[GotBMW]

I have a E46 323i sedan. I recently had the front brakes, rotors and sensors replaced. After doing so I felt like a shimmy when applying the brakes at highway speeds(50 and above). When I took the car in for my dealer to look at it they came back and said that there seems to be no problems. I trust my dealer and though okay fine maybe I was imagining it. However the last few days I seem to be feeling it again. It seems to do it more on flat roads but not when braking on inclining for decreasing roads. It does not seem to matter if the road is smooth or semi rooth either.

I am taking the car back to the dealer tomorrow morning to have it looked at again. This time my service advisor is going to have me ride with the tech.

Can anyone shed some light on this situation for me? I would really appreciate any help in this matter.

Thanks
Matthew :dunno:

 

[webguy330i]

By "shimmy" do you mean in the car itself (like the assmeter would say) or in the steering wheel? Or in the pedal?

It's most likely warped rotors, perhaps you didn't break them in properly or something? It could also be a wheel balance issue, but something like that would be most noticeable when braking hard (i.e. not usually at 50mph+).

 

[GotBMW]

I feel it in the steering wheel. I also broke the pads and rotors in for the 500 miles like BMW recommends. I didnt do any very hard or panic stops with them while in the 500 miles. Not saying though that I waited for the 500 miles to be up and then went hog wild with them. As for the wheel balance I just had new tires put on the car. However it was doing this before I got the new tires also.

Any help is appreciated.


Thanks
Matthew:lmao:

 

[webguy330i]

Hmm... if you just had new tires put on, did they balance them properly? Are any of your front wheels bent and/or warped?

 

[GotBMW]

I dont think this has anything to do with the wheel or the balance of them since this was happening right after i got the new brakes put on and at that time i had the old tires on. I wheel are in perfect balance. The alignment is also perfect.

None of the front nor rear rims are bent or anything.

It seems like it keeps coming bacl to the warped rotor thing. If this is it why couldnt they have seen this before.

Do you thing that this is the most likely problem.

Help
\
Thanks
Matthew

BTW I like your car webpage. Very nicely done!!

 

[webguy330i]

Well I'm hesitant to say it's the rotors just because they're practically brand new, but hey anything's possible! If there is a pulsation in the brake pedal this is 90% of the time the problem, so they should replace them again for you. Also ask to see the new rotors they're going to install BEFORE they install them, and check them out yourself. Maybe they're re-using old rotors which still have some life on em? Pretty shady practice I know.

Thanks for the site compliments! :thumb:

 

[Alex Baumann]

Have the control arm bushings checked too by the dealer.

Common problem. AFAIK, BMW is on the third generation bushings since 1998.

 

[webguy330i]

Have the control arm bushings checked too by the dealer.

Common problem. AFAIK, BMW is on the third generation bushings since 1998.

Somehow I always forget about this problem! Good call Alex.

 

[GotBMW]

I know the rotors were new from the box. The dealer already said that if they are the cause they will replace them. My dealer never re-cuts rotors. My service advisor has stated that he has seen the rotors out of the box unbalance etc.

As to the control arm bushings, I will have them check them as well.

BTW what are they? Are they a known problem? Do they go defunt often?

Thanks for all the help/suggestions

Matthew

 

[GotBMW]

Also could the calipers be a little loose and causing this to happen.

I will be having them check the control arm bushings however

Thanks:thumb:

 

[The HACK]

I know the rotors were new from the box. The dealer already said that if they are the cause they will replace them. My dealer never re-cuts rotors. My service advisor has stated that he has seen the rotors out of the box unbalance etc.

As to the control arm bushings, I will have them check them as well.

BTW what are they? Are they a known problem? Do they go defunt often?

Thanks for all the help/suggestions

Matthew

When the E46es were first introduced, a lot of people complained of brake induced vibration at highway speeds. It turns out the front control arm bushing is a bad design and tend to transfer too much vibration through to the steering wheel.

The front control arm bushing is basically a cylidrical rubber "bushing" with a hole cut out in it, inserted into the base of the suspension mount and the lower control arm inserted into the hole inside the "bushing". Since it's made of rubber it allows for the lower control arm to pivot up and down without touching metal or solid parts, thus cushioning some of the vibration transfered from the suspension to the chasis.

BMW has put out a recall for this particular design, and all E46es produced after 9/99 no longer suffers from this problem. I am surprised that your dealership did not change out the entire lower control arm when you complained of a vibration. Do some search in www.bimmer.org's archives for "brake vibration" and you should find a TSB number, bring that number to your dealership and make sure they perform that particular recall on your car.

 

[webguy330i]

Also could the calipers be a little loose and causing this to happen.

I will be having them check the control arm bushings however

Thanks:thumb:

Cool, let us know how it works out.

 

[ESS]

The sure is a lot of LOVE on the FEST. Friendly helpful post. What a contrast to the ORG.

 

[webguy330i]

The sure is a lot of LOVE on the FEST. Friendly helpful post. What a contrast to the ORG.

w3rd! :thumb:

I always liked .org but I gotta say the sense of community at the fest is much better.

 

[sp330i]

My 2 cents

I agree with others that you should first look into the control arm situation, but I'm curious why this first occured right after a brake job. If the control arm does not correct the problem, here are a couple of more things you might want to check.

1. Chris is right when he stated that most of these situations are caused by rotor warpage (sans control arm situation)

2. Its possible that you have one or more defective new rotors.

3. Once when I had new tires put on a previous auto, the service department used and air gun and tightened down one and only lug nut to make the wheel jut out (less likely in our hub centric world), however upon tightening the remaining lug nuts, they warped the rotor. Upon rotor replacement, the problem was fixed.

Good luck and let us know your results!

 

[Mystikal]

...the sense of community at the fest...

You said it all right there. No where else has this kind of warm fuzzy feeling. Minus the TD/nate/Alex3 battles, of course.

 

[GotBMW]

***********************UPDATE***********************

I took the car in to have the dealer look at it.

The tech rode with me on the expressway. I got the car up to 110MPH and then hit the brakes.

The tech felt what I was talking about right away. I left the car with them for the rest of the day.

They replaced both control arms and will be replacing the steering shaft universal joint. Just with them replacing the control arms the vibration is gone.

Again my dealer haas gone above and beyond my expectations. I am glad I was am to find such a dealer service center willing to take care of the customer.



Again THANK YOU to everyone that posted suggestions. I really appreciate it.

Matthew:thumb:

 

[webguy330i]

***********************UPDATE***********************

I took the car in to have the dealer look at it.

The tech rode with me on the expressway. I got the car up to 110MPH and then hit the brakes.

The tech felt what I was talking about right away. I left the car with them for the rest of the day.

They replaced both control arms and will be replacing the steering shaft universal joint. Just with them replacing the control arms the vibration is gone.

Again my dealer haas gone above and beyond my expectations. I am glad I was am to find such a dealer service center willing to take care of the customer.

Again THANK YOU to everyone that posted suggestions. I really appreciate it.

Matthew:thumb:

That's awesome news! Glad it all worked out. It's nice to be able to depend on your dealership no?

 

[GotBMW]

EXACTLY!!!!!!

 

[DrBimmer]

BMW has put out a recall for this particular design, and all E46es produced after 9/99 no longer suffers from this problem. I am surprised that your dealership did not change out the entire lower control arm when you complained of a vibration. Do some search in www.bimmer.org's archives for "brake vibration" and you should find a TSB number, bring that number to your dealership and make sure they perform that particular recall on your car.

Watch out on how you say things.... BMW never issued a recall on the control arms or bushings. There is a technical service bulletin issued on this concern so that the dealer knows what to do when and if they see it, and in all cases, only on customer complaint. In other words, unless you complain of it, they can not and will not replace anything.