XSeries-forum

Afternoon all

Need a bit of advice, just bought a 2011 X3 with 105k miles, it drives fine except at very low speed whenever a steering lock is applied it judders noticeably.

That disappears at higher speeds or with a bit more revs. I took it to a garage and they checked it on the lift. When the wheels are spinning in the air there is no judder at all even when either of the front wheels are stopped by the mechanic.


He tells me it's the front differential but I am not convinced, I feel if it's the front diff it will cause the judder regardless if it's on the ground or the lift and it can happen when when driving at normal

Also the diff is not making any noise at all.

Has anyone experienced something similar before? Any ideas what it might be?

Sounds like the transfer box. Does the car have different size, and/or different make, tyres front and rear. If different size, are all 4 tyres "star-marked"?

Juddering at full lock and at walking speeds is a definite sign of diff failure, or transfer box failure. As above as my post was in draft when the 1st reply was made.

If it is the diff, then the ‘usual’ cause is tyres. Either because non-BMW Approved (with a on the sidewall) have been fitted, or the tread depth between any tyre and any other is greater than 2mm. XDrive cars are very intolerant of certain tyre types, particularly if the car has a ‘staggered’ set up rather than ‘square’. We have had a number of diff failures on the forum for this reason, normally with the E53/E70/71 but others have occurred too). The issue only shows up at full lock and low speed. As it worsens you will get grinding noises develop. The transmission has to be under load rather than off ground.

Another possibility could be transmission fluids need replacing. BMW tell owners the system is sealed for life. ZF (who make the gearbox) say different. The recommended changes are every 80,000km/50,000 miles or 8 years, whichever comes first.

The final known problem is with the transfer box. Gives similar symptoms to the diff. Only shows up under load, hard steering lock and low speed. Again this is related to tyres.

Diff windup.
Mixing new and old tyres.