Technik1

I have a vibration through the steering and the car at around 45 - 55 miles.

I had the tires balanced at a local independant automotive shop in TORONTO , but the vibration is still there.

I called a tire shop who told me that thjey perform both Static and Dynamic Balancing and that most independant automotive shops only do Static Balancing and not Dynamic Balancing (or visa versa ?). They charge $40 for this.

I know that the dealers perform Road Force Balancing, but they charge $135. The guy from the tire shoip however told me that if Static and Dynamnic Balancing doesn't eliminate the vibration, then Road Force Balancing wouldn't eliminate it either.

1. So are there 3 different types of balancing i.e.
- Static Balancing
- Static and Dynamic Balancing
- Road Force Balancing

2. In order to get rid of the vibration, do I need Road Force Balancing at $135 or will Static and Dynamic Balancing suffice at $40 ?

oilers99s

Do you have aftermarket rims with bigger centre bore size than the original size on your car? If so, you'll need some hub centric rings. I had mine roadforce balanced and there is no vibration at all.

Technik1

I have standard rims.
And actually, I remember having a similar vibration with my winter tires, but I had the tie-rods replaced about 6 weeks ago and am not sure if the tie-rods somehow caused both sets of all seasons and winter tires to go out of balance.

lsungmo

I recently got a set of aftermarket wheels, and I had vibration too.
I got load force balancing, which costed me $80 USD and its so smooth now
Give it a try. I think its worth it

v_therussian

NE1 know a place in Brooklyn/Queens/Long Island area for the RF balancing?

sixcard

Tech, there are many knowledgeable people here at 5Series. {I?m not necessarily one of them!}

They would like to know something about your ride. Suggest you create a sig indicating model and model year of your car along with equipment/options.

sixcard

jm545i

The road force stuff is additive to the dynamic balancing, and ensures that the most sophisticated equipment is being used, making the entire process almost completely automatic. The (likely) Hunter GSP equipment that's used is state of the art, and eliminates almost all technician guesswork. Assuming no bent rims there is virtually no chance that you'll have this vibration after getting the RFB. If a bad tire is causing the vibration, the equipment will flag that as well.

As the veteran of many a vibration issue on BMW's since my first E34, I can't recommend RFB highly enough.

mnmike

Yup gotta do the road force if you have a speed dependent vibration. A tie rod would not make a vibration dependent on speed. I've had this problem on almost every BMW and the solution is always RFB.

Make sure to report back after you do it.

Rudy

Agree. In addition, the Hunter road force equipment will even detect a bent wheel and pinpoint to the technician where the bend is, etc.

Although I've had good results from road force balancing, I remember years ago a BMW shop I was using (before my current shop existed) did something called "finish balancing" which, from what I understand, actually spun the wheel while it was bolted to the car so it included the entire hub and brake assembly when determining where the weights should go. I don't hear much about finish balancing these days -- probably because road force takes care of most issues...

Richard in NC

Many moons ago, I worked at a full service gas station that used on-the-car balancing. It only worked for non driven wheels. It worked wonders. A Caddy had a vibration at speed. The car was on a lift 1 ft off the ground. A machine spun a front tire while a gizmo was attached to the wheel. The whole front of the car started to shake. you then adjusted the weights on the wheel attachment. The tire then ran perfectly smooth. Then that was repeated on the other front tire. I have not seen that since. Probably RFB is good enough as you stated.