karayjay

OK I thought it was a rear wheel thing so I got the rear pass balanced twice. The rim looked fine on the machine and the tire at high speeds.
On the highway it was real evident over 65 so I thought it was a rear balance issue. Now at slow speeds on a smooth surface you can feel a faint wobble or imperfection that make me think as I go fate it would get worse but it does not really until 65 +mph. On a separate note after a brake job all 4 ceramics there is slight pulsating rear for sure not the front because the steering is not shaking ... I have seen post on this but for me it seems to be at 0-25 then 40 then 65 when you can notice it..

Mka77

Did you replace the rotors during your brake job? Could be a rotor warped or something.

Any other changes?

New tires or old?

Spacers any where?

Process of elimination.....

karayjay

Ok before the brake job the problem was there....for the vibration. The rotors are real nice no need for a change. remember we are not concerned with the pulsating becasue we need to find the vibration source when no brake is applied because that could be the problem with the pulsating.
I may hold off and deal with this till tire time in the fall at 50% now on the rears.These vibraion can be real money pits. Rotors/tires/bearing/brake pads/ shafts/ bushing

karayjay

Looks to be up front I will looj in the standard areas Upper /lower controls I was hoping someone else went through the same but I just get crikets when I post a problem...Or i go back to the BMW forums and get answers from them under my 325is

Rudeney

90% of the time, these problems are tire related. I thought I was having major control arm bushing problems, but it turns out it was just the crappy Pirelli tires I had. I had new Michelins put on a few weeks and and it drives like new. I had some vibration and wobble feelings on my W163 ML once with fairly new tires. After a lot of suspension work that was needed anyhow) and half a dozen tire balancing, I finally took it to an indy who had a Hunter 9000 balancing machine. They did a a "road force" balance and found the problem - I had a rim out of balance and the tire was out of balance, but on a different radius. They rotated the tire on the rim to align the heavy spots, and were able to correct the overall balance. Apparently, only a trained mechanic with the Hunter 9000 can fix this.

karayjay

Wow great write up! Nothing I hate more than a front end problem.. I call it the chase. AKA Money pit.. What is strange is our 2008 Pacifica with 25k has the same issue.
With mine I have notice to be up front because of the faint steering vibration. I did some research from the prior owner 4,000 miles back he had the front lower ball joint replaced and 2 new tires along with an alignment.

Now when I drove the car home 2 weeks ago the vibration was not there at all nor the brake pulsating. I do the brakes all around rotors look great not thin at all.

Now when I drive I feel a faint abnormal feel up front at 40 mph then on the highway nothing until 60 plus and when you hit the brakes at that speed you can feel the pulsation and in the wheel.
So what happen after a simple brake job? REMEMBER no issue prior to brakes but is feel like a bent rim at 40 mph and out of balance at 60 plus

RASTATT

Are you sure nothing is loose up front? I had that on my previous, previous car, had to replace the brake calipers, no matter what I changes brake-wise, the brake pistons were worn pretty bad and destroyed, periodically all brake, pads, discs I changed. Good thing to check them is, car feels slow, after leaving the car in garage, check if the brake areas have abnormal heatextractions, good luck and till prob is solved by all means drive carefull!

karayjay

It not that bad I did jack the car up today and the tie rods were fine the uppper lower ball joint were fine. My steering is bad and a stand still when I turn it fast left and right in a 6 inch radius, There is what sounds a like a knock on the left wheel. and tyoiu can see the wheel move with th indication somehting is wrong. I looked and tested all components to the ire and cannot see anything of feel anything loose. I need to see what the part is that is make my steering have abnormal play 3 -4 inchess

JDenhamCLK320

Hey buddy I'm in the same boat as u had mention. It drives me nuts and I can't figure it out. When driving on a smooth road around 40 I can't feel abnormal vibs/ruff feeling then fades away till around 50-60 I can't really feel bad vib almost a drone sound. Feels like I have a flat tire. Coming from somewhere up front. I had put on Yokohomas s drives in Nov and it would drive me nuts after numerous tire balance from diff stores at discount I had them defect the front tires with new ones and still the prob didt go away :-/ sucks. Any idea ??

karayjay

Well I felt something more today on the highway I felt the vibration and on a long angle left turn if I turn the to the right the vibration was less then when I turn it back to the left to stay oin my lane it was back....I think it may be the steering stabalizer. No pull to the left or right no tire wear no moverment over bumps all elimanate ball joint ans tire rod ends. The rims would not do any of this so the play in the wheel with the engine off is my best clue. It's only 31.00 so it may be worth it ... These are the kind of repairs that can nickle and dime you so you have to be carful and take you time ..

karayjay

So I will finally bite it and pay for 2 front balances . I know it won't be the cure but I need to maek sure because I really feel it at low speeds now 20- 30mph then at 65 plus more ... what is wierd is when the road surface changes the vibrations changes almsot to the point that it is gone. On the highway it now vaires on the smothness of the road it is that sensitive ARGH!!!! I cannot believe how famous the problem is on these boards yet not fixed.

JDenhamCLK320

I notice bad vibes in the morning on my way to wk. the car will shake pretty good then after 10-15mins of driving it will smooth out a lil. :-/ I just had the front tires swapped out for new ones. Maybe Michillin tires this summer will solve the prob

Rudeney

Low profile, high performance tires tend to need some warm-up time. The Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tires I had on the CLK were really bad. The Michelin Primacy tires I replaced them with are not too bad, but still noticeable the first few miles when cold. I have Bridgestone Serenity tires on the kid's C240 and they are slightly worse than the Michelins.

karayjay

Is it me or are these cars the biggest pieces of **** for suspension problems? I owned a BMW before and never saw anything like this on the BMW forums.

JDenhamCLK320

U would think paying the price for a high end car and shouldt experience ****ty problems like this sucks :-/

Rudeney

BMW's have their own problems. Most need brakes every 20K miles or less. Their interior surfaces wear out very quickly, and they come factory-equipped with plenty of squeaks and rattles. My 10-year-old C240 has fewer noises than a 10-month-old BMW and it's interior looks just as new.

Try buying something really high end like a Ferrari. You could buy a new CLK every year for what it will take to keep one of those on the road. The rub is that the more sophisticated cars become, the more "TLC" they need.

karayjay

Ok I had the fron tires balanced no help the rims are perfect. Then I rotated the tires no help... Got to keep digging ...... My suspision is now the 2 in play in the steering wheel when turning it left and right with the car running.....Steering stabilizer?

karayjay

Ok now the car pulls to the left and the ride is worse after the rotate of the half worn t rear to the front that were new. I have seen allot of posting and have realized that no one is changing the control arm bushings which are a pain to do. Which tells me the people that say they changed all kinds of things and the vibration is still there means they passed on the difficault bushings on the contol arm. I have noticed for me is that the shocks seem to attribute to the vibrationas if theya re bad also but shocks should not cause a vibration at 60 on a smooth highway but on the same side can bushing really control a smooth ride on a regular road? The bushing are smuch a pain and if you wrong you pissed away a whole day on the pair along with the work involved.

Rudeney

The bushings aren't that bad to replace with the proper tools. You will have to remove the sway bar mounts to get to one of the bolts, so you might as well replace those bushings, too. I figure all in all, using a floor jack, it's a 4 hour job, including clean up and a few beer breaks.

mint

I just replied to your PM but I'll put some info out there as I have (and still am) battling my issues. I have that same exact problem where if the road texture changes, my vibration changes as well in the front -- I have it localized to be primarily on the driver's front side; rear, not so much. I don't drive on the highway as much anymore so I've just put it off until I can get around to it, but some thoughts:

- The steering stabilizer/shock will only mask the issue. It will not make your vibration go away forever...there's something else going on
- Definitely take a look at your tires/wheels on a Hunter GSP 9700. However, I've shelled out for about 4 complete road force balances and each time the printout the tech gives me reads really high road force numbers (I think my lowest is 30lbs or something ridiculous like that -- goal should be to have all corners under 15lbs or so to eliminate vibes). This leads me to believe that the Nittos I'm currently running are just in crap condition so I'm springing for a new set as soon as these start wearing. So just because the tech says you're good to go, doesn't mean you are -- make sure whoever is doing your balancing knows what they're actually doing. Also, MBs in general are extremely sensitive to tire/wheel combos, and plus sizing will make the margin of error in balancing that much smaller. I would also suggest not going with a very aggressive tread pattern like the Invos or General Exclaims on a cab as we pretty much need to have a perfect balance. Go with something tame like Hankook Ventus V12s or Continental DWS.
- Get all your suspension looked at, especially linkages and rubber bits. Bushings, tie rods, ball joints, shocks, etc. Get your steering box bolts torqued correctly. Make sure your rotors are true and the pads aren't dragging too much. Symptoms vary so do your research on the net and you'll probably be able to narrow it down a bit.

That's all I've got for now.

dlbehrns

this was just mentioned "Get your steering box bolts torqued correctly." has anyone tried tightening the steering box? there are two very visible bolts in the drivers side wheel well. Pull the left front tire off. You can't miss them. How many miles on you cars? I don't know what the torque setting is for them but I do remember MarcusF referencing this fix for loose steering a long time ago. check it out.

karayjay

OK I did an oil change wow so easy. ok so I took alook underneath and found the squeak in my steering bonus!!! Steering stabilizer. The bearing on both sides are fine no free play. I had my son turn the wheel left and right in a 11 to 2 postion sequince. When looking from underneath at the pass side tire the action was not smooth you could see hasitation for a split milli second and a light know in the steering box.

karayjay

I was thinking yesterday that after the brake job t was more noticble so I was thinking rotors but 2 week back on the highway after buying the car there was no vibration really, now after a set of front and rear pads they are vibrating and puslating up front when hitting the brake. This tell me rotors but before I waste 60.00 Latley the pulsating has gone down a bit.. wear? that soon?.. A they look great I know it's hard to see and B just changing the pads create a warpoing problem? But the 2 are very conicedental. The pulsating and vibration is rotors all day long...

karayjay

Another update... while park engine off I was turning the wheel and man talk abut play at least 3-4 inches but when the car is driving it reacts with no play why? Alos the vibration vary to the smoothness of the road is it the shocks? This is crazy trying to fix this ...

JDenhamCLK320

I may need to change out my rotors and pads :-/ I'm getting a pulse when braking in the steering wheel and vibs