Shaky at 45-50 mph

[Chakueem]

My car seems to shake at 45-50 mph. When traveling at speeds above 50 or below 45 there is little or no shaking. The shaking seems to be confined to the steering wheel, you dont feel the shake in the seat. The shake seems to be more pronounced when the car is cold, such as in the mornings. I have had my front & rear wheels aligned in an attempt to remedy this. For a short time after the alignment the shake was gone but it returned after only a few weeks. I havent had any accidents or anything. Any ideas?

 

[jrt67ss350]

Sounds exactly like symptoms my car was having a while back, except mine would shake at 60 - 70 mph. Faster or slower and it was nice and smooth. Mine would also shake much worse on cold mornings. In the afternoon, the steering shaking would be much better. Alignments and wheel balancing would help mine for about a week, and then the shaking would return.

I ended up replacing my front control arms and control arm bushings, and it made the shaking go away.

 

[Chesty Bonds]

Yeah my steering gets an ever-so-slight shake between 100-105km/h. It really only does this within the small 5km/h speed differentiation. Lucky for me I generally travel at 120km/h on the freeway

 

[Chakueem]

hmmm...ok, thanks for the replies

 

[Zchild]

Yep, I had the same problem with my 2000 323i. I had to replace my Control Arm Bushings. My car had trouble holding the road especially in wet weather. The CAB's did the trick and gave me control of my car once again. That's my two and a half cents... Happy Motoring. [driving2]

 

[Wallie05]

Wow, I, too, have had and still have the same exact problem. Literally, the same effects at the exact same speeds under what I assume are similar coniditons--though I imagine Chicago gets much colder than NC. But there's a bit of a cold snap down there, too, I've heard. But I also had my wheels aligned BEFORE the symptons returned. I'm still clueless?

Anyway, I've asked some guys on this board before and some have mentioned that it might be a warped disc. But I'm not sure how the cold weather factors into that. I meant to check my discs, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'd also like to hear some other thoughts...

 

[Layton]

Anyway, I've asked some guys on this board before and some have mentioned that it might be a warped disc.

Wouldn't the shaking only occur during braking if this were the case? I have a slight vibration in the steering wheel at high speed but only when I hit the brakes. Same thing happened on my last car and I was told it was a slight warp in the brake disk that could be smoothed out when the brakes were serviced.

Mike

 

[BMW NA Customer Relations]

I’m with BMW of North America, LLC. I’m sorry to read of your concern about your 323i. If you want our assistance, please phone us at (800) 831-1117 or email us at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com, and mention Reference #200502500232 so that we can help you more efficiently.

 

[epj3]

Things to check when experiencing a shake in the STEERING WHEEL only starting from cheapest to most expensive repairs (should go for all 3 series):

-Wheel balance
-Alignment
-Tie Rod ends
-Control arm bushings
-Ball Joints
-Control arms themselves (usually replaced if the 2 above are both replaced...)
-Out of round wheel/tires
-Steering rack

There are obviously more - and this is just "steering wheel only", not steering and brakes, or etc.