E30 Zone

Hello all,

just wondering if I can get a quick pointer as to what could be causing very serious vibrations felt through the steering (well it's visible as well as feeling it) when travelling at about 55mph? Lower speeds result in less vibration, and higher speeds also dulls the vibrations somewhat.

I am guessing it is some kind of suspension related issue, but pointers would be great.

Also noticed grinding noises from the rear when braking so I am looking at some new brake pads. Just wonder how easy these are to replace?

Thanks for any info.

Regards,

Hitman.

sounds like the wheels are out of balance

Ditto on the wheels needing balancing. One/some of the weights may have worked loose and fallen off!

When I had the same a couple of months back I checked my front NS wheel and found it to be very hot......it was a sticking caliper. Managed to free it and was fine for the short term, but no racing about......since replaced both calipers.

The grinding from the back could be new pads, but could be a stone caught in the handbrake drum (if you have discs on the back) or the regular drum! - The brakes are a piece of cake to change, no special tools just perhaps some patience.

HI YEAH COULD DEFINATLY BE WHEELS OUT OF BALANCE/TRACKING,BUT COULD ALSO BE YOUR DIFF OUT OF BALANCE OR WORN, ARE YOU GETTING VIBRATIONS THROUGH SEATS AND DASH AS WELL, IF SO THIS COULD BE THE CAUSE, REAR BRAKES ARE EASY TO DO NO WORRIES

dont suppose you have alpina reps on your car do you?

Hi, I can add something to this experience as i am having similar problems.

I have 17" Alpina replias, am looking at getting them balanced again as there appears to be weights dotted all over inside the rims (have only had the car 1 month). Someone mentioned these, are they renowned for being well out of balance?

But I would recommend you get your track control arm bushes looked at as it made quite a difference and has really reduced the wobble, which is now more prevalent at 80mph. I will see how it goes after getting the tracking set and the 4 wheels balanced. My diff makes a noise too, but the vibration I feel is steering and not in the seat/floor area.

No Alpina reps here, I've got the cross-spokes (15's).

Definitely feel the vibrations through the steering, actually, at 55 it's not just feeling the vibrations you can SEE the steering wobbling like mad... people on the M4 must think I've got a trembling problem!

I'll definitely get the bushes looked at too, but I just saw how bald the front tyres are so will probably get them changed, balanced and tracked too.

Will let you know how it goes, cheers to all for the pointers!

Hitman

I had steering wheel vibrations for years, even after numerous wheel balances and replacing the control arm bushes with urethane sports ones which made it slightly better.

In the end it disappeared after I replaced the cheap and nasty tyres with some very high (and costly) quality ones (harder sidewalls)...odd but soooo much better and it also fixed my wheel alignment problem aswell. I can only think the cheap soft sidewalls exasperated any tyre pressure and/or weight balance differences...

Grinding stopped - new pads sorted this. The old pads were pretty much polishing the metal and the discs probably need replacing now as there is a lot of rust build up where there was no pad contact!

Vibrations stopped - bought new tyres yesterday (Good Year Eagle F1's) to replace my slicks on the front and obviously the balance was out as these were re-balanced with the new rubber. Just waiting for it to be aligned now.

Regards,

Hiten

I also have Cors Spokes and the car really shudders at around the 98mph mark. Obviously as I don't travel at this speed all the time it's not huge but I think I just need the wheels balancing and putting into the right alignment... Well I hope that's all it is anyway...

Mine still has a slight shudder at 90-ish but I'm wondering if it will be better after I get the tracking done.

Well I think that's a good place to start. At least then you can either say that was the fix or rule it out completely..

mine has a 90ish mph shudder too. nothing below 90 and it seems less above 100.

hoshy, mine is exactly the same... all tested on a track off course!

oh, on the track of course. I didn't mention it because I though it so obvious. lol

anybody got any idea what this is? I doesn't feel like wheel balance (I've experienced this before) I have a pair of avons on the front which are getting to the limit on tread, I doubt this is the reason though???

hoshy wrote:oh, on the track of course. I didn't mention it because I though it so obvious. lol

anybody got any idea what this is? I doesn't feel like wheel balance (I've experienced this before) I have a pair of avons on the front which are getting to the limit on tread, I doubt this is the reason though???

Get you track control arm bushes checked out

id say definately get some decent tyres first i had this prob on a lancia i owned nearly shook me to death did everything to it and no change but finally changed tyres and bang it was sorted
also check all bushes wheel bearings hubs etc shock mounts theres quite a few silly little things that could be making it worse
spend a full day messing n youll prob have it sorted mate
good luck Daz

dazleeds wrote:id say definately get some decent tyres first i had this prob on a lancia i owned nearly shook me to death did everything to it and no change but finally changed tyres and bang it was sorted
also check all bushes wheel bearings hubs etc shock mounts theres quite a few silly little things that could be making it worse
spend a full day messing n youll prob have it sorted mate
good luck Daz

cool. I'll look into it more. I need new fronts anyway so that'll be the first thing.

e30beemerlad, which bushes are those? do they do poweflex ones?

Hoshy, not sure if u can get poly bushes, but can't see why not.

The track control arm bushes are basically the track rod ends that connect from your steering rack to your front wheels/ hubs. If there is play in the bushes this allows the front wheels to vibrate slightly.

My car recently failed the mot on thebushes being worn, they only cost about Ԛ£12 each trade price. You will then need to have your trackng done after they have been replaced, but if they were on the way out, it should defo make a difference, especially if the wobble feeling comes on at about 55/60mph.

Got mine back after having the tracking done and it still has a vibration at 90-ish (that test track is getting a lot of visits!)

S'pose I better get these bushes looked at.

However, overall getting the tyres done along with the balancing and tracking has settled the car a lot. It's less "jumpy" on those grooved 1st lanes of the M25 and M4!