Nine

Please bear with me, I am a first timer.....I have recently purchased a 2006 530I....after driving it for a while I noticed a shimmy in the steering @ 50 miles per hour (a slight shimmy, yet there). I also noticed a shimmy in the steering wheel while going through slight cornering. Ive rotated the tires, ffront to back and have fooled with the tire presure but, it its still there. The tires are not run-flat and am currently running with 32psi front and 34psi in the rear. I took it to the dealer and they said they could not reproduce whet I was experiencing and they believe I just have to get use to the car.
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?...thanks

Doctor Diesel

Ask the dealers workshop manager to come for a ride and show him, seeing it happen will save hours of you trying to explain it....It shouldn't be there.......(I trust the wheels are balanced ok and no wheelweights have fallen off.

DD


Oh, Welcome to the forum.....hope to see you around these pages.

Nine

That is a good idea, Ill do that. I assume the wheels are fine and no weights fell off, I would have hoped the dealer would have noticed if they were. Ill make an appointment, thanks.

Nine

I have an update...I went to the dealer and drove a mechanic, showing him the vibration in the steering. He saw it, felt it and admitted it was wrong. He said he wanted to rotate the tires to see if he could pinpoint a possible bad tire. Later that day I got a call saying the car was done. I picked it up and the service note said vibration in steering cause by out of balance tires....4 tires dynamically balanced. I looked and could tell that two tires were balanced because the weights had changed and I also noticed the front tires were now in the rear and vise-versa. I drove it to work the next day and again noticed the vibration @ 50mph. I called the service department and told him, he said the tires checked out and your car is new (1500 miles) so I dont know what else to do. He then said maybe you should drive another 5, cause my mechanics drive them all the time and say they all drive this way...So to prove him wrong I agreed, cause lets face it, Ive never had a car with vibration in the steering was normal...never! I went to the dealer and drove a 06-530I with Goodyear tires (mine has Continentals)...and guess what @ 50mph+ the steering wheel vibrated, actually worse than mine. I went back to the dealer in shock and said let me drive the 06-525I....that one too vibrated @ 50mph. I went back to the dealer in disbelief and said, I guess Im wrong, I guess all these cars have a vibration in the steering. The sales manager then came by and said, no way, no car should have a vibration. I told him Id be happy to drive him and show him, he said you already showed the mechanic thats enough. He then said he wants to pursue this the BMW tech that comes by their shop, he said its not right and he wants to take it as far as he can. I guess I feel a little better and I can toorate the vibration a lttle more knowing I have someone going to bat for me, but its been a frustrating, disapointing experience....it makes me almost wish I bought the A6.

tomwid

What the... how bad is the vibration? Can you see it w/ your eyes or just feel it? I do not have a vibration like this at all in my car. I have a 545i.

Nine

You can feel the vibration as well as see it....it has, however settled down since the weather in the midwest has cooled down. You can also feel it when you are in a slight turn. I dont know what to make of it. I would figure its just a tire balance thing, but since Ive got the car back the vibration is more inconsistant. Sometimes the car runs smooth other times the vibration returns...go figure. :'(

Berlin.BMER

You should not have any vibration in the steering . Do you have active steering? And no, you don't want an A6 . Hope BMW dealer gets this taken care of for you!
Regards!

Rudy

When you test drive these cars, are you using the same streches of road? These cars shouldn't vibrate as you describe (and mine doesn't) but sometimes there is an increased sense of "road feel" due to the large tires and the way the suspension is set up. Sometimes, I can feel a vibration that is coming from the road, not from the car. For example, there are some concrete roads here that you can "feel" in the steering wheel but if you go the same speed on an asphalt road, you can't feel anything...

ch7656

I had the same issue....both with the oem run-flats and then with my aftermarket wheels/tires. Numerous balances (road force / on the car etc..) made the problem better but never really fixed it. I had grown to accept but at the same time was annoyed by it.

Long story short...my a/s steering failed (do you have active steering?)...dealer installed a new rack...and I never had the problem again! Might just be a coincidence but I suspect not. If you do have a/s?any signs it is going bad?

- a/s warning light on occasion?
- rapid clicking on lock/unlock or after the car has been sitting for 10-15 mins?
- Slight clicking (can be felt) in the wheel while turning?

jmdhuse

My brand-new '06 530i does this occasionally, too. Even on newly paved, very smooth roads... It would be interesting if it was an early indicator of a steering rack flaw... Jon.