# Wheel vibration and pull when braking



## NickD (Jul 16, 2003)

Hey guys. My 328 seems to have developed a slight problem. This started out minor about 2-3 weeks ago and has gotten worse over time. I seem to have narrowed the problem down. 

At first I noticed my steering wheel vibrating at speed, but it's not consistent and at all and will be fine at the same speeds on the same roads and bad at other times. I thought I had lost a wheel weight or possibly a bent rim, but this is not the case.

Now it seems that after some heavy braking from spirited driving or heavy traffic the wheel develops a vibration and at low speeds if I let go of the wheel I can visibly see the wheel rocking back and forth about 1" in each direction. This is accompanied by a loud, vibrating drone at high speeds and a pull to the right when braking. Once driving for a bit I believe the brakes cool down and the problem reduces.

I am thinking perhaps the rotor is warped and at high temperatures it is contacting the pad causing the vibration or perhaps I have a problem with the brake caliper itself. 

I haven't had a chance to pull the wheel off yet (I believe it's the right front wheel causing the problem), I was going to this weekend and I am taking a short vacation middle of this week so I won't have a chance for 2 weeks to get to it. 

Has anyone experienced this before? My car is CPO'ed, but i wanted to take a look myself before heading back to the dealer. Could this be something as simple as worn pads? I have just under 54k on the odo and I believe they are the original pads. 

Thanks!


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

Take a look ...


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## NickD (Jul 16, 2003)

sergiok said:


> Take a look ...


Thanks for the info. That was a really good read and very informative. Some stuff I will have to inspect closely when I yank the wheel off.

Thanks again!


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## MR325iT (Feb 21, 2002)

sergiok said:


> Take a look ...


Thanks - that's really good info. I used to automatically assume brake vibration meant warped rotors.


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## bavarian19 (May 11, 2003)

just as the links imply, its probably a heat fracture in the rotor. It can happen after a lot of driving (stop and go, city) and then hitting a puddle or something that would dramatically change the temperature. take it in to the dealer, and it sohuldnt be terribly expensive to fix....


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

ajt819 said:


> just as the links imply, its probably a heat fracture in the rotor. It can happen after a lot of driving (stop and go, city) and then hitting a puddle or something that would dramatically change the temperature. take it in to the dealer, and it sohuldnt be terribly expensive to fix....


Actually it's quite hard to get a heat fracture in a rotor from just regular day use unless there was a factory defect in the making of the rotor. Most likely it is simply a hot spot on the rotor or buildup of pad deposit on the rotor surface that causes the vibration during braking.


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## NickD (Jul 16, 2003)

Hmm, I guess this is almost a month old now. I haven't been on the forums much as of recent. 

Anyway, the odd thing is the vibration happens when I am not braking as well. After constant braking or a number of hard brakes I get a constant vibration in the wheel even when completely off the brake and coasting. At low speeds I can visibly see the wheel moving back-and-forth about 1". If this was a hot spot on the rotor shouldn't I only feel this when braking? 

When braking the vibration gets worse and the car pulls to the right pretty bad. I am under a CPO so I am debating on taking it back to the dealer shortly to have them take a look at it. I just have not had any time as of recently.


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## JetBlack330i (Feb 8, 2002)

NickD said:


> Now it seems that after some heavy braking from spirited driving or heavy traffic the wheel develops a vibration and at low speeds if I let go of the wheel I can visibly see the wheel rocking back and forth about 1" in each direction.


I hope you were exagerating on the 1".
Simple wheel alignment should cure problem.
If not, then something in your suspension is seriously warped or loose, and you should take it to the dealer.


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## NickD (Jul 16, 2003)

JetBlack330i said:


> I hope you were exagerating on the 1".
> Simple wheel alignment should cure problem.
> If not, then something in your suspension is seriously warped or loose, and you should take it to the dealer.


If it were a wheel alignment I would feel it all the time. I only feel this after hard or constant braking. When I first get in my car after it's sat for a while, say overnight it drives wonderfully. No problems at all. Even during a normal trip into work (~15miles) it doesn't exhibit this problem. However, if I am stuck in traffic and constantly braking or if I do a lot of hard brakes on the highway a slight vibration forms, more braking increases this vibration.


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