BMW X5 Violently Shaking (Intermittently)

[Joshua27]

Any thoughts on why I would be getting an intermittent driveline shake? Recently on the way back from Atlanta, which is about 2 hours away, my 2016 BMW X5m began to have an extremely noticeable shake that I could feel throughout the vehicle. It felt like a bad universal joint to me. It would come and go at random but was particularly apparent when accelerating and would mostly go away within a few seconds of letting off the throttle and coasting. My first assumption was that the front prop shaft was out of balance or had failed since it felt like a universal joint and from what I understand they are a common failure point.

After replacing front prop shaft I had no more issues the last couple weeks, including another trip to Atlanta, until today. Same symptom shaking while on throttle (intermittently) and then mostly goes away or completely goes away when coasting. My second assumption was rear drive shaft but I don’t think that’s it either after inspecting. See video below:

I’ve “shook” all the suspension components, transfer box, etc. it all feels tight and secure. Wheels are on tight with lug bolts properly torqued. Wheels aren’t shaking when freewheeling nor is steering wheel shaking so it isn’t an out of balance tire. Also an out of balance tire, out of round rim, etc. wouldn't come and go, it would always be an issue.

A few other pieces of information. I just changed all the driveline fluids about 1,000-1,500 miles ago. That included front diff, t-case, tranny and all 3 chambers in rear diff. T-case was recalibrated without issue and appears to be working properly. Prior to renewing the t-case fluid I had the "pulling a trailer" feeling that you get when the t-case fluid is shot.

Observations during the fluid change:
1. Tranny oil looked great. Renewed filter at same time. No issues with shifting.
2. T-case fluid was dirty but not abnormal, calibrated and no issues.
3. Front diff fluid looked horrendous, like soupy mud. The previous owner supposedly renewed the front diff, which I did verify with the indy shop, but apparently they renewed it with a used one and didn't change the oil??
4. Rear diff oil looked normal in center chamber and right chamber. Left chamber was almost empty.

Filled up front and rear (center) diff with Liquimoly. T-case and rear left and right diff chambers received the correct BMW brand oil. Tranny got ZF brand fluid.



I’m thinking that it may be an engine mount going bad, loose or something along those lines. Other thoughts are a CV joint going bad but they all looked good when I was running the vehicle on jack stands. The fact that the shake is intermittent and only happens while "on throttle" leads me to believe it's a driveline component failure but the intermittent nature of the shake it is really puzzling. It would seem to me that if the front or rear diff, tranny, transfer case, etc. were failing that they would be failing all the time, not just here and there. Any ideas?

[suitedcboy]

I would put the chance of engine mount doing this very very low. Front diff, maybe but I think that would be a noise from bearings before shaking. An excessive amount of backlash as noted by turning the frt prop shaft while having had on cv shaft to front wheel and moving the prop shaft CW and then CW a few degrees to feel the loose motion before CV shaft turns. The front prop shaft having loose splines is my suspicion. Move the shaft up down, right left to see what loose motion is there. The normal amount is 2mm or less from inspections I do. I have had other brand vehicles with the same spline yoke on driveshaft at T case get worn with lots of rusty wear dust around the output spline set for front shaft. The vibration was higher frequency, much faster than a 70 mph tire imbalance for a comparison. How would you compare that shake to tire out of balance?

[Joshua27]

Originally Posted by suitedcboy

I would put the chance of engine mount doing this very very low. Front diff, maybe but I think that would be a noise from bearings before shaking. An excessive amount of backlash as noted by turning the frt prop shaft while having had on cv shaft to front wheel and moving the prop shaft CW and then CW a few degrees to feel the loose motion before CV shaft turns. The front prop shaft having loose splines is my suspicion. Move the shaft up down, right left to see what loose motion is there. The normal amount is 2mm or less from inspections I do. I have had other brand vehicles with the same spline yoke on driveshaft at T case get worn with lots of rusty wear dust around the output spline set for front shaft. The vibration was higher frequency, much faster than a 70 mph tire imbalance for a comparison. How would you compare that shake to tire out of balance?

Front prop shaft has been renewed. I looked at splines inside t-case at that time and they looked good. I “shook” the front prop shaft today and there is no play in it.

When the car decides to shake it’s quite dramatic. More than an imbalance tire, more like a bad universal joint. Drove car around today with no issues at all.

Makes no sense how it comes and goes. Makes me think T case is intermittently failing or something.

[dentprotony@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by Joshua27

Front prop shaft has been renewed. I looked at splines inside t-case at that time and they looked good. I “shook” the front prop shaft today and there is no play in it.

When the car decides to shake it’s quite dramatic. More than an imbalance tire, more like a bad universal joint. Drove car around today with no issues at all.

Makes no sense how it comes and goes. Makes me think T case is intermittently failing or something.

Were you able to sort your issue out ? Did you get any ‘drivetrain malfunction’ messages on the dash ? I have violent shudder happen sometimes when i do a pull or get on it too hard. Feels like something is bumping the car from the back, kinda super bumpy. I am thinking to rebuild my tcase myself, doesn’t seem like a bad job

[1norseman]

First time something similar happened to me, I could have swore it was an actual driveline issue, but turned out to be a bad coil. How many miles on the spark plugs, coils etc?
At that time, I also had the cracked vent hose replaced. Issues went away.

[Joshua27]

It ended up being the passenger side front axle. I did change out all coils and spark plugs as a preventative measure.

[dentprotony@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by 1norseman

First time something similar happened to me, I could have swore it was an actual driveline issue, but turned out to be a bad coil. How many miles on the spark plugs, coils etc?
At that time, I also had the cracked vent hose replaced. Issues went away.

Where is the vent hose located? Wonder if i can check it out

[1norseman]

Originally Posted by dentprotony@gmail.com

Where is the vent hose located? Wonder if i can check it out

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Engine/C...ves-and-Hoses/

https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1559857

[Don N.]

Originally Posted by Joshua27

It ended up being the passenger side front axle. I did change out all coils and spark plugs as a preventative measure.

How were you able to determine that it was the passenger side axle that was bad?

I am getting somewhat of a similar symptom with my X5. During acceleration, there is a noticeable amount of bucking/bumping intermittently. The harder I accelerate, the harder the bucking/bumping will be. It doesn't feel like ignition coils because there is no hesitation in the acceleration.

If I am making a sharp turn and accelerating, there are no issues. I feel like it is one of my axles that are bad, but I am not sure how to check or determine if it is bad without simply just changing it out and test driving it after.