eegrad

Ever since I took delivery of my 2007 525i, I have noticed a very slight vibration at highway speeds, particularly during the first 15 ? 20 minutes of driving. I figured that one of the tires is not perfectly balanced and that I would have BMW take a look at it during the first checkup; however, I?m still kind of puzzled as to why it would go away after driving around for a few minutes.

This past weekend I didn?t drive the car at all and on Monday morning the vibration was much noticeable, but again, it slowly went away within the first 10 or so mins. It occurred to me that this vibration could be from ?flat spots? on the tire from resting overnight rather than from out of balance condition. I know that this can happen if you store the car for an extended period of time, but I have never experienced it from just overnight or over the weekend parking. I live in Florida, where extreme cold temperatures are not a possible factor.

Anyhow, I decided to increase the tire pressure to the ?Over 100 MPH? setting as this would reduce the deflection on the tire and potentially help if this was indeed the problem. It seems to have helped.

Does this make sense to you or am I going out of my mind? Anyone experienced what I?m talking about?

SilberGrauE60

I have experienced flat spots from sitting overnight with two other cars, both on performance tires. I know at least one of the brands was Pirelli, but not sure of the other (I was test driving the car, and didn't buy it). It is quite unnerving to drive off on the "lumpy" tires, but it should even out after warming up. The only fix I know is changing tires to another brand that doesn't do it. In the case of the Pirellis, we changed to Michelin and solved it.

Ricracing

Have noticed the exact same feature.

The lower the temp the worse it is.

The worst vibration speed is traditionally at around 90 km/h.


Please fill in specific details for yours tyres and wheel size.

MacSid

I have suffered this problem for quite a while now on three different cars: the Saab 9-3 (Pirellis - 195/60 R16), the E39 525i (first on Pirellis and then on Contis - 225/55 R16) and the current E60 (Dunlop RFTs - 225/50 R17). I get the vibrations at two points - 40-50km/h (25-30mph) and 100-115km/h(60-70mph). I also notice lumpiness in the ride when rolling along dead-slow in traffic.

The Pirellis were the worst and the Contis were the best in this area. I also find that things are much better when I inflate the tyres to somewhere between the "normal" and "over 100mph" settings, and check the pressure every couple of days. This has also significantly reduced the amount of tramlining I have experienced on the current Dunlop RFTs.

One final thing - my local dealer once recommended that, if I was going to leave the car sitting more more than 2 or 3 days (happens often as I travel a lot on business), that I should over-inflate the tyres to up to 3.5bar (tha maximum the tyres will handle). I can vouch for the fact that this works well to prevent flat spots appearing.

hstan545i

I think you are on the right track, I'll have BMW replaced the tire. Have the same experience on my previous car (forgot the brand of the tires). It went aways after 10 mins drive is because your tires heat up, and hence increase the pressure.

Ricracing

Nice to know that there's a small problem in fact with the tyres.
There's about 450 kg's sitting on all tyres.

I usually do some curving (as a warming lap in the F1's) to get the tyres awake.


PS. Note also that the brake dics are usually "rusty" after some days sitting, especially if the car is left outdoors.

info@trinityautosport

now that i think about it, i used to notice this when i had the stock 17" wheels on my 530 with runflats. ever since i changed out to non RFTs with my 19's, everything is fine. im running on continentals since i have a tire and wheel warranty with the dealer.

westcoast550

Yes, especially with harder compound winter tires .

Ricracing

Quite the opposite for me.

Winter tyres always use (much) softer compond, so that the grip is better when it's cold.

My summer RF Dunlop are as briks under +10 C temps.

westcoast550

My mistake I meant softer compounds , the morning coffee hadnt kicked in yet.

Cheers