Ok, this is getting ridicilous!

[Bmw540san]

Steering wheel shake STILL present at 35-25mph while braking (no brake pedal pulsing)

Front supension completely rebuilt (other than sway bar end links which will be installed this week)

Brake rotors checked for warpage, no pads deposit, caliper pins lubed and move freely

Checked for bad wheel bearings

I have brake pistons seals, guides and pins waiting to be installed. Is it really possible that sticking caliper piston is causing this?

Euro, I remember you having this issue and you resolved it with caliper rebuild. I'll try to do it this weekend and post results.





1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[JimLev]

I never had a problem with the wheel shaking however I could feel the brake pedal slightly pulsing when one rotor was reading a runout of 0.002". I had it turned and the pulsing went away.
Did you check for play between the steering wheel and the tires, maybe a bad ball joint?
528 or 540?

[cn90]

If rotor new: do the bedding thingy

If old rotor, then I'd take it to a shop for resurfacing.
This was exactly my problem after suspension overhaul (brand new rotor).
Resurfaced rotor just a bit, all is good. No vibration.

[Bmw540san]

18k on Balo rotors. I'm just confused because I have no brake pedal pulsing whatsoever, which is usually part of warped rotor symptoms. I may go with your advice and resurface them and see what happens.



1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[Bmw540san]

528

To be honest, I've removed them while ago and took them to O'Reillys and put them on lathe and turned them and used fixed screwdriver to check for runout. I know I should use runout indicator, but I have no brake pedal pulsing whatsoever.

About suspension, the last play I had was in inner tie rod, and now I have new inner tie rods, new struts, recent upper and lower control arms and sway bar end links to be installed this weekend.

I'll double check again for any play in suspension, but I'm pretty frustrated now.



1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[JimLev]

"Drive It Like You Stole It, A Sickness for Quickness"
The Bottle Rocket "King of Spray" 2 Stage Nitrous Oxide
Dare to be different and stand out among the crowd of me-to-cars!
No guts, no glory! Tire smoke, not traction control!
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NOS Progressive 2 Stage Controller with port injection
Snow's Performance Methanol/Water Injection
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NGK Iridium Plugs
DDE Enhanced Angel Eyes, Smoked Lenses
Koni FSD's/H&R Springs, BAV Brass Caliper Bushings
Eisenmann Race Exhaust (from H8-Rain's car)
///M5 3.15 LSD
///M5 Sway Bars, Front & Rear
Energy Suspension Polyurethane Sway Bar Bushings
///M5 Gauge Cluster Rings ///M5 Lip Spoiler
///M5 Mirrors and Switches
Leather Z weighted shift knob (thanks H8-Rain)
Rogue “Octane” Short Shift kit w/WSR
Rogue Tranny Mounts
StopTech Brake Lines Front & Rear
Axxis Deluxe Plus pads Front & Rear
Staggered M Parallel 66, Xenons
Modified CDV, UGDO
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Redline in Diff and Tranny
Passport 8500 X50, Escort ZR3 Laser Jammer
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Auto Enginuity OBD-II Scan Tool
25% Tint, X-Pel, LoJack
PIAA Driving Lights
35W Xenon backup bulbs
BMW CCA Member Boston Chapter

[Bmw540san]

the same. In your experience, is it possible to have the warped rotors and no brake pedal pulsing.



1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[Craig in Canada]

Just thinking out loud here:

Brake pedal pulsing would only occur if fluid is being pushed back by a runout situation where the clamped thickness of the rotor is changing. If you have a "wobble", the inner and outer pad would be moving opposite one another so fluid might not get pushed back.

One common way that there could be wobble is if there's a cleanliness problem at the rotor/wheel bearing interface such as a build up of rust. A "crooked" rotor would show true off the car spinning on a lathe but could wobble when it's on the car.

Have you checked for runout ON the car? Have you checked for runout at the inner hat surface of the rotor (i.e. machining error)? Have you checked the bearing hub for runout? Are the hubs and rotors spotless at the mating surface? Have you overtorqued the hex set screw? This is supposed to be a very light torque or it could make the rotor go crooked on the hub and develop a wobble.

Again, just thinking out loud.... Good luck, keep posting... :)

[Ed CT]

Clean the mating surfaces with a wire brush & emory paper, on both the rotor and the hub.

Clean the rotor braking surface lightly with emory paper or steel wool, then solvent clean with acetone.

There's other ways to get brake shudder/rotor wobble other than warpage, and the pedal may not move in any case if the cause is not extreme.
Ed CT
1998 528i (aka, best car I ever owned!)
5-Speed
Aspen Silver
Aubergine Leather
Zeckhausen CDV
Nokia CK-7
D-Con Cache on Fuel Pump Cover

[Bmw540san]

Craig, I like your thinking. Everything you mentioned has been done, but somewhat in a hurry and in kind a guessing mode. I need to go back to square one:
I'm going to replace out piston seals, caliper pins and bushings (I have the parts laying on the shelf), clean and retorque everything.

Some of the parts might be still ok, but since I'm going to keep the car for a long time, it's worth the effort. Thanks again for your suggestions.





1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[Bmw540san]

I'll combine your and Craig's advice and redo/recheck everything again. Thanks for the suggestion.



1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[kbud]

only



K-Bud (kbud@roadfly.org)
Baltimore, MD
Join the BMW E39 / 5 Series Group here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=347966936053

99' BMW E39 540iA Sp. (Prod. 11/98)
Titanium Silver/Black
06' Range Rover HSE (Prod. 6/22/05)
Giverny Green/Aspen-Aspen-Ivory
04' Lexus GX470 (Prod. 10/03)
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Roadfly Member #71563 est. 06/03
BMWCCA Member #312125 est. 04/03

****Disclaimer: Down the page alot farther after all the absurd amount of pictures & vids I've posted of my current rides you'll find the "mods" for my BMW****




Da Boy's Ride




Mods to Date:
DINAN Stage II, DINAN Tranny SW, DINAN Fr. Strut Bar, RevHigh CAI w/ PC'd Gunmetal Metallic Pipe, Breyton Fr. Lip Spoiler, Fr. Lip RaceMesh Grill 5/8" PC'd Black, Hella Celis Clear Rears, Clear Fronts, Clear Sides, 19" RDSport S4's w/ Gunmetal Metallic PC'd Centers 19x9 et18 Fr. & 19x10 et20 Rr., Toyo T1R's 245/35 Fr. & 275/30 Rr., Eisenmann Sport Quad Exhaust w/Resonator Removed, McGard Wheel Locks, Rolled Rr. Fenders, ///M5 Rr. Wheel Liners, H&R Sp. Springs, Koni Adj. Sp. Struts, Energy Suspension Polyurethane Bushings, ///M5 Fr. Brakes w/ SS Lines, Brembo Rr. Brakes w/SS Lines, Axxis Deluxe Brake Pads, ///M5 Fr. & Rr. Swaybars, ///M5 Kidney Grills, ///M5 Brushed Gauge Rings, 2.25" Magnaflow High Flow Cats, ///M-Tech Rr. Bumper, ///M5 Trunk Lip Spoiler, ///M5 Style Side Mirrors ,DDE Xenon Match Angel Eyes, Xenon Match H7 Fog Bulbs, AC Schnitzer Alum. Pedals, Denso Iridium Plugs, In-Dash Business CD Player, Blk. Metallic Int. Trim, Brushed Alum. & Blk. Lthr. Shift Selector Knob, 35% Window Tint, Homelink UGDO, Trunk Storage Bin, Carbon Fiber Roundels, Black ///M Logo Oil Cap, Fr. Plate Delete, Black BMW Rr. Tag Holder, & Debadged

[fritracer]

Fritracer
Cincinnati, OH
2000 540ia Sport Package 9/99 Silver/Black
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 420 stroker w/6 Pak 430 HP,
510 lbft torque

[Bimmer5Michael]

the garage, it's beautiful outside!!!!!

I've never had to rebuild a caliper in my life, I can see the possibility in salty, dusty, extreme environments but........here in Chattanooga, I just can't see it.

Check the pads again and did you check the rotors on the car for runout and warpage? Sand those pads and rotors down and try again.

I had a similar vib on an e34 and it turned out to be a nut on the steering colum (no not me, another nut), I tightened it and that vibration was gone.

Michael 00 540 aport 6 spd

[Bmw540san]

I eliminated that posibility by swaping wheels fron my 540. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.



1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[Bmw540san]

LOL, No, I don't like to work on it anymore. I just have to find it as it's driving me crazy. I did check my steering columa already, but I'm fixing to recheck everything again.

I try to balance my family life and I did take advantage these few beatiful days. I guess next meeting is probably not to far in future.



1998 BMW 540i 6 speed
Arctic silver, M sport suspension (euro delivery), prod. date 05/98, non VANOS
Staggered 18" style 32 OEM wheels
3.15 open differential
Remus exhaust
AFE CAI with improved heat shield
Z3 shifter
VDO oil pressure and temperature gauges in place of headlight/fog switches
Powder coated valve covers-satin black
CDV delete
Debadged
AEA DRL module (aftermarket daytime running lights)

1997 BMW 528iA
Alpine white, premium package, prod. date 04/97, single VANOS
Staggered 17" style 32 OEM wheels
Debadged
AEA DRL module
Custom made sun blinds for rear seating area

2000 Nissan Frontier Desert Runner, AKA "The Work Horse"

Garage aids:
Direct Lift Pro Park 8
Campbell Hausfeld 28 gallon oil lubricated air compressor
Newair ACP-1400H portable air conditioner and heater
Auto Enginuity scan tool with BMW enhanced option
Actron 9135 scan tool-for quick readouts

[eargo]

I had similar problem a few years back and it took me weeks and much pain to figure it out. It turned out one front tyre had gone out of balance due to losing an unseen inner rim stick-on balancing weight. At the time two new front tyres had only been fitted a month before and everything was fine for about 2/3 weeks. I know youi've substituted the wheels but do you know if the subsitutes are properly balanced.......may be worth checking before doing any more expensive stuff. You don't need me to tell you how crucial spot-on balancing is for the sizes of wheels/tyres we use.

I also agree with most other posts....... if you're not getting any kind of kickback through the brake pedal when this happens, then it's definitely nothing to do with discs, pads or calipers in any shape or form......so forget run-out or anything like that.

You seem to have done a lot of suspension work so that seems to rule most of that out......but what you seem to be experiencing is kinda like uncontrolled forces within a defined speed band......is this when you tend to brake hardest when slowing the car down ? Notwithstanding my tyre balance suggestion it might be worth considering the possibility of a worn front shocker. Mysterious things shockers.....in the sense they don't always degrade/fail in an obvious, time proven way. Right now I've got a failed fr.shock on my 525 but it's not giving the same symptoms as you have. I get random v/light knock from NSF and v/occasional bounce (like only once a fortnight) when braking over a pot hole....at all other times susp. seems perfect. Checked for leaks and did the usual bounce test.....all seemed fine, so I was happy. It was only this weekend when I changed out the fr. discs/pads that I had the chance to check the shocks in a different way only to discover I did indeed have a faulty one. This is easy.......simply jack up a front wheel, then try to lift the tyre/wheel against the resistance of the shocker.....on mine, OSF lift met with immediate resistance..however, NSF had about 25/30mm of slack on the uptake......so, faulty shock.

Sorry to be so long, but I'm glad to offer a couple of v/cheap or no cost options you might want to try. Keep us posted on the outcome....be pleased to hear the final analysis.

Cheers

Eddie, Scotland

2003 525 M-Sport Avus Blue Special Edition, 74,000mls
Totally standard.

[eurodavid]

Remember that cloud I sent from Europe last fall (the BMW voodoo one), where it descended on Craig, and now it is descending on you (haha, just joking ya...)

I'm thinking Jim may be on to something, if it is not your actual calipers (when you remove the calipers and take the pistons out, if the seals are anywhere half decent and there's no gouges and/or deep scratches on the pistons, then I think you can rule that out right there. If one of those pistons is either not sliding properly, or if it is not holding its pressure because of sealing problems, then you might be in business (like I was).

Still, going back to Jim, do you have any play in the steering wheel as you swivel the wheel back and forth (like doing smooth, controlled, slow figure 8s in an abandoned Home Depot or Walmart parking lot)? That link can become worn, and will (even under normal braking & driving circumstances) transmit feelings like something is wrong with the brakes and/or suspension. The thing is a PIA to get at and look at, but it is worth checking...

Hope you get this resolved, mine drive me nuts for the better part of 10 months until I finally found the problem for my car. Getting so frustrated, I was beginning to think I needed to go down to Munich to the infamous BMW- shaman, who removes the hexes and curses on your BMW, all for a nice fee, of course. But then I heard if I cut some chicken heads off, buried them in a non-BMW owning person's yard with some BMW emblems & front control arm (thankfully I had just replaced the hood one and also had front control arms lying around), that it would cause the dark cloud BMW curse on my car to change continents.

So, voila, I buried all that stuff in my neighbors back yard, along with a USA today, and all of my little problems and niggles with car have disappeared completely.

Get your freak on, baby..... ;-D

[doru]

I also had that shimmy at 50-55 mph. And sometimes when braking. Went through all the suggested "fixes". From road force balancing to changing all components of the front end (some bushings started to go, but were not too bad). The shimmy somewhat lessened, but it was still there.
In my case the cure was a total brake overhaul. New disks and and new pads. No resurfacing, just brand new.
After I changed the brakes, my jaw actually dropped when I went for the first test drive. I could not believe how smooth the car felt. Not only at high speeds, but at low speeds as well. I could feel it right away after I started the car.