[Jlomboy]

I have a bad steering wheel shake when car is cold. When driven for a couple minutes while cold steering wheel shimmy’s like crazy. Currently running Conti’s. Got my suspension checked out by Indy shops 3 times and said there were no problems but to check up on control arms as they tend to fail around my mileage. Could it be bent rims or flat spotting?

[Brian86]

I've had some tires that flat spot when sitting for an extended period. Contential DW did it in all weather after an extended time sitting still. Most all of the 200tw summer tires will do it with increasing severity as it gets colder.


If it only does it in cold weather, and it goes away after driving a little ways, I'd check the tire pressures and just accept it as a characteristic of the tire.

[lowrydr310]

Yes. Very possible to be bent rims and/or flat spotting. It could still be control arms, sometimes it's hard to tell if the bushings are worn or cracked unless you remove them.

I just went through an ordeal fixing vibrations and found bent rims. Easiest way to check is jack the front of your car up and put something fixed against the tread to see if it's spinning perfectly. You could tape a screwdriver to a jack stand or something just to have a fixed reference point and then put the edge of the screwdriver just barely touching the tire and spin it. This is how I confirmed it was a wheel/tire issue and not suspension.

[Jlomboy]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

Yes. Very possible to be bent rims and/or flat spotting. It could still be control arms, sometimes it's hard to tell if the bushings are worn or cracked unless you remove them.

I just went through an ordeal fixing vibrations and found bent rims. Easiest way to check is jack the front of your car up and put something fixed against the tread to see if it's spinning perfectly. You could tape a screwdriver to a jack stand or something just to have a fixed reference point and then put the edge of the screwdriver just barely touching the tire and spin it. This is how I confirmed it was a wheel/tire issue and not suspension.

Got my rims fixed a year ago and grabbed new conti’s. Also got checked 3 times but reputable shops. I guess it might be my rims

[3PedalJake]

Not sure how a bent rim would only affect you when it's cold tho. Tires yes, but not a rim it's either bent or not bent.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by 3PedalJake

Not sure how a bent rim would only affect you when it's cold tho. Tires yes, but not a rim it's either bent or not bent.

Thats a good point. Might just be flat spots from the cold. If it's causing crazy vibrations you could just jack the car up after its cold and sitting and spin the wheels, you should be able to see the flat spots.

I had a set of four flat spotted tires and it was very obviosu just jacking and spinning them.

[Jlomboy]

Originally Posted by 3PedalJake

Not sure how a bent rim would only affect you when it's cold tho. Tires yes, but not a rim it's either bent or not bent.

Rims were fixed, maybe flat spotting. Also steering wheel shakes a little now

[3PedalJake]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

Thats a good point. Might just be flat spots from the cold. If it's causing crazy vibrations you could just jack the car up after its cold and sitting and spin the wheels, you should be able to see the flat spots.

I had a set of four flat spotted tires and it was very obviosu just jacking and spinning them.

That's what I'm thinking especially in the middle of winter altho OP says he has new Contis and I'm assuming he checks the pressure, so unless they're defective it's prolly not that either. It doesn't take much play in the thrust arm to make a shimmy and it is a rubber bushing, it might tighten up as it rubs and warms, IDK just spitballing here the "when cold" is the mystery part.

[3PedalJake]

Originally Posted by Jlomboy

Rims were fixed, maybe flat spotting. Also steering wheel shakes a little now

Have you left it sitting for months? Done any skid stops? Even ebay tires don't just flat themselves let alone contis.

[3PedalJake]

When you said your suspension was "checked" what exactly was checked? Did you get an alignment? Did they put a prybar on your thrust arm and see if the bushing was tight? The cold part is a mystery but thrust arm bushing is a prime candidate for a shimmy if your wheels and tires are good and your alignment is on. Tie rods cause shimmy too but the thrust arm is a rubber bushing so I'm thinking that might be affected by cold.

[Jlomboy]

Originally Posted by 3PedalJake

When you said your suspension was "checked" what exactly was checked? Did you get an alignment? Did they put a prybar on your thrust arm and see if the bushing was tight? The cold part is a mystery but thrust arm bushing is a prime candidate for a shimmy if your wheels and tires are good and your alignment is on. Tie rods cause shimmy too but the thrust arm is a rubber bushing so I'm thinking that might be affected by cold.

Was gonna get an alignment, not sure if they use the prybar method.

[Emilime75]

All tires will "flat spot" to a degree from sitting stationary. This doesn't mean that a section of rubber is worn away, like in a brake lock up situation, but the tire deforms some from the weight of the car. This is exacerbated by cold weather, and takes longer for the tire to come back into it's normal, round shape. If it goes away after driving the car for a while, i.e. getting some heat into the tires, this is very likely your issue. Bent rims and worn suspension/steering components, as well as alignment, don't fix themselves by driving. Of course, this is a BMW we're talking about, so anything is possible.

If you have the ability to park your car in dirt/grass for a night, I'd try that and see if the symptoms change. If the shake doesn't appear, or is lessened, that's a pretty good sign of what's going on. Although, this time of year, depending on where you live, the ground could be frozen as hard as concrete.

[tmo24]

There could be flat spotting. Check your tire pressure if you haven't. Have you been sliding around anywhere? It also could be bushings or something suspension related when they warm up and move around. Is it only when braking? Only at certain speeds? Try to isolate it and see if there are any consistencies. I guess you could find a friend with wheels that fit your car that does not have an issue and swap them. That will rule out wheels and tires. If they have the issue on their car with them, then you know they are either bent, tires are bad or potentially separated etc or you need balancing. Just go down the list and try to isolate and narrow it down. Visual inspections don't mean much. It's just an opinion if something "looks" or "feels" good. The slightest bend or something that is not quite right while moving can't be detected with just poking around with a flashlight.

[E92William]

How bad is the shake. I would also take in count which road you drive on all the time when it's cold. Maybe you take the same road each morning and it's kinda rough, matter of fact I thought something was very wrong with my car for a while when cold but it was the shitty road I was driving out of the neighborhood through. Tried a different route once and it was almost nonexistent, also since I raised the pressure in my Indy 500s and they don't tend to do that when sitting as much anymore but they have a reputation for flatspotting too after a while