Steering Vibrates Whilst Braking
 

Hi All,

I have a 2005 BMW X5 E53.

When applying the brakes and going over 90km/h an hour the steering wheel vibrates vigorously. However if i am going even faster e.g. over 160km/h then the vibration is not as bad which does not really make sense.

Maybe unrelated but when the car is stopped but in the drive position and i apply/release the brakes i can hear a sort of squeak noise coming from the front, sounds like the brake discs.

I do know that the front brake pads where replaced with after market brake pads by the previous owner just before i bought it a month ago.

Could the issue be bad brake pads or do the discs themselves need replacing?

It cannot be the tyres i have just purchased 4 new tyres last week and they have been balanced.

Thanks

it sounds like when they installed the pads they didnt machine the rotors and you have some warping. Thats what i would check out first.

+1 on turning the rotors.

How many kms on the car? Sounds to me like control arm bushings need replacing..

Get a dial gauge and check the run out on the rotors to verify that they are warp. If you don't have the instrument take it to a tech that can perform this check.

The car currently has 118,000km.

Do you suggest i change brake discs + brake pads with genuine bmw? Or just change the brake discs and leave the same aftermarket brake pads?

Or could it be the control arm bushings?

If it were mine, I would start with the easy process: have the tire joint do a very careful rebalance. For my '01 X, new tires very carefully mounted and balanced made my previous brake shudder disappear...it has crept back a couple years/many miles later, and I suspect my front bushings are toast at ~80k miles, but I would start with rebalance, using top balancing equipment, if you have access to that on Gibraltar.

Then dig into rotors, pads, etc.

My opin is anecdotal, and is 180 from the usual advice here on brake shudder, but worth a look into.
GL, mD

I had four new tyres installed and balanced last week, that didnt fix the issue.

Shall i go ahead and change front brake discs + pads? Even though the front pads are new but after market?

You should find out what the problem is instead of throwing parts and money at the problem. That gets to very expensive pretty soon. Someone mentioned rotor and I provided you with a method to have the rotor check. If you search Youtube there is a video on how to perform the bushing check for the thrust arm.

After market pads would not be the source of the vibration.

Check all the suspension linkages up front. Mainly the sway arm linkages, thrust bushings and related ball joints. The culprit on mine was a bad steerting linkage/joint and front shock mounts. Around $60 parts and my time in labor.