Steering shake

[Al4693]

2005 3.0d. Had the car into independent garage for steering shake. They renewed the steering ball joints tested and said ok. Took car up to 80 on motorway and no shake until I accelerated hard on slip road to adjoining m-way. The acceleration started off the shaking which continued at all speeds until off the m-way and stopped. When set off again shaking had stopped but repeated again after hard acceleration. Transmission related??

[Themoog2]

Hmm.. Starts shaking when accelerating. Odd one but if the steering wheel shakes then it's got to be at the front axle somewhere.
Are the wheel bolts tight? Maybe a cv joint is worn.
Keep us posted.

[X5Sport]

Things to check:

Tyres - are they all within 1.5mm of each other and of the same type (even if the sizes are different)? Preferably they should all be ‘*’ marked for use with BMW (yes it does matter). Any sign of damage or bulges? Tyre pressures OK all around?
Wheels - bent or cracked? Is the balance correct?
Engine mounts tight and rubbers OK?
Propshaft bearings, rubbers and joints all OK? It’s less likely to be the issue as you can usually hear the centre bearing rattle if the rubber goes manky.
Brakes - any sign of a sticky calliper (one wheel warmer than the others), or possibly distorted discs - this will cause steering shake regardless of the axle affected).
Wheel bearings as above.
Wheel bolts as above (should be 140Nm)
If the wheels have recently been off, is the mating surface on the wheel and hub clean (dirt can stop a wheel sitting properly)?
If the ball joints were done has a full 4-wheel alignment check also been done? It might make a difference but not 100% sure. Are all the other rubbers etc OK?

The wheels on these cars are big and heavy so a small error gets magnified very quickly. It’s most likely something simple (it usually is).

[Al4693]

Thanks for all those pointers. Yes, a 4 wheel alignment check was done, tyres checked and OK. Not star marked but fairly new, brake discs changed about 10k miles ago. Have noticed since previous post a click when turning out of drive on full lock which seems to come from right hand side of car. Its due into the independent garage for service next month so will ask them to check the cv joints.

[Hoppo]

I’ve had similar problems before and it was a sticky brake caliper (my brake pads had been recently changed).

Easy to check - just feel the wheels (or brake discs, if you’re brave!) for excess heat one side after a long drive.

[Themoog2]

My money is on a cv joint.

[Themoog2]

Would you believe it.. Ai working for the big corporate conglomerates.
My youtube feed popped up with a recommended video of guess what - that's right, diagnosis of vibration under acceleration.
Just shows that we are being monitored 24/7.
Anyway, the fault with that particular car was one of the driveshafts had nearly come out of the front diff due to the holding clip falling off.

[Al4693]

Very interesting. I think I will bring forward the service and get this into the garage asap. I will update on the findings!

[Themoog2]

Any update...

[Al4693]

Sorry about the very long delay my phone failed and I lost all my logins and passwords. No excuse really I know.
Anyway the indie garage diagnosed inner steering ball joints. In changing these it initiated a rack leak which I have been monitoring. The shake is still there and I am now electing for a rebuilt rack to be fitted. The clicking from the front is worse so I anticipate further joints/bushes worn. The garage specifically checked the cv joints and drive shafts and reported slight wear but within tolence. I WILL report in due course.

[mikeaj]

Check the fit of the front propshaft splines into the transfer box. The spline\propshaft was too short so the splines wear and come loose or even slip. This gives noise, shaking and steering wobble especially under acceleration. It seems to reset itself when stopped. This is a well known fault, such that longer propshafts are available. Alternate solution, for a "get you home" when the spline let go and drive was lost, weld it! Please don't tell anybody though, even though it has held for several thousand miles!

[Al4693]

Great, thanks will check on that
The shake is consistent at 55-60 mph. I am changing front tyres this month to see if it improves.

[X5Sport]

Beware if just changing two tyres! The maximum tread depth difference between any tyres must not exceed 2mm. If it does then you risk serious damage to the transfer box. With these cars it’s a full-set change due to the design of the xDrive system. Be very wary about cheap tyres as well. Luxury cars come with luxury tastes

[Al4693]

Thanks X5Sport, I will check with garage re this issue. I should have been only too aware of this as the previous owner had put the wrong size front tyres on which I had to remedy as soon as I took ownership, it was really screwing up the transmission. I got away with that one without causing damage thankfully.