needforspeed

I was in London for a party on Sunday and had to drive enthusiastically to get home for the England match.

When I first pulled away I felt that there was an unusual vibration in the car coming through the steering wheel. Paranioa set in on the drive home and I felt sure the ride was a little bit worse than usual.

Checked my tyre's and tyre pressures yesterday and all is well. Also looked to see if any balancing weights had fallen of the rims - but nothing seems wrong (apart from I noticed a slight nick in the sacrificial 'bump' strip on one tyre).

But I still feel there's a slight vibration coming from the front wheels - sort of an irregular tremor - as if I had gone over a slightly uneven surface - even though the road looks fine.

Since it's very slight I have a feeling that if I go to the dealer it's going to be a pain in the neck - I'm sure they are going to say they can 'find nothing wrong'.

I don't have dynamic drive, haven't changed tyres recently and have no warning lights.

Does anyone have any ideas or have any of you had a similar problem?

JWBMW

Twice I have had the same issue, being worried by a slight vibration which started at about 60 mph and got worse with speed (still slight). I had the wheel balance and alignment checked which made no difference. BUT, when the front tyres were changed the vibration disappeared! This has happened twice with the vibration re-appearing gradually when the tyre was partially worn (guess 7mm tread). New tyres = no tremour. Strange thing is that the tyre wear appears not to be patchy as one would suspect with a vibration, but extra wear ( 1mm) concentrated on the third quarter from the outer edge (no I don't over inflate them).

needforspeed

Was that with runflats though - I have traditional tyres ?

EBMCS03

Try reving your engine slowly in neutral go up the revs slowly... very slowly... and see what happens. Does it Tremor? Report back.

Ray Hull

"Cold tires?"

I don't know what tires you have, but my Dunlop ThumpFlats seem to develop flat spots in them over night/after standing all day. Nylon-belted tires years ago, were famous for this, but I assumed they had gotten those issues worked out by now. I don't know what their construction is, much less if it is actually prone to first-thing in the morning flat spots, but I can certainly feel them until the tires warm up. Probably a function of their extreme width and structural rigidty.

I can only assume that this issue comes to my attention because I am blessed with very smooth interstates only a couple blocks from my home and office. By the end of my 10-mile commute, things have smoothed out.

Cheers,
Ray Hull

colejl

It's a diesel, so yes it does tremor

JWBMW

Yes P7's

Ricracing

OK since your sign do not tell us your tyre brand or size - let's fancy.

First of all, all BMW's are very sensitice the unbalanced wheels.

Since you do not have snow or ice attached to yoyr wheels the second best quess
would be driving on dirt roads.

The second best guess is that a balancing weight is missing.

Have you driven (or your wife) the wheels into a curbe and are the bolts OK?

Also the RF Dunlops could be a reason (lots of threds about this) or then your
tyres are simply old and in non balance.

So check the wheels first and have them balanced - and why not at your dealers.


PS. My Dunlop RF's are soon gone and I sometimes feel a small tremling.

EBMCS03

LoL oh wells I thought it might have been the engine being really rough at a certain RPM so thats why its only felt at start off.

needforspeed

Thanks for all the posts - I'm confident it's not a tyre issue as I haven't dinged the wheels, don't have run-flats and the tremor is very irregular - not like a balancing issue.

EBMCS03 - you might be onto something. I tried reving slowly as you suggested. When the engine is under load it is smooth - no tremors, but when I lift of the gas there is some rocking from the engine, which feels a bit like the tremor I had noticed. If I gently blip the throttle and release I get an accentuated version of this. Obviously a certain amount of engine movement is to be expected - but I think perhaps this could be the issue.

It does feel a bit more like weight shifting around rather than something transmitting up from the wheels.

I'd be interested to know what you were thinking - at the moment I'm wondering if it could be an engine mount problem or balance shaft - either that or something wrong with the suspension.

Please let me know anyway - I'm going to phone my dealer tomorrow and get him to have a look too - better safe than sorry.