vibration at 70 - looking for suggestions
09-09-2011, 06:59 AM
#41
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My Ride: 2008 535 xi, Comfort Access, Cold Weather, Nav, Parking Sensors, Logic 7
My car has 53k miles and I have the same issue. It was partly solved when I took it into a race shop today that had some very precise equipment. They took the tires off the wheel and put them back on to re-bead them and did a balance. They also noticed my front 2 lower control arm bushings are cracked and both my rear wheels are bent... awesome. I have no shake at all in the steering wheel (front rims were ok) but there is still a little vibration in the seats with hwy speed, most likely due to the slightly bent rims.
09-09-2011, 07:29 AM
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and we have a winner to the "solve my vibration issue" game. I believe the first person to mention the drive shaft was 525iEnjoy. Nice work!
After another $100 to straigthen the wheel, the problem was actually worse. My tech threw on 4 wheels and tires from another car at the dealership - no improvement. The final diagnosis is a drive shaft problem. The part is coming from Germany as we apeak, and I expect to have it replaced next week. CPO should cover it.
This has cost me a lot of time, money and anguish, but I think I'm coming to the finish line....
After another $100 to straigthen the wheel, the problem was actually worse. My tech threw on 4 wheels and tires from another car at the dealership - no improvement. The final diagnosis is a drive shaft problem. The part is coming from Germany as we apeak, and I expect to have it replaced next week. CPO should cover it.
This has cost me a lot of time, money and anguish, but I think I'm coming to the finish line....
09-09-2011, 08:33 AM
#43
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dantheman1 - what did you end up doing? are you straigthening the wheels or getting replacements or just living with the slight vibration? I'm in the same boat. I'm debating whether I should do something while my tires are new or just hope that the vibration doesn't get worse. If it does, I'm hearing that it may affect other parts of the car, i.e. suspension, etc.
09-09-2011, 09:32 AM
#44
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My Ride: 2008 535 xi, Comfort Access, Cold Weather, Nav, Parking Sensors, Logic 7
I got both of the rear wheels fixed, one of them came out good and balanced fine. The other one still does not balance 100%, you can see it on the balance machine jump just a little, but I think it might be enough to be causing the vibration problem. You can see on the inside of the rim where they tried to weld/fix it, but I think it was too out of shape really be repairable. Maybe in a few months, I'll end up buying one new rear rim and trying that out. I'm going to mention a vibration to my SA when I go in for service anyway and see what he thinks. Also, the wheels were balanced on a hunter hub centric machine at a race shop in fort worth, I'm thinking of getting them lug-centered road force balanced, would that help?
09-11-2011, 10:04 PM
#45
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My Ride: 2008 550i Sport Carbon Black with Black Nasca Leather Sport Auto Transmission Active Steering Comfort Access Bamboo Anthracite wood trim Power Rear Sunshades Ventilated Seats Ipod adapter Nav Sat Premium Sound
09-12-2011, 02:40 PM
#46
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After getting my rear wheels straightened/refinished, the shaking is still there. Had all the wheels balanced twice, once at a race shop, the next at a local discount tire that has newly calibrated gsp 9200 machines with "conical" weights or something like that. Vibration at fwy speeds is still there, although slightly improved. I know the front two lower control arm bushings are cracked, but not that bad yet. The car only has 53k miles, and I doubt the bushings are making the car shake this bad at fwy speeds. All 4 of the rims can't be bent out of shape, and the discount tire guy said that all the wheels balanced out perfectly, even wrote the exact amount of weights needed on the receipt for me. Don't have the time or patience to take it in to the dealer just yet, might have to wait a few months till my schedule is a little lighter. So far, the probable causes that this thread has deduced are driveshaft, shocks, and bushings. Anything else?
09-12-2011, 02:45 PM
#47
have you replaced one wheel at a time with the spare to see if it changes the vibration characteristics?
By the way, I had this problem in my 99: turned out to be a bad set of tires. However,
change your control arms & tie rods.
and back to the balance issue: if they are not doing inner and outer wheel weights (2 plane),
than still may not be balanced. If you only see one set of weights toward the center, you need
to request the 2 plane balance
By the way, I had this problem in my 99: turned out to be a bad set of tires. However,
change your control arms & tie rods.
and back to the balance issue: if they are not doing inner and outer wheel weights (2 plane),
than still may not be balanced. If you only see one set of weights toward the center, you need
to request the 2 plane balance
09-12-2011, 03:01 PM
#48
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My Ride: 07' BMW 550i
Well I have same vibration between 65 to 68 mph. I did alignment at BMW dealer and told them to check for vibration. So they came up with problem at front rim, needs to be replace. But rear wheel had show, that my tires can give some vibration, but they said it's not a big deal. All suspension components were checked and shaft dumber too by BMW dealer, no problem found. Now after all done (needs to replace a rim) vibration is almost gone.
09-12-2011, 03:02 PM
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I have not replaced every wheel with the spare and driven it. I have replaced 1 front wheel with a spare for an afternoon, vibration still persists, and one rear wheel with the spare for a weekend, and the vibration still persists. Both times however, I did not drive faster than 50-60mph, as per instructions on the spare tire itself. The 1st time I had them balanced at the race shop, they put on one set of weights. Discount tire did a two plane balance, which helped, but still shakes at 70+. My guess is the bushings/control arms or shocks.
10-03-2011, 05:48 AM
#50
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My Ride: | 2006 550i | Silver Gray Metallic | Sport Package | 6-speed MT | Logic7 | NAV | CWP | Tan Dakota Leather | Stock 124s | 35% tint |
quick update:
right rear axle shaft replaced, no improvement
left rear axle shaft replaced. drive shaft replaced (all 3 parts).
vibration is still there.
next step is to have the mid-Adlantic rep from BMWUSA to take it for a spin.
coming on 6 weeks in my 2011 528i loaner. I want my car back.
right rear axle shaft replaced, no improvement
left rear axle shaft replaced. drive shaft replaced (all 3 parts).
vibration is still there.
next step is to have the mid-Adlantic rep from BMWUSA to take it for a spin.
coming on 6 weeks in my 2011 528i loaner. I want my car back.