[Nexus313]

UPDATE: Tires were not balanced, and the dealer slapped on some winter tires onto the car with cupping, this was the cause of the shutter. it felt like a bearing howling noise, but was just the crappy tires. I also installed new front pads and rotors and it got rid of the braking vibration. Car is mostly smooth now, just have to get rid of these runflat summer 19s now!

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Hey folks. I recently picked up a 340i xDrive from CPO BMW Dealer. I noticed a vibration on braking, I thought it just needed new pads and rotors, since front pads coming kinda low on wear life, so the dealer reimbursed me for that. However on the drive home from the dealer I noticed there's also harsh shuttering and vibration/courseness in the floor board and seats when cruising past 120km/h+ ..


I did a basic test in a parking lot, full lock on left side and spin the car in circle, and same thing on right.. What I noticed was a loud and noticeable howling side when testing the left side, but quiet on the right side. The car also howls a bit when normal cruising and howl intensifies when turning the wheel left or left turns.

My guess is it's a driver side wheel bearing worn out, which would explain why it vibrates when braking at low speeds too (rotor sits on hub assembly, bearing so worn that there's movement in the hub assembly when braking + high speeds)

Has anyone had this issue or any thoughts? My guess is the previous owner must have hit a pothole really hard for it to be worn this bad.

Would a bent rim or unbalanced tire also cause these symptoms?

UPDATE: I noticed the front LEFT wheel has a chunk of tire worn off the outer part of it, and there is a distinctive CLICKING noise coming from the front left suspension when rocking the wheel back and forth, coupled with excessive play on the 10/3 position, in addition to the howling:

Please see video, and photo of the tire..

[Polo08816]

You sure it's the bearing and not some bushing in the front suspension?

[zole2112]

you need to get it on a lift so you can check everything out.

[SorinMTB]

Originally Posted by Nexus313

Hey folks. I recently picked up a 340i xDrive from CPO BMW Dealer. I noticed a vibration on braking, I thought it just needed new pads and rotors, since front pads coming kinda low on wear life, so the dealer reimbursed me for that. However on the drive home from the dealer I noticed there's also harsh shuttering and vibration/courseness in the floor board and seats when cruising past 120km/h+ ..


I did a basic test in a parking lot, full lock on left side and spin the car in circle, and same thing on right.. What I noticed was a loud and noticeable howling side when testing the left side, but quiet on the right side. The car also howls a bit when normal cruising and howl intensifies when turning the wheel left or left turns.

My guess is it's a driver side wheel bearing worn out, which would explain why it vibrates when braking at low speeds too (rotor sits on hub assembly, bearing so worn that there's movement in the hub assembly when braking + high speeds)

Has anyone had this issue or any thoughts? My guess is the previous owner must have hit a pothole really hard for it to be worn this bad.

Would a bent rim or unbalanced tire also cause these symptoms?

UPDATE: I noticed the front LEFT wheel has a chunk of tire worn off the outer part of it, and there is a distinctive CLICKING noise coming from the front left suspension when rocking the wheel back and forth, coupled with excessive play on the 10/3 position, in addition to the howling:

Please see video, and photo of the tire..

Just had the front right bearing replaced about a week ago on a 2018 320i xDrive, after experiencing the same howling as described by you, especially when changing direction to the left, at speed. In my case, the bearing became damaged after sliding on ice/snow and hitting a curb while the wheels were turned to the left. The clicking noise from the video also indicates play in the bearing. I also had a bent control arm and had to do an allignment afterwards.

[Nexus313]

Originally Posted by SorinMTB

Just had the front right bearing replaced about a week ago on a 2018 320i xDrive, after experiencing the same howling as described by you, especially when changing direction to the left, at speed. In my case, the bearing became damaged after sliding on ice/snow and hitting a curb while the wheels were turned to the left. The clicking noise from the video also indicates play in the bearing. I also had a bent control arm and had to do an allignment afterwards.

UPDATE: Tires were not balanced, and the dealer slapped on some winter tires onto the car with cupping, this was the cause of the shutter. it felt like a bearing howling noise, but was just the crappy tires. I also installed new front pads and rotors and it got rid of the braking vibration. Car is mostly smooth now, just have to get rid of these runflat summer 19s now!