Z4MR Steering vibration

Hmph - best of luck fixing this! sounds like a PITA.

I had similar issue, only under braking, it was basically just pad deposits after my spirited week in the french/spanish mountains.

a few 60-0 sessions cleared them off (you could see the pad outlines on the discs..), and no longer an issue :)
 
Get someone who knows what they are doing to check the RTAB's if you say you have wayward B road handling.
 
Where abouts are you in the country?? I'm not so far from Bristol, around an hour. If you could come along towards Hungerford you're more than welcome to try my alloys - yes will be a ball ache swapping them all round but it would answer the wheel question for you.
 
It's all those ///M badges stuck all over the place creating uneven weight distribution :lol:
 
Hey guys thanks for the replies. Tom-your offer is massively appreciated! I'm actually dropping the car off today to have the remaining two wheels straightened and depending on the outcome I might take you up on the offer. I'm based in Bath so not a million miles away..I've got a mate who does MOTs and I'll have him inspect the suspension and especially the RTABs if it's still a problem after..

I'll keep you posted!
 
Check out the RTAB threads. You are looking for witness marks of the RTAB hitting the cage through LATERAL movement. The bush itself will probably look fine. Need to know what to look for.

My 2007 MR RTAB's were allowing lateral movement enough for the RTAB to touch the cage at 37K miles. This means the rear wheels are basically steering when you are on the power and over bumps - particularly sh1te over bad road surfaces. Not nice at all and feels like the car is all over the place.
 
From my experience

Vibration when braking Brake disks
Vibration at a certain speed, balancing, buckle, bushes
Check the tyres for out of round as well

To check the wheel use a fixed point on the rim and spin them slowly..

Rear wheel vibration isn't as noticeable if at all in the steering wheel

Some times the best get it wrong
 
I've been experiencing this since having my wheels back from refurb. Vibration (quite severe) but intermittent. Anyway I had my wheels balanced yesterday as a first check and then took it out for a spirited drive only for the problem to reappear. So I parked up and my passenger-side front disc was extremely hot so I suspect in my case it is a sticking calliper.

Hopefully it will go through under warranty although the policy document is a bit vague on brake callipers.
 
original guvnor said:
I've been experiencing this since having my wheels back from refurb. Vibration (quite severe) but intermittent. Anyway I had my wheels balanced yesterday as a first check and then took it out for a spirited drive only for the problem to reappear. So I parked up and my passenger-side front disc was extremely hot so I suspect in my case it is a sticking calliper.

Hopefully it will go through under warranty although the policy document is a bit vague on brake callipers.

What policy do you have? I had the same issue last year, but I think I destroyed my front passanger side brake as it stopped me on the motorway with the TYre pressure warning light on, smoke and a very very hot brake disk. (It was a sticking caliper)

I needed two new disks, new pads, sensors, one new Caliper, new brake fluid as it boiled apparently.

Mine was fixed for free under the AUC car warranty.
 
I had something similar. Turned out to be a combination of brakes that had a deformed disk, causing vibration under braking and very worn lollipop bushes, which magnified the rumble. As they wore more, it started affecting the steering very badly.
 
Hi all,

So here's the latest.

I got my offside front wheel straightened as it had a minor buckle and all wheels balanced again. The vibration is significantly improved but appears to come and go so might be surface related. I checked the straightened wheel and it still has a very small buckle - It must move around 2mm up and down (if that) when I spin it.

I asked Clayton cars when it went back in yesterday whether they'd checked the RTABs and they said "of course they know where to check everything". My floaty front end is apparently normal and they said I "Might have sport suspension on my car, so have to get used to it. They then said maybe worth changing to normal suspension to improve the ride!!!!!" I came to the conclusion that they don't have a clue what they're on about.

It was back with them to install new exhaust brackets as the originals had cracked. Now the exhaust is lower on one side than the other!! Anyone know if it's possible to adjust this?

I checked the RTABs myself last night and notice that there are witness marks on the cage where the bush is touching it so clearly they're shot. I'm trying to find a decent local Indy to fit OE bushes and the turner limiters. Hopefully this will explain the remaining vibration too. I'll then need another geo (the third since I've had it!), and I'll be asking Clayton to refund £80 as they did a geo while failing to spot knackered RTABS.

Thanks,

Steve
 
I think my front discs and pads will need replacing very shortly. What sort of cost am I looking at? Do I need to remortgage? :)
 
Diderot I've just had my front discs and pads replaced by the dealer with OEM and it cost me £561. That was about £164 per disc (+VAT), £80 for pads, £10 for the sensor so about £480 for parts and about £80 fitting.

If you go ECP then you should be able to buy OEM equivalent (say Pagid disc and Texar pad) for £335 plus a sensor and then if you are mechanically competent (unlike me) you can save another £80 by fitting them yourself.

An update on my vibration - it was a sticking calliper which has been replaced under my Insured Warranty and now all seems to be fine.
 
original guvnor said:
Diderot I've just had my front discs and pads replaced by the dealer with OEM and it cost me £561. That was about £164 per disc (+VAT), £80 for pads, £10 for the sensor so about £480 for parts and about £80 fitting.

If you go ECP then you should be able to buy OEM equivalent (say Pagid disc and Texar pad) for £335 plus a sensor and then if you are mechanically competent (unlike me) you can save another £80 by fitting them yourself.

An update on my vibration - it was a sticking calliper which has been replaced under my Insured Warranty and now all seems to be fine.

Thanks for that fella. Was thinking the worst, but that's not as bad as I thought at all.

Cheers
 
Super old thread, but the problem is still out there. Thought my experience could help future people.

I bought my 07 Z4 M Roadster with 12,000 km in May 2015. I noticed the vibration since the first test drive, but figured it must be unbalanced tires, that were 9 years old. The vibration was present at various speed, and came and went away...

I replaced the tires, and the problem persisted... I balanced the tires maybe 7 times at different shops with no results. after that I thought it might be a damaged alloy/wheel/rim.... but they turned out to be in good condition. I lived with the problem for more than a year.

Recently at 19,000 km the steering wheel started to vibrate when braking... at least more aggressively than before. So... I took it to a shop, got the rotors refinished... and what do you know!!!! it fixed the problem. No more vibration in the steering wheel..
 
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