Member
I have seen various threads about this problem, but none with the exact same problems I am having. I have a 2000 323i with 127,000 miles on it. When driving around town at speeds of 35-45 MPH there is a bad shake in the steering wheel. The shaking just started a few days ago after I drove 900 miles to move from South Carolina to Wisconsin. I thought the tires could be unbalanced from the drive up here, so I had them balanced yesterday and it did not solve the problem. My dad thinks that it could be caused by a broken belt in one of the front tires, but there is no unusual tread patterns on the tires. I am running on Kumho tires (size 225/45/17). The shaking goes away immediately when I touch the breaks so I know it isn't a rotor problem. Also, at speeds above 45 (i.e. freeway speeds) there is absolutely no shake at all. It solely shakes around town between 35 and 45 MPH. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I just moved to a new town and do not know any trusty dealership/mechanics around here. Thanks in advance!
Member
I had the same problem before and found out that there was a bubble in one of my front tires.
Originally Posted by ken_vs_ryu
Member
Could be a belt, but I think you'd feel that all the time. You'll only see it when the car is on a lift, though. Better guess is a wheel bearing or a suspension member. Again, you'll need to put it up in the air to see what's going on. Good luck.
Member
I have the EXACT same issue: 35-45, nothing above or below, nothing on braking...
Heading for an alignment Monday. Was going to have them check tire balancing, too.
Mr. Steal yo girl
had this problem.
Replaced LCA and LCAB's with Meyle HD and it has disappeared.
Member
Let me know what they say. I'll be curious to see if that fixes the problem.
Member
after i replaced my rims/tires that shake that i also had is COMPLETLY gone.
Member
I had a problem like that and found out that it was a bent rim, so i went and bought a whole new set and the problem went away. You should go and check the rim to see if it is ok.
Member
Wouldn't have they caught this during the balancing I had done on Thursday?
Member
In my experience, there would be vibration under braking with bad LCA bushings.
Mr. Steal yo girl
Just saying that when I did that mine went away.
Don't know if that is the actual repair needed though.
Member
Update: I ignored this shake for several months since it never seemed to get any worse. Last week I was on my way to buy a new set of rims and snow tires to get ready for the winter and as I was getting off the exit I hit the breaks and my steering wheel began shaking VIOLENTLY and the whole car began to shudder. As I stated before it never shook when I hit the breaks so I figured things were getting much worse and it was time to fix the problem. Over the last few months I became friends with a guy that owns a body shop in Milwaukee that specializes in imports so I dropped my car off with him and he took it to work with him the next day to fix it. Turned out it was only the control arm bushings that were bad. He saved the parts for me and they were completely SHOT! My wheel was basically flopping around at this point. The fix was only $372, so if anyone is experiencing the same problems I described before you do not have to replace the whole control arm. My friend said that the control arm was in perfect condition and therefore saved me tons of money. The car drives like a dream again and I am so glad to have this problem off of my mind. Thanks for all the advice earlier and special thanks to Chris for fixing my car!
Cannot Be Contained
Ive recently started upgrading my '99 323i. This was a serious problem on my car too. My steering wheel shake came under medium/heavy braking from 50-60 mph down to 30mph. (as in coming off an off-ramp to take a turnaround).
As my upgrades progressed and I installed an anti sway bar kit (f&r), I found the exact same problem. The stress bar and anti-sway bars took MOST of the shake away but I suspect that replacing the control arm bushings will make my car handle beautifully again.
Cold Air Intake? check
Stress Bar Check? check
F&R Antisway bars? check
custom exhaust? next
chip reprogram? next
Member
2 possible causes:
1. Bubble in tire or Balancing off.
2. Outer Tie Rods are/going bad.
Member
C-L-E-A-R!!!!!!!!
And then he broke the paddles out of their resting place......where they had been resting.....waiting for their call to action.....and then it happened....he electrically pulsed life back into the dead thread.
Welcome to Bf.c!!!!
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