Occasional Vibrating Steering Wheel

[gabeshmabe]

About once a week during my normal commute in my 99 323iS, after about 1/2 hour, my steering wheel will start to vibrate as if my wheels were out of balance. Sometimes it goes away after 5 minutes, sometimes it sticks around for 20 minutes. Speed doesn't seem to be a factor as I've felt it at 5mph and 75mph. Sometimes the vibration isn't too bad, sometimes it feels like a rhino is dancing on my hood. I had a shop check out the steering and suspension and didn't see a problem. They balanced the tires and the problem went away for about a month, then it came back. Has anyone out there experienced anything like this?

[BlantonG13]

get the wheel bearings checked out...that could definitely cause vibration in steering. Do you have aftermarket wheels?

[okczy21]

i had the same problem and i took it to my bmw shop and the simply put the proper amount of air in each tire and it fixed the problem u need to check ur tires probably weekly cause im pretty sure thats the problem or u just need new tires all together

[gabeshmabe]

The wheel bearings sound like a likely suspect. I've been hearing some noises coming from the wheel when I parallel park that I thought were a seperate problem, but it seems like both problems could be caused by the wheel bearings. I'll give them a good hard lookover. Thanks!!

[Parkerton]

Gabe,

we just bought a 98 323is and my wife said she felt it, but I haven't since we've had it (just one month). Keep us posted on what you do...I'll do the same.

Thanks.

[gabeshmabe]

Minor Update: I checked out my wheel bearings and they are fine. I figured I'd shoot for the easy fixes and got my wheels balanced again and also got an alignment. No luck. I'll be taking my car to a good shop within the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know what the verdict is.

[Q_BMW]

hey gabe
sorry to break this out but i had the same problem, balancing and alignment did not work. The I got it checked and somehow all my rims are slightly bent which cause vibrations ocasionally at no set speed range.
check those rims out...i have no clue how mine bent
Q

[gabeshmabe]

Thanks for all the help and ideas! After taking my car to 3 different garages, after having my front struts, front upper mounts, and tie rods replaced because they were damaged/warn out from the vibration, and after warping a new rotor in 3 days, the problem ended up being a sticking caliper. My car's all better now. My credit card isn't. Who would've thunk it cost a lot of money to fix a beamer