Vibration in steering wheel

[Wes325]

Under braking only my steering wheel will begin to shake and almost have
something of a faint knocking sound. I don't think that this is due to a warped
rotor. I am going to take a shot at solving this.
Would it be my control arm bushings?? I believe these are not too difficult to
replace either. Could someone please shed some light on this. Thanks.

[Rob]

have your wheels recently been balanced? why dont you think its your rotors? if its not those two, it must be a bushing, i guess the CA

[Wes325]

I dont see why having the wheels balanced would solve my problem under braking.
Would warped rotors cause the steering wheel to vibrate hard? The reason im hoping its not the rotors is because I just had a brand new set in my garage and I just sold them :x

[Rob]

unbalanced wheels can have effects in many ways, not just highway cruising or whatever. the effects of unbalanced fronts could be exaggerated under braking. my e30 had all sorts of wierd wiggles and wobbles until i put a set of freshly balanced wheels on

"Would warped rotors cause the steering wheel to vibrate hard?"

yes

[e30Matt]

Sounds more like a rotor problem.

[TimmyBigHands]

Yeah, that definetly sounds like rotors. I'm replacing mine this weekend. Hopefully my steering wheel shakes go away too.

[BE30s]

I had the same problem even after replacing my rotors, turned out to be the ball joints.

[Gus]

sounds exactly same as me....mine was my control arm balljoints...very loose

[Digitalwave]

Well I had the same problem and I replaced my rotors and CAB's at the same time, so I am not sure which it was. But the problem is usually pad deposits left on the rotors, they usually aren't actually warped. If they have enough meat left, trying having them resurfaced.

[Brew]

I had the same problem on my old e30 and it turned out to be the control arms and bushings. I'm sure you can pretty easily check for play in any of the ball joints

[Wes325]

Well I had the same problem and I replaced my rotors and CAB's at the same time, so I am not sure which it was. But the problem is usually pad deposits left on the rotors, they usually aren't actually warped. If they have enough meat left, trying having them resurfaced.

haha. damn it, becaue it is a toss up right now for what I'm going to get. I think I'm just going to get them resurfaced(cheaper). Man I wish I still had access to my auto tech classes brake turning machine.

[bmwm3n528]

Mine has ended up being almost entirely CAB related...with only very little of it being attributed to a slightly warp in the front rotors.

[Wes325]

Is there a way to check to see if it is the CABs before I go order some? If not, they are not too pricey.

[BimmerKris]

the control arm bushings for sure. mine went, but never had any problems with the brakes. it's kind of a pain in the ass if you don't have a decent press.