530E60NL

Well got my car back. The shuddering is almost gone now so I was very happy with that. When I arrived home I checked out my rims and noticed big laps of 100 gram leads on the wheels and smaller ones of 5 and 10 grams to get them balanced. Totalling in around 130 grams of lead for each wheel.

I called a local tirebusiness to ask them what is normal for a bMW to have and he told me the wheels should be balanced with around 25 to 35 grams of lead. That means I have more then 4 times the amount on my wheels then normal is used for a car. The amount of lead on my wheels is normally used for big trucks!!!

Called my dealer very pissed of and told them I am gonny buy new tires myself and sue bmw if my problems are solved with the new tires. I am sick and tired of this sh*t with the wheels on my car and I will be an a**hole if they don't fix it for me!!

Thanks for letting me flame!!!

northernmonkey

no harm in having a good flame

i am very suprised your dealer chose to balance the wheels with that much lead without trying a different set of wheels. Did they ever try this, with you in the car????

If the problem is fixed great, if not demand a new set of alloys, end of story. Wheels are covered under warranty after all and yours are "options" which you paid good money for, they should be perfect.

Any tyre/wheel specialist will tell you wheels are not always perfect circles so they will often take the wheel off, spin it up without ANY weights on and then balance out any bad spots edge to edge (weights on both sides).

There is a limit to what can be balanced out and if you exceed this limit then there is a chance that at some point the balancing weights will simply fly off and the problem will return.

Other causes of "shakes" can also be out of round tyres, pirelli for one make out of round tyres and it normally takes a few hundred miles for them to bed in and work perfectly, tyres can also lose their shape but not normally when the car is this new, OR if you had flat spotted te tyre (like after an emergency stop) this can also sometimes cause vibration and the only cure there is new tyre.

if your not happy demand new alloys and tyres and don't back down until you win,
as its a new car I would take it back to them and demand it be sorted, if you get the old "they all do that" excuse, ask them for a drive in a different car of theirs so that they can demonstrate this generic feature to you in person !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One is certain this is definitely related to the balance of your wheels and tyres so theres no reason to put up with a partial fix, your car is almost brand new and it should drive like it !!!

Changing a tyre is a relatively simple process yet it often takes two or three visits to one or more tyre centres to actually get it right! If your BMW dealer is poor find an independent tyre/wheel specialist.

530E60NL

Thanks northernmonkey. It is almost perfect so no more violent shaking but the way the solution is done is not okay with me.. They'll call me back today to talk about a solution so I will ask them to put an other set of tires on the car to see if that solves the problem to without adding 130grams of lead on each wheel.

northernmonkey

Good for you !! Definitely get them to try different tyres on your existing alloys and also a totally different set of alloys/tyres from another car.

You just gotta take a test drive in one of their E60's with 18"'s that doesn't shake just for the hell of it....if its a smooth ride, no shakes, like the rest of us have, it will be classis just to see the look on their faces when you ask why your car comes with the "shake factory fit" option

bmwin14rsm

I had a similar problem with rim I purchased aftermarket. The cause of the excess weight was the wheels were out of round. It is very easy to determin this. Take the wheels off the car and put them on a wheel ballancer. Use the ballancer and take a straight edge to the rim while it is spinning. If the wheel is oblong, you will be able to see it instantly. This should prove the wheel is out of round.

The bad news it it could be your fault. Rims can get bent/oblong by driving them hard and hitting pot holes. They can also get bent by droping them prior to tires being installed on them.

In California, this was a major problem after earthquakes. Rims fall from wherehouses which store them. The impact from hitting the ground with out a tire can damage them.

Good luck.

530E60NL

Thanks for all your replies.

My dealer just called me the 130 grams weight is within the tollerances of BMW. Can members post the amount of lead put on their wheels to get them balanced. I have to say the car is balanced at the moment and no more shaking so that is very positive. I only wonder why they have to use so much lead to get it right..

I hope some of you guys can inform me on the amount of lead on your 18 inch rims and if I have 10 or 15 people I can make an average and call the importer to ask why I have 4 times more then other people do.

Thanks for your help everybody I just want this sorted.

530E60NL

UPDATE!!!

Had a 150 km trip this afternoon and guess what??? MY CAR STILL ISN'T BALANCED!!!!!!!! The shuddering came back again and became worser during the trip.. Can you believe this???? Aaaaarrrrgghh..

I already felt it a little but my wife who was with me started about the rumbling feeling in her butt.. No we were in the car and my hands were on the steeringwheel and she didn't eat something strange so no gas problems .. She complained the car still shaked and I told her I felt it too but didn't want to be to anal about it.

In the end I called BMW Netherlands. Talked to one of the guys there. He's talking to his manager on monday and they will provide a solution for me he promised because he also found this issue to be too ridiculous for words.

I am gonna use your tip on the changing the whole wheels for other wheels from a car that doesn't shutter and ask them to do this.

This is tragic that it still isn't solved.. But I was sooooo happy driving my car again that the pain was relieved a bit!

JDN

This is truly disappointing to me, too. As Andy was tooling down the N. Dallas Tollway in my 545 last night, we commented how on the quietness and smoothness. We also talked about the bad experience that you are currently having and hoped it was going to be cured. I do believe your problem is in one or more of the tires, but who knows where it is.

My weights are tucked away. Don't know how to determine their weight, but I am sure it is much less than yours.

ULtraPLanet

530E60NL sorry to hear about all your problems. I have been following your threads hoping BMW would be able to work it out to your satisfaction. I found the following link very interesting awhile back and thought I would share it with you. Not sure if you can find a dealer or tire shop with this type of equipment but it might be worth looking before you punch the dealer

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/gen..._uniformity.jsp

PhilS

530E60NL, sorry to hear this problem is persisting. I think you have been very patient with respect to this problem. If it were me, I think I would simply tell the dealer that if they don't get it fixed properly and permanently this time, they can keep the car.

I think they should just replace your wheels and tyres, and that should be the end of the matter.

Just my 0.02 worth...