[dude987]

I don't get it. Am I missing something???

I put the Enkei aftermarket wheels back on with the A/S Potenza RE970AS and it drives and handles like a dream. The overall difference in road manners and suspension feel between the OEM 400M with Potenza S001 and the aftermarket wheels was night and day.

With the OEM, the suspension felt like it was loose and buckling over minor speed bumps. General road maners felt harsh with non-linear vague feedback and random occurrences of steering wobble. The overall experience was less than inspiring (disappointing) to say the least.

With the aftermarket wheels, any hint of steering wheel shake, wobble, or vibration was completely gone. The suspension felt planted and glued (glued as in the ultimate sticky race track tires) to the road with smooth road manners. On a smooth straight section of road, I can remove my hand from the steering wheel and it stayed planted straight and true without any signs of shaking or pulling to one side or the other. It would absorb the impact of minor speed bumps nicely without the suspension buckling and thrashing about.

Honestly I'm not too impressed with the A/S Potenza RE970AS. It handles poorly in the snow, rain, and spirited driving. In each case, its doesn't take much for the tires to start loosing traction. But the one thing it does have in spades is exception road feel, manners, and feedback during moderate to touring type driving. The caveat is that the Potenza S001 does out handle the RE970AS during spirited and wet conditions (this from experience). But that may just be a matter of summer versus A/S tires.

Upon closer observation, it may be a defect on the alignment between the hub centric wheel and the hub itself. There is an rounded convex lip on the inside of the hub centric ring that seats onto the hub ring. If the tolerances are out of spec on the hub centric ring, it may prevent the wheel hub ring from getting properly or full seated onto the hub ring itself. There in lays the 1 to 2 mm gap and possible wheel wobble from the wheels not getting seated properly.

The wheel wobble is probably not related to the tires. Most likely, the steering wobble is the result of tolerance specification defects on the hub centric ring on the 400M wheels (just a guess). The poor road feel and manners is probably just a function of RFT. Either way the combination of 400M wheels and RFT is just an abysmal combination.

I'm drooling at the thought of getting some high performance summer tires and proper winter tires on the Enkei wheels. The ultimate tires will have the same road manners and feel as the RE970AS and with the same adhesion as the S001 during wet and spirited driving.

I was inclined to take the car into a BMW dealership to address the steering wobble and gap between the wheel and the hub. But the inconvenience of dealing with the language (cultural) barrier (I live in Germany), time away from work, and the challenges of getting a proper resolution, I've opted to put this on the back burner for now. I have a road trip coming up in a couple weeks and dealing with the German customer service is a monumental undertaking (cultural differences). I may take this up with them at a later time. But for now, I'm exceptionally please with the aftermarket wheels. I just need to get through the A/S tires and get onto to some proper summer/winter tires.

I guess the point is, why would BMW sell a 3 series with such abysmal road manners!!! I'm just really disappointed with the overall experience of steering wobble and poor road handling manners with the 400M/S001 wheel and tire combo. Why does it take an aftermarket wheel and tire combination just to get that proper road manner and feel of what a BMW should offer in the first place.

End of my rant.

[kral_mzk]

my f30's changed servotronic steering wheel, but it still vibrate between 80km and 100km .
(changed the pads and discs)

technique service's staff said ; ı have to make balance :@ but although my car go to balance service (constantly) there is no solution.
help me what can ı do ?

[tdizzle]

After 9,700 miles on my OEM summer runflats on my sportline, I changed to aftermarket wheels (Morr with Michelin PSS). And guess what? I now have the steering vibration everyone is commenting on.

I noticed it the moment I approached 40mph and never had any hint of it before.

Is there no solution? I'm wondering if the wheels were balanced improperly, but the fact that you guys have tried that route makes me wonder. I think it's about 38mph-53mph (ish). It seems to go away at higher speeds than that, but I've only spent a few mins at highway speeds. Almost all of my work commute is 40-50mph so I felt it all the way to the office this morning.

Not a happy feeling to get new wheels and to have this issue spring up. No clue what to do as I didn't have this issue with my OEM wheels/tires.

[cardnation]

Originally Posted by tdizzle

After 9,700 miles on my OEM summer runflats on my sportline, I changed to aftermarket wheels (Morr with Michelin PSS). And guess what? I now have the steering vibration everyone is commenting on.

I noticed it the moment I approached 40mph and never had any hint of it before.

Is there no solution? I'm wondering if the wheels were balanced improperly, but the fact that you guys have tried that route makes me wonder. I think it's about 38mph-53mph (ish). It seems to go away at higher speeds than that, but I've only spent a few mins at highway speeds. Almost all of my work commute is 40-50mph so I felt it all the way to the office this morning.

Not a happy feeling to get new wheels and to have this issue spring up. No clue what to do as I didn't have this issue with my OEM wheels/tires.

Similar happened to me, except I've always had a slight vibration.

However it got much worse with the new wheels.

[BMW30_BLACK]

I have the same problem with BMW 320
Built april 2012, but I have started to use it in June 2013.
My steer vibrates. I can feel it my hands on the steer and it is visually seen when taking my hands off the steer. It starts at about 30kmh. But it's not constant. Sometimes it disappears. Then it appears again. Its terribly annoying and its driving you crazy.

In the very beginning they balanced the tyres and reduced vibration to some level which after 300km i realized was anyway too much for me and drove back to service.

Second time they told me the cause were tyres (because the car stood for long time, they deformated). And advised me to drive 1 000 km and if vibration would be still there to come back.

Well, vibration did not disappear. I came back, then they took off the tyres and put them back the "RIGHT WAY". And said there is no more vibration.

After my check i realized that there was just more vibration than there was before the "FIX" and turned the car back the next day.

They agreed that the vibration is still there and its not normal and tyres are not the reason. Now, they are checking why it happens.

I told them to check the rack and brakes from the very beginning, but they kept telling me that it can't be.

Now, the car is with them for 4 days, no updates yet.

I am really disappointed, i was expecting something special from the car. But i cant even drive normally.

If there will be any advises, id be glad to hear. I've been to service 5 times already, but i am not giving up.

[Frederik82]

Originally Posted by BMW30_BLACK

Well, vibration did not disappear. I came back, then they took off the tyres and put them back the "RIGHT WAY". And said there is no more vibration.

My car was at the local dealer recently, they finally (after some months) got instructions from BMW Benelux on how to fix the steering wheel vibration.
I'm not sure what exactly they did, I thinks they just mounted the wheels again in a proper way following those instructions.
When I came back in the evening, the receptionist told me that the vibrations were gone. But after driving a few miles, I noticed the vibrations again!
I contacted the lease company, they will contact the importer again .
The weird thing is that I'm only feeling the vibrations when the steering wheel is in the zero position. When taking corners, the vibrations disappear.

[mocohead]

Originally Posted by tdizzle

After 9,700 miles on my OEM summer runflats on my sportline, I changed to aftermarket wheels (Morr with Michelin PSS). And guess what? I now have the steering vibration everyone is commenting on.

I noticed it the moment I approached 40mph and never had any hint of it before.

Is there no solution?

Do you have proper hub centric rings installed? When I mounted my replacement rims, one of the rings got lost. I had really bad wobble. So I got a replacement hub centric ring, and the wobble is gone.

[tdizzle]

Originally Posted by mocohead

Do you have proper hub centric rings installed? When I mounted my replacement rims, one of the rings got lost. I had really bad wobble. So I got a replacement hub centric ring, and the wobble is gone.

Hmm. I'm really not sure. I didn't know such a thing existed. What is that and how would I look for it.

As an aside, the vibration has gone down quite a bit. I don't notice it that much anymore, but it is still there just not as pronounced (or maybe it's because I've been driving on not the smoothest roads). I was thinking maybe it was a poor balancing job.

[BMW30_BLACK]

Originally Posted by Frederik82

The weird thing is that I'm only feeling the vibrations when the steering wheel is in the zero position. When taking corners, the vibrations disappear.

Hey. Do you see the vibration if you take you hands off the steer ? Is it visibly moving from side to side ?

Today i was to service, they told me they were contacting German center all the time (5 days) and did some kind of software modification which they had received from Germany (the modification took 8 hours as they have said). They have said that two servicemen have driven the car afterwards and there was no vibration.

They would not be able to explain to me what exactly they had modified, because they had just applied what the German center had sent to them.

I took the car to test it today and the steer is not moving anymore. It seems its gone for 99%. It became much tighter and harder to turn from side to side. When speed goes up the steer becomes tighter and harder to turn.

I will drive for some time more and check it.

[BMW30_BLACK]

Frederik, if the vibration is visibly seen, do not hesitate to drive back to service !
And show it to them.

I was very strict with them last time and after that they reviewed my problem more seriously.

The mounting tyres "Right way" happened to me also, it did not help. Next might be the software modification

Surely in the beginning they are trying to solve it the easiest way.

[BavarianFanatic]

The thread that just won't die...

[doublevanosrc]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

The thread that just won't die...

[Frederik82]

Originally Posted by BMW30_BLACK

Hey. Do you see the vibration if you take you hands off the steer ? Is it visibly moving from side to side ?

No, I don't see the vibration when taking my hands off the steering wheel, but I definitely feel a very strange artificial resonance that shouldn't be there at all, even when driving in first gear. I believe (from the beginning) that the steering rack is causing this.

[BMW30_BLACK]

Originally Posted by Frederik82

No, I don't see the vibration when taking my hands off the steering wheel, but I definitely feel a very strange artificial resonance that shouldn't be there at all, even when driving in first gear. I believe (from the beginning) that the steering rack is causing this.

Is that constant or disappears sometimes ?

I think i feel something strange too (like something electric small vibration which now is not visible) but it happens not very often. I definitely think that there is something wrong with the steer .

After my software update i barely can turn me steer, it became very hard to turn.

[Frederik82]

Originally Posted by BMW30_BLACK

Is that constant or disappears sometimes ?

I think i feel something strange too (like something electric small vibration which now is not visible) but it happens not very often. I definitely think that there is something wrong with the steer .

After my software update i barely can turn me steer, it became very hard to turn.

It's almost always there this vibration, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. I experience this also as something electric coming from the steering rack.

So it seems that a software update wont solve the problem. Last solution would be changing the complete steering rack. The fact that BMW did already some revisions of the steering rack since the new F30 came out, could explain a lot.

[BMW30_BLACK]

Originally Posted by Frederik82

It's almost always there this vibration, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. I experience this also as something electric coming from the steering rack.

So it seems that a software update wont solve the problem. Last solution would be changing the complete steering rack. The fact that BMW did already some revisions of the steering rack since the new F30 came out, could explain a lot.

Mine serviceman said that they might replace some detail in the rack (not the whole rack) and that they are still waiting for the updates from German center.
At the moment i am not sure that i can prove to my servicemen that there is that electric vibration, because its unusual and they easily might say that they don't feel it. One thing that i can say to them is that the steer is very tight and hard to turn.

I have heard it too, that there are new racks in newer models of F30

What a pity we have to deal with that and fight for ability just to drive normally after paying such funds.

[vkoprivica]

Hi, I am the owner of 2012 F30 and I am starting to fill steering wheel vibration after 8000 miles. It is becoming annoying. I am planning to take the car to the dealer. I was wondering does replacing steering rack will corrupt alignment?

Thank you.

[34.50]

Mine does this but I have the blind spot detection system (warning triangle on side mirrors) and when I indicate a lane change while there is a car in my blind spot, the steering wheel vibrates. Otherwise during normal driving, it does not vibrate.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by dude987

I don't get it. Am I missing something???

I put the Enkei aftermarket wheels back on with the A/S Potenza RE970AS and it drives and handles like a dream. The overall difference in road manners and suspension feel between the OEM 400M with Potenza S001 and the aftermarket wheels was night and day.

With the OEM, the suspension felt like it was loose and buckling over minor speed bumps. General road maners felt harsh with non-linear vague feedback and random occurrences of steering wobble. The overall experience was less than inspiring (disappointing) to say the least.

With the aftermarket wheels, any hint of steering wheel shake, wobble, or vibration was completely gone. The suspension felt planted and glued (glued as in the ultimate sticky race track tires) to the road with smooth road manners. On a smooth straight section of road, I can remove my hand from the steering wheel and it stayed planted straight and true without any signs of shaking or pulling to one side or the other. It would absorb the impact of minor speed bumps nicely without the suspension buckling and thrashing about.

Honestly I'm not too impressed with the A/S Potenza RE970AS. It handles poorly in the snow, rain, and spirited driving. In each case, its doesn't take much for the tires to start loosing traction. But the one thing it does have in spades is exception road feel, manners, and feedback during moderate to touring type driving. The caveat is that the Potenza S001 does out handle the RE970AS during spirited and wet conditions (this from experience). But that may just be a matter of summer versus A/S tires.

Upon closer observation, it may be a defect on the alignment between the hub centric wheel and the hub itself. There is an rounded convex lip on the inside of the hub centric ring that seats onto the hub ring. If the tolerances are out of spec on the hub centric ring, it may prevent the wheel hub ring from getting properly or full seated onto the hub ring itself. There in lays the 1 to 2 mm gap and possible wheel wobble from the wheels not getting seated properly.

The wheel wobble is probably not related to the tires. Most likely, the steering wobble is the result of tolerance specification defects on the hub centric ring on the 400M wheels (just a guess). The poor road feel and manners is probably just a function of RFT. Either way the combination of 400M wheels and RFT is just an abysmal combination.

I'm drooling at the thought of getting some high performance summer tires and proper winter tires on the Enkei wheels. The ultimate tires will have the same road manners and feel as the RE970AS and with the same adhesion as the S001 during wet and spirited driving.

I was inclined to take the car into a BMW dealership to address the steering wobble and gap between the wheel and the hub. But the inconvenience of dealing with the language (cultural) barrier (I live in Germany), time away from work, and the challenges of getting a proper resolution, I've opted to put this on the back burner for now. I have a road trip coming up in a couple weeks and dealing with the German customer service is a monumental undertaking (cultural differences). I may take this up with them at a later time. But for now, I'm exceptionally please with the aftermarket wheels. I just need to get through the A/S tires and get onto to some proper summer/winter tires.

I guess the point is, why would BMW sell a 3 series with such abysmal road manners!!! I'm just really disappointed with the overall experience of steering wobble and poor road handling manners with the 400M/S001 wheel and tire combo. Why does it take an aftermarket wheel and tire combination just to get that proper road manner and feel of what a BMW should offer in the first place.

End of my rant.

I've not experienced any vibration with my 335i Msport.
My Msport came with S001 tires and they are actually pretty decent tires for run flats and do offer very good summer performance ability.
The ride was not bad at all considering the stock tires are RF.
It's likely a combination of next gen RFT tech and the M adaptive suspension that I got with the DH pkg.

I switched to the RE970's last fall. You may recall my opinion on them
They are not RF. But, I didn't like how they felt on the road. They felt "heavy" and every road imperfection was felt, and and at pretty much the same level as the OEM RFT's, if not more on some types of bumps.
At nearly 30 days I took them back to TireRack and had a set of
Conti DWS AS tires installed, and they have been fantastic.
I run high perf AS tires year round.

Even with 3 sets of tires my Msport exhibited no vibration in the steering wheel.

I think it's important to make sure to separate steering vibrations due to poorly balanced wheels/tires and vibrations caused by faulty steering components.
If you've had tires balanced 2 to 3 times and there is still vibration, and the wheels have been checked for out of round tolerance, then it's not likely a tire balance or wheel problem.

Some times new tires or a new set of wheels/tires may help quell a vibration that is mechanical in the steering system. But that's just a mask to the real issue. I had this very issue with a brand new car that I drove for 10yrs.
I went through a few wheel sets and LOTS of tires and the steering vibe was always there, though changed a bit due to different tires. I never found the problem before I sold the car. The last set of tires were Michellins and they gave the smoothest ride with very little steering vibe, but it was still there.

Steering vibration due to poorly mounted and out of round tires or wheels does happen, and the solutions are pretty straight forward.
Once those items are checked and found correct, then it's time to push BMW to fix your car and stop hunting for tire/wheel related issues.

I can't believe that this problem still exists and dealers are telling their customers that they are waiting on a fix from BMW that's supposed to be coming any day. This should have been fixed by now.
I'd ask BMW to take my car back and refund or get me a new F30.
It's been 1.5 years since the F30 came to the US, and BMW is now on the 3rd model year. NO excuse for this problem to still exist. There should have been a fix, and if one does not exist by now, tell them you want a new F30.

[BMW30_BLACK]

Service have said that they will replace my steering rack. Waiting for it (may take up to two month)

[serdna]

I don't have this issue with my 318d. Hopefully, you guys can fix it and enjoy the ride!

[Frederik82]

Yesterday my car went in for technical inspection at the service center. The technical inspector said that these "vibrations" are normal and that they can't do anything about this. The PUMA case will be closed, so I said I was really disappointed.
All they did was replacing the bearings some months ago and also a wheel balancing, but non of this solved the problem.

I got a loaner 1 series (F20) and strange enough this car also had these vibrations that are felt through the steering wheel. So I think that a lot of people are not aware of this problem when driving their new 3 series. But I can say that the previous model E90 had zero vibrations through the steering wheel!
I start thinking that all new 1 and 3 series suffer from those vibrations, and is related to the new electric power steering.

I'm sick and tired of all these hassles, so I'll try to live with it