[ezatnova]

Not sure if this is wheel/tire or suspension/brake forum, so I'm posting here.

Quick background: Hit a massive pot hole a few weeks ago. Whole car and steering wheel shook above 30 mph after that. Dealer diagnosed as bent front and rear passenger rims (I nailed the pothole with both, so it makes sense). They also performed an alignment after the new wheels came in and were installed.

Now I have the craziest issue. At 45-55 mph, SOMETIMES I have a steering wheel shake. I say sometimes because it's only about 75% of the time. Here's the kicker...I notice it come and go after taking a turn at speed...a sweeping turn above 30 mph or so. I.E. if I came to a stop and turned at an intersection, that will do nothing. But, if I turn with a curving road at 30-60 mph or so, when I straighten back out, the shake has either dissapeared or returned, if it was absent before.

Sounds baffling, I know. My first car I ever owned did this too, but that was a Saturn and I chalked it up to Saturn crappiness, lol.

I am taking it back to the dealer in a week or so when I have time, but I'm worried they will drive it a bit when the shake isn't there and think I'm crazy. Maybe I'll take them for a ride with me so I can show them that it might take 5+ minutes of driving around with turns for the shake to turn up.

The only other hint I can provide is that, sometimes (the same frequency/infrequency as the steering wheel shake), DURING a turn, when applying force to the steering wheel, I "feel" the bumping/vibrating. It almost feels like driving over a washboard WHILE turning. This goes along with the theory that, somehow, the act of turning at speed makes the whole vibration come or go.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[cam99]

It is possible there is something left inside the wheel that sometimes throws the balance off and sometimes doesn't.

I have a Vette, where the TPM was glued to the rim on the inside, (Because the RIM didn't handle the OEM TPM) and it came loose and at different speeds I felt it.

Open your windows, radio off and inch forward (watch where you're driving and listen for anything that may be rolling inside the wheel, maybe a friend can help.

[Healey3000]

Hi,

Interesting observation - I had a similar issue with my E34 but it was oh-so-slight and only happened after a particular right-hand on-ramp.

A possibility that comes to mind is that when you hit the pothole, you damaged more than the rims, such as say bushings, where the control arms connect to the chassis. When you turn at speed, you impose lateral loads and perhaps something shifts just a bit, causing toe-in or camber changes. The most obvious thing would be that you bent something and when you turn at speed, the lowered side rubs the tire.

Try putting the wheel at full lock and then pushing the nose up and down at each corner. Have a second person look in the wheel well very closely for contact of any kind.

I think a full alignment job is called for as a shock load like that is something the suspension may not be designed for.

Good luck,
Adnan

[ezatnova]

Thanks guys. As noted, I did get a full alignment.

For the first response, I definitely don't hear anything clunking around in the wheel/tire, but that's an interesting guess. Also, the previous car that I had that did this never had TPMS or anything inside there.

For the second response, the thing is that even AFTEr a turn, I can then be going perfectly straight and the steering wheel wobbles. Then I can turn again later, the after straightening out, the shake is gone. It's not ONLY when under a loaded turn. Also, the car is definitely not rubbing during or after turning. I also had the techs do a full isnpection for any suspension damage, and they said there was none.

[ThorsHammer]

You lost me at shake, come, and go.

[Healey3000]

Originally Posted by ezatnova

Thanks guys. As noted, I did get a full alignment.

For the second response, the thing is that even AFTEr a turn, I can then be going perfectly straight and the steering wheel wobbles. Then I can turn again later, the after straightening out, the shake is gone. It's not ONLY when under a loaded turn. Also, the car is definitely not rubbing during or after turning. I also had the techs do a full isnpection for any suspension damage, and they said there was none.

Hi,

Sorry, didn't notice that you had mentioned that an alignment had been done.

I didn't mean that it happens only during a loaded turn but rather, the loading causes something to move and it stays that way till it eventually re-seats itself, either because of another turn or over time.

Some alignment shops are better than others; a second opinion may be worthwhile. I recall having a vibration problem on a car that nobody was able to cure till I took it to a shop that specializes in race cars. They found that the tires had to be balanced on the car and the problem went away completely when they did.

Just out of curiosity, does this problem get worse in warmer weather?

Regards,
Adnan

[bsamoul]

Maybe a tie rod needs to be adjusted? That's what happened with my Tahoe.

[Healey3000]

Originally Posted by ezatnova

Now I have the craziest issue. At 45-55 mph, SOMETIMES I have a steering wheel shake.

Hi,

Me again - I should have thought to mention it earlier but on the E34, there is a classic shake at 55 MPH caused by worn bushings on the thrust arms. With mine, it first manifested like I described in my previous post. Over time, the classic shimmy developed. New bushings took care of the problem.

I don't think the E90 has a similar suspension design and certainly they aren't old enough yet to see what bugs show up with age. However, a pothole impact may do something similar. If a suspension shop or alignment place does their standard measurements, they won't necessarily pick up on bushing damage because it's hard to tell without actually pulling the arms off, depending on the design.

The trouble with your problem is that it is dynamic and probably does not register when you do a static measurement on an alignment jig.

Beyond that, can't think of what else it could be. Call these guys, they are the shop I mentioned earlier: http://www.customalignment.com/ They are the most knowledgeable folks I know in this business (and honest to a fault, too).

Regards,
Adnan

[ezatnova]

Thanks again guys. I (and the dealer) are curious to see if the problem changes when I take the snow tires off (which were obviuosly the ones involved in the pot hole impact) and put the summers back on. On the one hand, I agree it will be an interesting and worthwhile test. On the other...I need them to FIX these before I move on. I don't feel like taking the time to swap wheels to test it, only to find out that, yes, it is a problem with the snow tires/wheels, and have to put them BACK on all over again for the dealer to fix it. If they want to test it that way, they are welcome to swap wheels/tires with another 335 on their own at the shop.

I'll keep you guys posted, but I won't be taking it in for a week or two.

[jzchen]

Two other possibilities I may guess on are the balance of the tires/wheels and damage to the tires due to the impact. If vibration happens at a specific speed I'm betting on wheel balance. Pulling to one side or another would be damage to the tire/alignment.