Shuddering Steering Wheel While Braking At High Speeds

[Matelot Mike X5 56']

Hello everyone,

my snag is that when i apply the brake above say 65mph my steering wheel shakes. this has been an ongoing problem for the past several months now, i've had the discs and pads changed and both wishbones but to no avail. What else can it be? my car mechanical knowledge isn't great so any advice would be really helpful. I have e53 56' plate facelift model with 42000 on the clock.

Thank you

[btmaldon]

I have only experienced this where new brake pads were not allowed to bed in properly for a few hundred miles before heavy braking was applied. You tend to find that the pads get cooked and then cause the judder when braking from relatively high speeds. New pads cured mine.

If your happy that the pads were reasonable quality and were bedded in properly, it suggests another issue.

[Greydog]

It could be a sticking caliper, however my money would be on the brake reaction arm bushes (the big one that goes to the front of the car)

When you had them replaced they need to be tightened with the suspension under full load. If they are fitted and tightened with the suspension extended it will cause premature failure (I did it wrong first time)

[Matelot Mike X5 56']

thanks for getting back to me lads,

Bruce, is there any way to check the pads to save me buying new ones or should i just take the hit and buy some and hope for the best? However if it was the pads wouldn't i feel shuddering no matter what speed i was braking at?

Dave, i had the garage do them so i will phone them tomorrow and ask. To save me taking it back down to the garage if they did indeed tighten them without any load could i just put the car on a ramp and re-tighten them myself or would i have to replace the existing parts so i could tighten them up properly as the parts that were recently fitted as you said could have prematurely failed?

thanks again

[Greydog]

If they are tightened with the suspension extended when they become loaded it twists the rubber inner which can cause them to fail prematurely. You could try slacking off and re-tightening but from my experience at least one of them is likely to be damaged hence the vibration.

I just bit the bullet and had the arms re-bushed, I know you can get poly bushes which are far easier to fit (once the old bush has been pushed out) and more forgiving on fitting. I just went with standard bushes

[btmaldon]

The pads only judder under high speed braking when they have been cooked. It was especially prevalent when braking on a slip road. However I would have a look at what Dave is suggesting first then go for a set of good quality pads.

[Guest Mr Baldy]

Greetings, a friend of mine is going through the same problems. He has had the complete front arms with bushes done and still gets the wheel judder over 60 mph braking with vibration, do you think he needs to change the pads as the discs have been clocked ok. 

This is confusing us both!

[Matelot Mike X5 56']

Hello mate,

I got the discs changed again as the garage said the pads were fine, and i really took my time wearing them in this time to be make sure i gave them plenty of time to bed in. But funnily enough nothing has changed, both the garage and i haven't got a clue as to what is going on. They said they have exhausted all options and advised me to seek help from another garage. That was months ago and tbh i have just kind of ignored it, and i'm in the navy as well so i haven't been here for most of time. I am actually looking at buying another X5, e70 model this week hopefully. If not theres a specialist BMW garage i am going to take it to. Sometimes i also get a wobble in the steering wheel like my balance is out, without braking. Has your friend had this too by any chance? Thats another mystery to add to my problem even though i've had the wheels balanced twice in the past year.

Sorry i couldn't be more helpful