[3xED]

Has anyone noticed high speed driveline vibration on their F30? I had a 2013 328i 6MT M-Sport which was just replaced by BMW due to this problem. Last week I picked up my 2014 (same spec) at the Welt and it has the same issue. Really frustrated - and it's not me being too picky. Car and Driver just reported the same problem in their long term 2012 328i 6MT wrap up article (Oct issue).

Here's the issue: From about 72-95 MPH there's floor & seat vibration as well as low frequency drumming/booming noise that can be heard in the back ground. It peaks about 85 MPH and at that speed, the rear view mirror vibrates so badly that headlights of the cars behind you in the mirror are a blur. The seat vibration is much worse in the rear where there's a lot of vibration in the cushion. Car and Driver's description of the problem was nearly identical to mine (the only difference being they think their car started having the issue at 5900 miles, but both of mine were bad on delivery).

The dealer and BMW NA field service reps tried a lot of things: Balanced the tires, then replaced the wheels, rear differential and finally the prop shaft. It moved the vibration around, but never fixed it. At that point, BMW offered to replace the car.

I rode in a friend's 335i 8AT and it was glass at all speeds. Both my cars had different tires (Pirelli Cinturato on the '13; Bridgestone S001 on the '14) so I don't think it's that.

I also I don't think it's a manufacturing problem - would be unusual to have three cars from three different model years having exact same issue. I believe BMW missed something in the development of the car. I'm guessing it's related to the combination of N20 + 6MT.

I'm at a loss at this point since taking the car back to the dealer isn't going to get me anywhere. Perhaps if we band together - we can get BMW's attention and get them to look at the issue back at R&D in Munich?

Comments/advice welcome.