Hi,

I have 2004 545I (32000 mls). I have just experience a vibration problem on the car. First time I was doing ~110 MPH today in the morning (on I294-South). And suddenly I needed to break hard. While breaking the car vibrated so badly that at one moment I thought I lost the control of the car (The road has a curve there)!! By looking at some of the posts I figured out that the Rotors and Pads could by warped and It can be changed under warranty. But I'm still not able to find sure solution to this problem. I needed your expert opinions guys. I have a service appointment on 6th June. Hopefully the dealer can do something about it.

 

Hi and welcome

Most likely it was overheating.

Have you ever changed your brake fluid?
Have you tried to brake hard again? If it is vibrating from the start of braking then you have one crooked front rotor.

 

Thanks nicke60gre.

I just bought the car. So I do not know when the brake fluid was changed. Also I figures out that the fluid interval can be changed by some trick. So I do not trust on I-drive reading for brake fluid change. Moreover, my dealer refused to give me service history for this car stating that it's strictly internal and can not provide it to me as it can reveal previous owner's confidentilal information.

I guess it was DSC system activated. Though I'll try to brake hard again and see!!

 

Start with rotor/pad and brake fluid replacment, then have the control arms replaced. If that does not resolve the issue, the thrust arms are the next components to replace. Good luck.

 

Are you sure you didnt brake to the point, where abs kicked in? it happens, and not a lot of people know. How heavy was your breaking, Did you loose traction? Have you ever experienced abs feeling?

 

Had the same problem heavy vibration under hard braking conditions. If it is consistent but only when braking hard then your rotors are probbably warped and need replacing. I replaced my and braking is now smoother than ever. Have the dealer test drive and diagnose first and let them tell you exactly what it is so that you don't go fixing things that are not broken. My dealer gave a it a quick test run without charging so see what you can do.

Good Luck

 

I was thinking the same thing-are you sure it wasnt the ABS-I was (not proud to say so) but was going 150 havng some fun with an Sl 500 on the I10 by palm springs and wow traffic comes up on you quick at 150-completely out of sight and a few seconds later bang a bunch of cars-so anyway I wasnt that close and had plenty of room but it was more of a "panic" brake and the foot likely hit that brake quickly and jerk..jerk..jerk like almost bouncing on the road until I let up on the brakes and figured and pretty sure it was just ABS as I have braked hard before and have had abs come on in different cars.

If you are not noticing it under regular braking at freeway speeds or any speed over 50 it is not rotors, control arms or any other parts people listed as those would be noticable at even moderate regular braking

oh by the way-felt like I was going to momentarily loose control as well-which is why I aint going 150 anymore EVEn when you cannot even see a car ahead of you on an open highway in the desert

 

Going 150 is no problem on the German Autobahn (if traffic permits and no speed limit). US highways were not built for this speed in the first place. Pick up your next BMW in Munich and have fun!

 

Ya I learned this as man the bumps and unevenness of the roads are severe at higher speeds around here. Next picup will be in germany-I dont folllow that break-in period crap with the bmw anyways-so I have no problem at all getting it to top speed the day it comes off the line or I pick it up

 

The "traffic problem" I found on my recent visit was not so much the 150 but the cars behind wanting to do 170.

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