I have aligned the car twice already, the second time i did the alignment thinking the first shop didn't do a good job, the mech told me it was the tires, not the alignment or rims. I bought brand new Achilles tires, cheap tires i guess.. could it really be the tires causing this vibration at 65-80 mph ? Holly crap it is annoying to the point i feel like selling the car.

 

It's not the car usually but the tires and how they are balanced. If you are having a alignment issue your car would pull left or right or you would have abnormal tire wear. Usually when you have vibrations it could be either the wheels you have are not hub centric, the wheel could be bent significantly, or if you just got tires then the shop didn't balance the wheel/tire combo correctly. Usually if you get them roadforce balanced that should fix that issue and help determine if there is defect in the tire.

 

I'm sorry, i meant balance* not alignment! I balanced the car twice..

 

Oh cool. Glad you didn't waste money on an alignment if you didn't need it. Find out if the shop you used has a Hunter Road Force Balancer. Normal balancers will spin the tire only and most of the time it will work fine. A road force balancer has a metal roller that drops down that simulates the road to give the system a better read of what is needed to balance the tire. If the road force balancer is not able to balance the tire and your wheel is not bent, then the tire is whacked. You would then need the shop to give you a new tire since it should be under warranty.

 

Stock wheels?

We have the Hunter, and it makes a huge difference.

 

Could be the cheap tires. I just recently bought cheap tires and they sucked. Returned then for pricier ones and problem solved. So did the vibration just start with the addition of the new tires?

 

As mentioned above, road force balance is the first step. Typically, the vibration in the seat / floor tends to be rear tires, steering wheel front tires. Can you determine front or rear? Rotate the tires, does it move?

Any spirited driving lately? Warped rotors can cause a vibration but typically you feel that more under braking.

Lastly, make sure all the suspension components are in good shape. There have been posts in the past where people were chasing tire vibration and it ended up being suspension parts. A good independent shop should be able to check it out.

I have no experience with Achilles tires, but never heard of them either. I would be suspicious of a bad tire, but the road force should identify that.

 

If the tires balance out without a lot of weight added then your problem is else ware!
The fact that you've done the balance twice and that hasn't improved the vibration look else ware!
Suspension or brake rotors are your problem.
Have you hit a curb or pot hole lately?
Best of luck .
John

 

Somebody asked what rims are on the car - agree. If the wheels are not OEM, check to make sure they have the right hub bore or adapter shims.
The e60 has a 72.5 mm hub bore. My summer set of AC Schnitzer Type IV wheels have a 74.1 mm hub bore, which requires adaptor shims. A tire shop didn't notice one shim was missing, put the wheel on, induced a high speed vibration.
Errowen

 

Thanks for all the reply gents, the wheels are OEMs, 18" staggered style 124 (look at my sig). I did hit a pot hole a few weeks back but fixed the rim (front driver side), the tire shop said the rim is testing good in the machine (that was my initial thought, maybe the rim will never be the same regardles if fixed? ). I'll take it to my indi next to check the suspension..