) and 6months later i have a bad alignment....I can assure you i have not hit any potholes so i think the smart thing will be to replace the going bad cv joint then tie rods and get new alignment then do the balance but with roadforce and as you said...i mean thats all i have left...but yea i agree with you...thats what had happened to the goodyear tires after 3K miles they were egg shaped.

OK UPDATE!!!!

After a new left axle with new CV joint from parts geek (empi company) I noticed a huge reduction in vibration under acceleration. Also since i was going to do an alignment i decided to change out the whole tierod assembly and old ones were not worn out after inspection once it was removed so that was extra but better do it before alignment so i did. afterwards i went to butler tire and had them do the alignment and balance and i can say there is no more vibration. Its baby smooth and i feel a little "humming" but went up to 120mph and nothing so im finally happy. YAYAYAYAYA but will drive for a week or so and see if it stays this way.....

I hope this helps others.

GREAT NEWS!!!!
Thank's for share!

I had bad vibration when braking from 50-60 mph. Bentley service book says it's more likely to be worn front suspension components, not brakes. So I jacked up the front end, put in jackstands, and wiggled the wheels. Most motion occurred holding the driver's side wheel at 10:30 and 4:30, and pulling the wheel back and forth. (1:30 and 7:30 on the passenger's side.) So I got a friend to shake the wheel back and forth at those locations, while I laid under it with my hand on each of the 4 link ends - two are bushings, two are ball joints, on each side (8 total). There was detectable motion on all four bushings, and the two ball joints on the control arms. (The trailing link ball joints were OK.) So I replaced the two control arms, which include the bushings and the ball joints, and the two bushings at the forward ends of the trailing links. Problem went away.
You mentioned replacing the control arms, which include the respective ball joints and bushings, but you didn't mention the bushing on the trailing link. Jack up the car, and check for play in those bushings, at the forward end of the trailing links, while somebody shakes the wheels as described above.

Hey Imbvl,

Sorry for my ignorance but what are the trailling link? can you go on real oem or something and post a pic of the part in question.?

ATM my vibration is gone....but just for future and for other members that might use this thread ill like to update it and so its useful. thank you

Since you say your wheels and tyres are new. There is a change you could have a distorted tyre. This can happen at manufacture. Usually difficult to balance but can balance out ok. I had a civic type r with a distorted tyre on the rear and at 75-80mph it sent a strange vibration through the car. One of the tell tale signs is the high speed than normal out of balance wheels which is usually between 55-65mph.

The other thing I can think of is that the allignment should be set after new arms and new wheel/tyre package. Also did the new wheels fit the hub centre perfectly? If they require spigot rings then you would know all about vibrations!

Ok, BAD NEWS!!!

As i posted couple of weeks back my vibration had been resolved after new axle and took the truck to butler tire and had them highspeed balanced and alignment etc. so afterwards things were good. So after about 1,200 miles I have to say that its back. once i hit 60+ i have a slight shake in steering and before it starts i can feel the vibration slightly and then as speed increases the steering starts to shake. Now its extremly evident in the morning after a bit of driving it feels like its gone but i can see my water bottle shaking....So it was suggested to change teh trust arms so ordered a pair and new ball joint also for each side.

Also i feel like teh car is pulling to the left again even after the alignmet it was going straight but now its started to vibrate and pull left.

:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(
so yet again any options.

Bummer!

Ok, your tires are balanced and not "out of round"?

Check to make sure your steering rack is nice and tight. I don't think we have a steering guibo, like the 325i does. That made the steering sloppy and vibrate.
Thrust arms (forward unit) and Control arms (lower) and ball joints need to be fresh and get another alignment.

Good Luck!

regarding the thrust arms i dunno if there was any play in them or if they were bent then yes remove/replace. did you change one of the axles??? i think both should be replaced at the same time.

I know you said you like that shop..... But after you go there you have problems. Couldn't hurt to balance them else where.

The thing is that ive had them balanced at 3 shops now one i didnt mention but first it was where i bought them discount tires ( balanced twice and after a week vibration came back) then i forgot the name of the 2nd shop they used hunters machine thing and similar thing then went to butler tire and i was able to drive for 1,200 miles so about 3 weeks for me and now its starting to come back. I feel that its sometime with either alignment but i have had it aligned 3 times now....it cant be coincidence that it looses its alignment so fast and im not driving rough or through pot holes hell ive been babying the damn thing. I guess after i change the trust arms and ball joint with bilstein brand ill see thats my last step....if the vibration comes back its gonna be traded i cant stand this. ive added my bills up so far im over $4000 in repairs just suspention. its still cheaper than buying and paying monthly for a car for me at least. ill see parts will be here in a day and ill see how things turn out.

Bentley's after-market Service Manual for the X5 says that out-of-balance at 60 mph, particularly under braking, is most likely caused by loose bushings and ball-joints in the suspension linkage, than by warped rotors, etc. If you've balanced the tires three times by three different shops, the balance is NOT the problem. Jack the front wheels off the ground (support it securely w/ jackstands), and have someone shake the wheels while you lie under the car, and feel each of the four linkage arm ends, in turn. There are two bushings at the chassis end of the links, and ball joints at the wheel ends. Total 8, two bushings and two ball joints on each side. On my car, three of the four had noticeable play, on each side. Replaced them and the problem went away. Just got back from towing my motorcycle on a trailer from south Florida to Lake George, NY, 3000 miles total, NO PROBLEM! Forget about the balance - get under the car, and check the bushings and ball joints! (Insanity is defined as repeating the same actions, and expecting a different outcome.)

The problem is i did replace those parts all of them at once and still had issue. Now i know i bought the cheap kit off ebay so i replaced the LCA with brand name and still had same issues. The second step was the good year tires were actually out of round so after replacing them with michelins the problem was softened but still there. after alignment and rebalance things were good for like 3 weeks and its back so the only bushings left are the trust arms from the cheap asian/german company but i did as you said shake the wheel and there is no play in them non. However, i ordered 2 upper arms with bilstien and ball joints so thats it no other part is left thats from the cheap asian/german kit. I can say my steering rack those make a click but its definitly from the u joint in the column i can feel it tic toc when turning left to right etc. the left whole axle with CV joint was replaced also because it was very loose and the right is only 2yrs old dealer replaced it in the end of 09 and its still very tight and no play. i will see midweek i shall have the parts in and replaced. we will see I really hope this is it.

Hello, I'm not sure if it's the right way to say it, but did you make some adjustments for toe-in and steering wheel alignment? And how 'bout bearings? Are they tide enough? Full suspension check is strongly recommended too, transmission joints and all rubber pads. My tech English is not good enough. But if your wheel alignment is not done, you can have lots of things out of order.

Explain this to me.

1) You feel vibration.
2) you replace part "A"
3) Vibration goes away.
4) Vibration comes back
5) You replace part "B"
6) Vibration goes away
7) Vibration comes back
Repete 5 times.

As someone who diag. for a living, something isn't right. How is it corrected, then reapears and can be gotten to go away again by a diffrent part.... But still comes back after x amour of time.

it all started around 93K I was told by the dealer that the LCA are going bad and need replacing etc. I drove like this for a bit more and had a torn CV during which i replaced 2 ball joints and was pretty vib free for a bit until around 130K in which i decided to replace all front components that the ebay kit provided. This kit has been purchased by fellow members who had great results as in quality and longevity. I decided to do it since it was only 250 parts i know cheap price = cheap parts etc what ever, 5 other members here used it and have no problems.
Now, keep in mind parts are all new!!! when turning while going 50+ on highway i would get deadly shaking to the point that i have to stop or ill loose control....turns on the bushings on the LCA were made of sponge like material. I then decided to change out and put lamfound/bilstein parts i lost all trust in the cheap parts...not sure how other members are ok but mine were just shit. after the LCA were changed i bought new tires got an alignment and noticed that at 60+ i have a steering wheel wobble so i thought maybe its the damn cheap tie rods? (the ball joints on them) the mechanic had also mentioned that the left axle was loose i mean it had play in the CV and asked if it were ever replaced and i said no never oem still but the right was thus i bought the whole tie rod assembly and new axle and joint just to not have any issues. then went a got another alignment and balance in witch things seemed ok like i said 3 weeks went by and now i have the same vibration in the body / steering shaking....

so i decided to change now the trust arms since some ppl have mentioned that when its loose noise at slow and vib at slow speed but some ppl noticed vib at higher speeds...

the way i see it if i feel only in the steering its understandable as in the rack might be loose etc but i feel it in the whole car then it gets translated into the steering.


I knw the axle was a good thing to replace because i had serious vibration when accelerating and now its gone after the new axle so it was something that needed to be replaced.

it also cat be flat spots on the tires i mean its the second set with different brand i cant be that unlucky to get 2 sets of out of round tires! and since vibration it feels the same its some suspension gremlin thats there i wounder if we put the car on a lift and then raise and drive to see if wheels wobble or not can this been done on the X?

What about the wheels? I had after-market 22-inch wheels on my X5, which continually had balance problems. The hole in the center of the wheel was loose relative to the hub. (With BMW factory wheels there is no clearance between the wheel and the hub.) So the local shop measured the hole in the wheel, and the diameter of the hubs, and bought some 'spacers' to take up the gap. Made the problem better, but didn't make it go away. I never had a 'good' balance on those wheels. When I ran into a curb and dented them, I bought some used BMW wheels and new Michelin tires - cured the problem.

I skimmed through the whole 5pages. Wheel shake at 40-50mph is common not only for BMWs but for some Mercedes models as well

And while replacing parts may be a good thing in the long run, I dont like spending on something that doesnt directly address the problem

Assuming the usual suspects have been checked (i.e. steering shock damper, wheel balance, or LCA in working order), the other steps that worked for me were:
1. lower PSI (33 front & 35 rears) - works for both my MB and E39
2. proper torque for lugbolts - night and day with the shimmy shake
3. proper weight rated tires - worked on my MB

The main issue with mine is not just the steering but the fact that the whole car feels like its shaking....around that speed and then when speed up to 60+ it finally manifests itself as steering shake.

but i will double check all tire pressures lugbolt torque. Tires are the same oem once that came with my stock 17inch rims. Micheline mxv4 energy max.

Hey ArtMan, yep i had that too. Lower the tire pressure and check your torque. Which incidentally whats our proper torque setting for the lugs? 125Nm?

So i got home and cant find my torque wrench....ill rent one tomorrow. I didnt bother checking the tire pressure i was pissed about my wrench. HOWEVER,

I jacked up the car on all four sides. i decided to do the old shake the tire to see if LCA bushings are bad etc this is were you grab the wheel at the 9 and 3 and try to pretend your boxing so left push then right push etc not up and down just pull push and alternate so front looks tight i couldnt make any bushings move but there was a bit play in the rack and pinion but not a lot just a bit. NOW i got to the back wheels for some reason i can when repeating the procedure i can push the wheel in on the right side and makes a cling sound.....and when i look under i can see movement in the bushings etc. this makes me feel like its plausable that the vib comes from the back because like i said before i felt like the whole car was shaking and as speed increased it eventually transfers to the steering...

has anyone who knows about the rear suspension can say if that movement is normal?

if its too difficult to explain ill make a video tomorrow with more light outside

From your description I can't tell EXACTLTY what bushings, or indeed what part of the suspension you are describing. But, there should be little to no play in any bushings. Thats the whole point of them.

When there is a problem in the rear it generally is felt 'through the car', in my experience through the seats. When there's a problem with the front its generally felt through the steering wheel. So it seems that what you have found is a very plausible reason for the shake, particularly as you have described it as the whole car shaking.

If you can't take a pic of what you are describing, post up a pic from realoem and tell us what part(s) you are talking about.

Sorry, just read the last line of your post, yes a video would be excellent! :thumbup:

Well that is my exact thought i have been taking notes in the car as ive been driving the last week or two as how i feel the vibration. I first feel it in the seats litterally you feel a wobble/vibration as the speed increases to like 70mph the vib can be felt in the steering and after more speed the steering shakes like a 2cm so its tiny amount but its there

the only thing on realoem i found this pic.
Attachment 49846

the movement is seen in the part 1. Now i can be wrong im gonna ask my mechanic to take a look and see whats wrong there.


I was also thinking about changing mechanics i mean this guy is good and honest but possible he isnt seeing the issue....who knows. ill talk to him tomorrow morning and later tonight ill try to make a video.


I actually found the rear suspension pic so the middle arrow is pointing towards the engine and the rest are the way i push/pull on the rear tire and the circles are the areas that i saw move when doing so. Attachment 49848

I would jack the rear wheels off the ground, and have someone shake the wheel, at noon and 6 o'clock positions, 3 and 9 o'clock, 10:30 and 4:30, and at 7:30 and 1:30. On my front wheels, I found the most play at 4:30 and 10:30 positions, so you have to try all four. Feel if there's movement between the left end of link 6 and the body, or between the right end of link 6 and the hub carrier #1, or between the left end of link #11 and the body, or between the right end of link #11 and the hub carrier #1. There should be NO PLAY at any of these 4 positions, on either side.

Ok i posted a new pic yea i definitely have play at those locations.

I also found this nice video that shows that even when having the rear of the x5 jacked up its too difficult to see the play because of the way the suspension is designed so the guy shows how to unload the rear suspension to help easily see play in the rear wheel.

YouTube - &#x202a;VAC Motorsports - Correcting tire wear on a BMW X5 E53&#x202c;&rlm;

This is probably the best video ever made for our problems in the rear!

Cheers to VAC Motorsports...

No wonder I couldn't feel any play, that trick is priceless.

:iagree: Top man @ vacmotors, thanks for sharing. And, excellent find Artman, thanks for sharing also! :thumbup: I'm actually looking forward to doing that job now!! :rofl:

Yeah, definitely get your mechanic to do the unloading part of the suspension and checking for play, and replace whats needed to be replaced. I reckon you could finally get this one cracked!! ;)

Good luck, and thanks for the excellent updates. I say that because usually threads die when owners forget, can't be bothered to say what the fix was, or give up/put up, or just sell the motor, so nobody knows what the fix to the problem was! :rolleyes:

Thank you all!!

Its just so damn frustrating...I hate giving up on things and this is one. I love this truck/car whatever, I know its not a performace V8 under there but its so smooth best engine ive had....not to mention the best truck/car but man it has been a costly journey.

This Friday is my appointment.
1) I will be replacing the trust arms and ball joints so nothing is left from the cheap ebay kit.
2) Will ask the mechanic to unload the suspension will show him this video also and replace what is needed...or i will just see how many bushings/ball joints/control arms are needed and just replace all of the rear with name brand like bilstein/lamfounder parts and call it a day no more chasing tails.

so looks like ill spend about another 1G on parts and labor for the front plush all of rear.

so that would bring my total including tires alignments etc to about 5,000 atleast.

OK Its friday time for an update!

So just got done with the mechanic. We checked the rear and looks like my upper rear ball joints have failed. They had a lot of play in them. The other components look fine no play. I ordered 2 new rear upper control arms from partsgeek.com and will have them on monday so we will see on Tuesday. I did not change out the trust arms or ball joints in the front for a reason. I decided to do the rear and see. I still ahve the parts so if everything is fine ill hold on to them till the front wears out or sell it on ebay. I mean im sure i can shelve them for like a year with out any problems. anyhow We will see on tuesday how everything is.

Thanks for the update and goodluck! btw did you try that trick as per VAC?

Was that useful?

Glad you found something positively defective! As for keeping the front end bits, thats exactly what I would do-sort out the rear end first and go from there.. Incidentally are you talking about the balljoint on part #11 on the diagram from realoem you posted previously?

Good luck on tues, hope it all goes according to plan, and this is finally it! :thumbup:

No didnt do the trick. Because he was able to shake the wheel left to right (9 to 3) and it was very evident that it was loose. He also said that the trick looks usefull but if a ball joint is bad you dont have to do this trick its will be evident like mine is now. but if you want to see lets say minor play as in a ball joint thats going bad then it would be helpful.


Yes, i had circled the part that i saw move since i was kinda doing it myself but he said that yea the part will move and it only moved in the upper area and he said that is because the upper ball joint #11 has failed thus will allow that parts i circled to move so i ordered 2 bilstein upper rear arms for 61 each from partsgeek.com (who get their supply parts from worldpac) anyhow we will see tuesday if this fixes my problems.

FINALLY, update!!!!

So the rear arms went in today and boy oh boy the vibration/wobble feel is gone. I have a slight humming vib in the steering but that could just be the tire wear and the rear rotors are warped 100% you can see it. But the rear arms that earlier were the cause of the body vibration that i felt around 60 mph which later translated to steering vib around 70mph+

Do you have before and after specs on alignment?
It sucks that you had to spend on stuff that wasnt affected... Glad that it all worked out... :)

Well, the mechanic said that the arm that was replaced should/does not affect alignment. There is another upper front rear control arm Attachment 50188that if changed will affect alignment.
"Front position of rear wheel carrier : Referred to as a Guiding Suspension Link by BMW"

They marked all bolts etc and replaced as close as possible. He recomended to do an alignment and another balance because i have been driving like this for like almost 2 months but at slow speeds ie under 60mph. but he said its possible there is some tire wear that is not easily noticable by eye and it can cause a bit of vib plus the alignment could be off also.


I think if i drive as is for a week or so i should be able to see if it gets worse or if i see any tire wear....I hoping that nothing happens and ill get a balance then and ill be done with this crap.

any time you do suspension work you need to align, or at least is a good idea. I was told the same thing after replacing a CV Boot. I asked them to check it anyway; yep it was off and needed alignment. Ask the place if they are using Hunter Road Force systems. I hear they are the only way to go when tryine to eliminate vibration.

Glad to hear you have finally got rid of your problem, and I agree with 1stE53 re the alignment.

Although in his case his alignment may have been out anyway and had nothing to do with replacing a boot, in your case however there were defective parts and I imagine a good deal of your suspension was moved during the replacement. Added to that you don't know where it was re settings before your issues/replacement. Not only that, you really should get it done particularly as you have come this far and spent this much time and money on it, you may as well complete the job. :thumbup:

As said before thanks for keeping us all updated, and let us know how you get on with the alignment.

PS, I had my 4-wheel alignment done a few months ago after I replaced most of my front-end suspension. It was unbelievably close, but still out by half a degree max, so even that would have made a difference to the driving characteristics. As it happens my rears were way out in comparison and I haven't even touched the rear suspension in the 3 years I've owned the beast! ;)

Very good thread....i'll have my shop double check the rears again...they were checked. and seemed fine...i feel your frustration...i'm in that same boat now....if i can't resolve, its gotta go...i can't drive on the highway everyday feeling that wobble....i'm testing out tires today...gonna swap my winters on the front. drive for a bit and see and do the same with the rears....
i was contemplating on doing the tie rods and balljoints just so they are new with the thrust arms and lower control arms....

Hey gitchies was wondering if you did anything yet?