[diesel86]

So how bad is the vibration on your car's? Mine is so slight I'm debating on whether to even take it in. The only reason I would, is to have documented in case it gets worse.

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by diesel86

So how bad is the vibration on your car's? Mine is so slight I'm debating on whether to even take it in. The only reason I would, is to have documented in case it gets worse.

Same here, only a very slight oscillation at 40-60 with hands off the wheel. With hands on the wheel, I don't feel it at all. I reported it mainly to be on the record in case it gets worse.

They did the road force balance and reported that 3 of the wheels were a little bit off. The oscillation is gone for now. I do realize that others have a much more severe problem that balancing does not fix.

[YeaG30]

Originally Posted by justinnum1

i would be shocked if that fixes it

I agree. I don't think it will but I will reply to this thread to let everyone know the outcome.

[AZ330FZL]

Originally Posted by diesel86

So how bad is the vibration on your car's? Mine is so slight I'm debating on whether to even take it in. The only reason I would, is to have documented in case it gets worse.

Mine was pretty slight too, more annoying than anything. Just rather get the info to them now and not fight it later. Just took a long trip and car seemed great the entire time. Pulled over 33 MPG over 850 miles from Phoenix to Anaheim to Hollywood, cruised HW for about an hour, back to Anaheim and back to Phoenix with a stop in Palm Springs. There was quite a bit of city driving, but ECO Pro made the HWY miles increase pretty well.

[SmoothSteeringHopeful]

Originally Posted by diesel86

So how bad is the vibration on your car's? Mine is so slight I'm debating on whether to even take it in. The only reason I would, is to have documented in case it gets worse.

Originally Posted by Frogman

Same here, only a very slight oscillation at 40-60 with hands off the wheel. With hands on the wheel, I don't feel it at all. I reported it mainly to be on the record in case it gets worse.

They did the road force balance and reported that 3 of the wheels were a little bit off. The oscillation is gone for now. I do realize that others have a much more severe problem that balancing does not fix.

For everyone, I would highly recommend bringing it in as soon as its noticeable. Mine has significantly become worse. I noticed right away, and now mine has 4.5k miles on it. I am meeting with a BMW service rep, and if I get a replacement I doubt I'll have to pay any mileage fee or use fee as I reported it immediately and went through hell trying to get it fixed. Don't wait till 8k miles like another member did and be hit with a huge mileage fee!

[johnsonlwu]

Took delivery 8/22, msport 328i.
Noticed the problem at 220 miles odometer before I came across this thread.
CA drove the car and he concurs there is a problem.
Dealer has the car over the long weekend.
We shall see.

[pkimM3r]

is this vibration noticeably felt? now I don't know if its psychological or if its the car.

[diesel86]

Originally Posted by pkim1079

is this vibration noticeably felt? now I don't know if its psychological or if its the car.

Dropped my car off this morning at BMW North Scottsdale to have the dealership address whatever is loose in the driver's & passenger door as well as the steering wheel vibration. The vibration is definitely real at speeds between 40-60, with it being the most noticeable around 45mph. It's really not that bad, but it's there. If it stays the way it is now for the rest of the life-cycle of the car, I would not worry about it, but wanted to bring it in now in case it gets worse. Plus, I had to take it in for the rattle anyway. My car currently has 540 miles.

[justinnum1]

Originally Posted by pkim1079

is this vibration noticeably felt? now I don't know if its psychological or if its the car.

id say, 30% psychological, 50% visual, 20% feel

[diesel86]

Just picked up my car from the dealer. The driver and passenger side rattles were apparently due to a trim piece inside the door not being installed correctly and the Comfort Access prep wires (I don't have CA) being loose inside the door panel. As far as the steering wheel vibration, they chalked it up the improper tire balancing. The road forced all 4 wheels and 3 out of 4 had excessive road force. I will say that the vibration is currently 99% gone with the remaining 1% probably due to road imperfections. I actually forgot about the vibration being an issue until I was 3/4 of the way home. For now, I am satisfied with the solution and hope it stays this way.

[johnsonlwu]

Vibration is gone. Dealer says road force balancing of front tires was off.
Hope it stays well.

[RPM90]

Man, that sure is a lot of unbalanced tires coming from BMW.
What gives?

Which tires do you guys have?

Luckily, and it shouldn't be luck, my 335i Msport S001's are smooth as silk.

[justinnum1]

Originally Posted by RPM90

Man, that sure is a lot of unbalanced tires coming from BMW.
What gives?

Which tires do you guys have?

Luckily, and it shouldn't be luck, my 335i Msport S001's are smooth as silk.

still hoping i get the s001's tho with my luck they will screw me over and give me goodyear all seasons

no joke, if the car come with all seasons i will not accept it lol

[diesel86]

2 days post service trip and the vibration is back. Mine was so slight that I think I'm just going to let it go provided it doesn't get any worse.

[mocohead]

Diesel86 - try taking 3-4 psi out of your front tires and let us know if that changes anything.

[diesel86]

Originally Posted by mocohead

Diesel86 - try taking 3-4 psi out of your front tires and let us know if that changes anything.

What is the goal pressure? 3-4 from recommended psi?

My car is back in for service again this week. Still have something loose in the passenger side door panels. When it gets back from service, I'll adjust the psi and see if that helps. If I recall correctly, weren't the pressures for the 18" wheels a little high? Something like 38FR/41RR?

[mocohead]

Originally Posted by diesel86

What is the goal pressure? 3-4 from recommended psi?

My car is back in for service again this week. Still have something loose in the passenger side door panels. When it gets back from service, I'll adjust the psi and see if that helps. If I recall correctly, weren't the pressures for the 18" wheels a little high? Something like 38FR/41RR?

I would shoot for 30-31 front, 33-34 rear.

Here's why I think this matters - the RFT sidewall is super stiff to be able to support the weight of the car. When you inflate the tires more, there is less give in the sidewall and thus the tire tends to bounce (vs the sidewall flexing and absorbing minor impacts). When combined with the huge amount of front caster, that might cause some minor wheel hop over smaller road imperfections. Since the inside bushing on the front lower control arm is solid (as opposed to flexible in the e90), that wheel hop might be felt as vibration.

One way to test my theory is by lowering the air pressure and noting whether or not that makes a difference. The good news is it costs nothing to try and is easily reversible!

[diesel86]

Originally Posted by mocohead

I would shoot for 30-31 front, 33-34 rear.

Here's why I think this matters - the RFT sidewall is super stiff to be able to support the weight of the car. When you inflate the tires more, there is less give in the sidewall and thus the tire tends to bounce (vs the sidewall flexing and absorbing minor impacts). When combined with the huge amount of front caster, that might cause some minor wheel hop over smaller road imperfections. Since the inside bushing on the front lower control arm is solid (as opposed to flexible in the e90), that wheel hop might be felt as vibration.

One way to test my theory is by lowering the air pressure and noting whether or not that makes a difference. The good news is it costs nothing to try and is easily reversible!

Thanks for the info, when I get the car back, I'll give it a try. Do you know if this will throw a TPMS error being that low? My CA at delivery told me that the F30's sensors would alert to something as low as a 5psi difference.

[AZ330FZL]

Originally Posted by diesel86

Thanks for the info, when I get the car back, I'll give it a try. Do you know if this will throw a TPMS error being that low? My CA at delivery told me that the F30's sensors would alert to something as low as a 5psi difference.

Yes it probably will, but once you get them to where you want you can just hit the reset on your Idrive and it will set the new pressure as the optimal and if it gets low from there then it will go off correctly.

I looked at the PSI on the inside drivers door and there are two different settings, one for driving up to 100mph and one for driving over 100mph, check that it should give you optimal psi.

[Maz335i]

I didnt want to comment up until now so here is my situation.

I picked up my car on July 9 and had new tires and rims installed. They were 20" and i went with an awesome looking setup.

However I noticed slight steering vibration. It is so slight that I can live with it. However considering that I spent north of $60K on the car, this slight vibration really irritates me.

Anyway I decided to show this to my dealer and booked an appointment for today which is almost two months after I got the car. This is why I'm saying that I can live with the "slight" vibration.

They told me that the off set was way off and blah blah blah. So I took off with a loaner and was told that I'll get the car back in the afternoon. ( I got a 2013 328xi as a loaner but lets leave that discussion separate).

So I get a call back at around 4pm to pick my car up.

Basically they told me that a road force balance was done. However there seems to be a slight dent in the front two rims. I cannot see anything like that and my wheels were brand new so this was very strange. I also told them that I had this vibration when I picked up the car so it cannot be because of the new wheels.

They however mentioned that everything should be fine and I wont feel any vibration. So I drive back home and noticed the vibration again...

The point of my little story here is that this is a problem that CANNOT be fixed. I think you'd be better off settling for a 19" regular wheel set and NOT to go for run flats. This is something I took out of from the research I have done.

I am not going to do anything as the vibration is very little and comes and goes so its not there all the time. I'm definitely going to live with it.

However with that said, I am EXTREMELY disappointed with BMW and cant believe that I have to "live" with something like this in such an expensive car.

Everything else is awesome and I love the car. I'm going to continue modding my car because that is my passion and a slight vibration is not going to kill me....it might IRRITATE me like hell....but oh well....

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by diesel86

What is the goal pressure? 3-4 from recommended psi?

My car is back in for service again this week. Still have something loose in the passenger side door panels. When it gets back from service, I'll adjust the psi and see if that helps. If I recall correctly, weren't the pressures for the 18" wheels a little high? Something like 38FR/41RR?

It's best to start with what's printed on the door jam for "normal" driving and load, under 100mph.

Then, experiment from there.
From what I've seen in the manual BMW uses 32frt and 35rr for the 18's.
I'm running 35frt 38rr and it's not bad at all.
As for bigger bumps, RFT's still rear their ugly side with a nasty hit.

I may try stock 32/35, but I like a bit more psi for a a bit better wear.
In winter I tend to run stock pressure.

I wouldn't recommend going below OEM psi. Even though RFT's have a stiff sidewall, they still need proper psi to perform as intended.
Running below OEM spec can lead to increased heat buildup and quicker wear, even with RFT's

[diesel86]

Forgot to check them before running around yesterday, but this morning all four corners were set at 40psi. I set them to 32f/35r so we'll see how they feel now.

BTW, yesterday morning noticed that the dealer had either curbed my front wheel or got sloppy with the tools during balancing. I've notified them of my displeasure and am waiting to hear their response.