balbs

That's what I thought? Which is why the tire warranty doesn't cover cupping.

B_Bake

Im glad I came across this post as well. I have been dealing with the same problem with my falken 452's since installing them a few months ago vibration at 60-70 mostly felt when I let off the gas and am not accelerating. Once installed I felt the vibration funny thing is I installed the same exact tires that were on there previously (Originally falken 452's) only i increased the rears a little wider since I didnt like the stretched look from before. When I took the car to discount tire who installed them they informed me that my front passenger rim was slightly bent. So I went it and got it fixed then brought it back, then they told me that I have two other slightly bent rims one in my rear drivers side and my other front drivers side. From this point I felt like I was getting the run around so I parked the car for a few days took the other three rims in and had them all tested only one tested bent so I had it fixed. To no success I still have the vibration. Im riding on 20" 128s and have already the car to both BMW and a local independent shop to have them check for a fix any suspension and or alignment problems they see. Because my car is under warranty and Im always taking it in for any minor problems they found nothing. I also had the rims rotated in the wheels 180 degrees something I heard might work. So here are my next steps

-Take the car back to discount tire without telling them all rims have all been tested. Let them tell me another one of my rims is bent and call BS because they have all been tested. Then demand replacement of the tires since I bought the warranty anyway.
-If that doesnt work get a road force balance done
-If that doesnt work take the car to BMW have em rip it apart until the problem is fixed. Maybe another full alignment or something bc honestly I have no clue what else to try right now.

Help!!!

epilithic

Its funny you should ask, after being told that my tires were cupping i quickly jumped on my computer and researched ALL causes of cupping. To my suprise cupping is typically caused by erant suspension ussues. The Americas tire Co. said he spoke with Continental and they said "since cupping is typically caused by bad suspension, cupped tires are not covered by our warranty" They also suggested that since this cupping was most likely caused by my suspension that my BMW warranty should cover the suspension and the ill effects it caused on my tires. Only problem with that is i am past my 50k BMW warranty and only have an extended warranty. This new warranty clearly states that tires are NOT under warranty. Currently i am battling it out with the warranty company because i feel as though the cupping was caused by the suspension. In the mean time i am planning on taking my car into my local BMW dealership and having them inspect my suspension. Hopefully they can find some issue and put it on paper. If not i may just have to bite the bullet and buy new tires. So if anyone has seen a set of m166s, shoot me a pm. lol

sahiljain22

Depending on how the bend is, the goodyears might have worn out in a pattern to wear out the effect of the bend. I had that with my previous set of tires. Got a new set of the same tires and suddenly had vibrations.

Silver

I had the same issue. I had it roadforce balanced and it is a lot better. However, I could not reduce the front tire pressure to below 32 psi. The steering will slightly vibrate if pressure is below 32 psi (mine is a non-sport so recommended pressure on the front is 29 psi). I think it may be related to the soft tire wall on the conti. Try to increase the tire pressure above 32psi.

Jucas Blue

I agree with you Silver. I think the soft tire wall on the Contis are a big contributing factor to the vibration. Although for some reason, with all the rain in the NY area and lower temps, it seems the vibration has subsided and has almost disappeared. I'm hoping that the tires are starting to "settle in" to some degree, if that's even possible. Fingers crossed...

Jucas Blue

So, here is an update to my tire woes. I was able to convince the tire store to replace the Contis with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires, which seems to have helped for many with similar problems. It seems the vibration has lessened quite a bit but in certain cirumstances it definitely is still there. Right now, it's good enough that I can live with it. The thing that concerns me is that the tire store mechanic told me that two more wheels are slightly bent and that unless I replace those, I will continue to feel vibration at high speeds. So I'm wondering if I should put more money into this now and get new wheels before the new tires start getting "deformed". Or would they smooth out as they wear? Any suggestions?

balbs

I don't know dude. I'm skeptical about tires smoothing out as they wear. More like deformed and unsafe to me. Not to mention probably more stress on the shocks. Better to play it safe and get the wheels fixed or replaced.

Jucas Blue

Ugh. That's what I was afraid of.

Wpg550

I'm in a similar boat to you guys, except that my vibration issues arose with my original Conti Sport Contact 2's and have continued to my new DWS's. Right from the outset BMW indicated my two rear wheels were "significantly" bent (although there is no obvious damage to the naked eye). Rather than replace the wheels, which the dealer will gladly do - OUCH! - I'm having a local wheel repair shop have a go at straightening the wheels first. I'll let you know how it goes, and if it works it might be worth considering in your case - and it's a lot less expensive than replacing two 172's. Worst case scenario, I'm out a couple hundred bucks and still have to replace the wheels - although I'll probably go aftermarket all-round as it's cheaper than just the two rear wheels!