X5 D wheel vibration only when it rains

[Mb_1993]

Hey guys I'm at a bit of a loss for the problem I'm having with my x5. About 6 months ago my fiancée hit a pothole and shattered the strut mount on the front passenger wheel. At the same time she said she heard a crazy vibrating noise after she hit it. I couldn't get the car to replicate the noise after though. Only the clunking from the broken strut mount. So I get the strut mount replaced and thought it fixed it. Fast forward two days and I'm driving home in a storm and out of no where the wheel starts vibrating like a spin cycle on a washing machine. I slow down knowning now what she was taking about and the noise goes away. Fast forward 5 months and it only happens sometimes when it's raining out. It got to the point where I needed to fix the issue so I had the whole hub assembly replaced, thinking it had to be a wheel bearing issue. and in the process of replacing we discovered my axel was seized on so the axel was replaced too. Just got it back and the noise is still happening only in the rain. Any ideas? Is it something as simple as a wheel speed sensor maybe is fried and when it gets wet the abs kicks in? Need some help here and wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. Not the bearing, not the axel, what could it be? Only when it rains heavy and doesn't happen all the time.

[Spyro235]

Instead of throwing parts(and money) at the problem, you should really try to diagnose.
First of all, anything that happens in the rain, and absolutely never the dry, I would immediately think of tires. How are your tires? How is the wear on them? Pictures could be useful. Is there any cupping, or other types of uneven wear? How's your tread?

Next, if your tires are matching tread, and evenly worn or at least, I would check for suspension components at the corner that the strut mount blew out. Is anything belt slightly? You can check a lot of the suspension components (tie rods, ball joints) by jacking up the front wheels, and trying to shake them, push pull at 2 and 9 o clock. That checks for tie rods, and it kind of sounds like your inner tie rods COULD be shot. Also, could be the tension struts, which I'm about to replace on my car. Any vibration at highway speeds at all? When you let off the gas, lightly apply the brakes? uphill? downhill?

[Mb_1993]

Originally Posted by Spyro235

Instead of throwing parts(and money) at the problem, you should really try to diagnose.
First of all, anything that happens in the rain, and absolutely never the dry, I would immediately think of tires. How are your tires? How is the wear on them? Pictures could be useful. Is there any cupping, or other types of uneven wear? How's your tread?

Next, if your tires are matching tread, and evenly worn or at least, I would check for suspension components at the corner that the strut mount blew out. Is anything belt slightly? You can check a lot of the suspension components (tie rods, ball joints) by jacking up the front wheels, and trying to shake them, push pull at 2 and 9 o clock. That checks for tie rods, and it kind of sounds like your inner tie rods COULD be shot. Also, could be the tension struts, which I'm about to replace on my car. Any vibration at highway speeds at all? When you let off the gas, lightly apply the brakes? uphill? downhill?

I'm not "throwing parts at it". The tires only have about 20k miles on them and have no signs of uneven wear. I replaced both the sway bar end links when the pothole was hit Becuase one was bent. I have checked all of the suspension components and nothing else is bent. It makes no noise when it's dry or on the highway. It's only when it rains and I have to be driving for about ten minutes in the rain for it to start. I'm asking for advice Becuase it HAD been diagnosed as the bearing being broken somewhere and water was getting inside. But looks like that wasn't the case. It sounds like the car might be trying to brake in that wheel which leads me to think maybe the abs sensor is shot. But no abs light is on

[Mb_1993]

Also I need to add that yesterday for the first time it made the noise while I was DEAD stopped. I let off the brake and it went away