[Frederik82]

Originally Posted by dc_bmw

I am afraid so. Do you feel the vibration when you engage drive while standing still and holding on to the brake?
Is tire pressure equal left and right?
Are the tires ok?

I have a manual gearbox. When in neutral position and engine on, there's no vibration at all.
The car has new winter tires type Continental Wintercontact (on standard 16" alloy), so I suppose they are ok.

[dc_bmw]

That is very strange then.
I wondet what the dealer will tell you

[Frederik82]

Originally Posted by claykin

Please look at the manufacture label inside your drivers door. Report back the build month.

The label inside the drivers door is only describing the tire pressure.

The label inside the passenger door has following info:
Made in Germany
320d
B39 (=color code)
0.57

BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG
e1*2007/46*0315*
serial number
2040 kg
3715 kg
1- 910 kg
2- 1195 kg

So, where do I see the build month?

[claykin]

On same label as your VIN. In upper left corner.

Originally Posted by Frederik82

The label inside the drivers door is only describing the tire pressure.

The label inside the passenger door has following info:
Made in Germany
320d
B39 (=color code)
0.57

BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG
e1*2007/46*0315*
serial number
2040 kg
3715 kg
1- 910 kg
2- 1195 kg

So, where do I see the build month?

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by claykin

On same label as your VIN. In upper left corner.

Are you sure that's not a US market thinig? It may not be shown in other markets. All of the various BMW VIN decoding websites show build date info.

[Frederik82]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

Are you sure that's not a US market thinig? It may not be shown in other markets. All of the various BMW VIN decoding websites show build date info.

Thx for the hint!
I used http://bmwvin.com, entered my VIN, and I got all the info about my car.
So, production date is 2012-10-26, which is week 43 .
That means my car doesn't have the updated steering rack yet, right?

[jeffc42]

Originally Posted by Frederik82

Thx for the hint!
I used http://bmwvin.com, entered my VIN, and I got all the info about my car.
So, production date is 2012-10-26, which is week 43 .
That means my car doesn't have the updated steering rack yet, right?

Afraid so.

[dc_bmw]

I got my F30 back today after a 4 day sleep over at the dealership.
One tire was replace because it was not round. All wheels were checked again for alignment issues and all tire were road forced balanced.
I have a lot less lead on each wheel now.
We did a test drive together and...... there are only minor vibrations left.
The test drive was very short, so I will get back on the results after about a week.
To sum it up:
-had serious vibrations and shimmy above 60km/h sinces winter wheels/tires were mounted. (much worse the the summer set)
-steering rack has been replaced
-tires road forced balance
-alignment check (one rear wheel was mis-aligned, this was detected with the summer set
- front right tire replace because of the roundness issue.

To my surprise this particular tire was replaced. It was the only one that did not seem to suffer from an uneven sidewall.
They had no comment on the sidewall issue, but they did mention BMW changed the allowed tolerances for F30 tires because of its sensitivity to vibrations. The tire would not have been replaced with the previous set of tolerances, they explained.

I had my seats checked for rust, but it was just greace.

[dc_bmw]

After a week of testing i found that the problem was still present and seemed to get worse. The wheel shows a visable shimmy at certain speeds and there is a constant high frequency vibration.
I went back, again, and this time they called in a specialist from het local HQ to investigate. It was confirmed that the shimmy was back and the car tends to drive itself of the road (to the right).
After multiple attempts to balance and align the wheels they discovered that they were either faced with a car the goes to the right by itself, or shakes. The local HQ now advises to add Variable Sport Steering, which is known to be a good absorber for vibrations. I was able to get a loaner fitted with VSS. To my opinion it drives straight, has no shimmy but does show vibrations. Before this, i had a brand new 320 loaner without VSS. It also drove straight, no shimmy, but a constant vibration which was also very well observable in the shifter (much worse in the shifter than in the wheel, but the exact same frequency).
To my opinion the root cause is that this car is simply not oke, and the VSS can at most be a bandage.
Adding VSS will not solve the root cause. And the other cars have prooved that there are engine vibrations in every 3-series. My own car adds some strange behavior.
I am afraid that VSS won't fix it and also may hide a problem that will cause damage in the future. I also wonder what will happen when i switch back to summer tires.
What do you think?

[Cfichman]

ugh thats terrible to hear. Mine is at the dealer right now they programmed it for a week. Maybe because I have dynamic handling and vss, and they tried to bandage the situation. They called me today to tell me the vibration was still present and they contacted bmw. Bmw advised them to order a new rack and pinion. Why are they still doing this if it is clearly not working? How many lemons are there going to be over this?! I really pisses me off when I'm just cruising down the road.

[dc_bmw]

it all sounds like a shimmy is a quality issue with particular cars and the vibration is a....feature.
From my experiene every 3 or 5 series has the vibration. Not everybody finds it annoying, otherwise there should be more complaints.
I can confirm the new steering rack (i have it) doesn't help (for me).

[claykin]

Originally Posted by dc_bmw

it all sounds like a shimmy is a quality issue with particular cars and the vibration is a....feature.
From my experiene every 3 or 5 series has the vibration. Not everybody finds it annoying, otherwise there should be more complaints.
I can confirm the new steering rack (i have it) doesn't help (for me).

November 2012+ cars have a new rack, steering column, lower steering joint, wheel hubs.... BMW changed more than just the rack to fix this issue. Check Realoem.

My car has ZERO vibration and steering wheel is steady as a rock even at the typical speeds that accentuate the shimmy.

Your dealer can fix the issue. Ask them to look at the November changes and order the correct parts. Unfortunately they will go step by step off BMW's bulletin. One part at a time...

[dc_bmw]

Originally Posted by claykin

November 2012+ cars have a new rack, steering column, lower steering joint, wheel hubs.... BMW changed more than just the rack to fix this issue. Check Realoem.

My car has ZERO vibration and steering wheel is steady as a rock even at the typical speeds that accentuate the shimmy.

Your dealer can fix the issue. Ask them to look at the November changes and order the correct parts. Unfortunately they will go step by step off BMW's bulletin. One part at a time...

The loaners i drive are januari built and have the vibration too, but not the shimmy

[archer636]

seems like most complaints(including myself) are from Florida- If it was temperature related we would be seeing complaints from other southern states as well- I am inclined to think it is a bad batch shipped to FL.

would be nice if we could put together an online polling site to record production date/purchase state to identify trends more accurately

[TT6mT]

I have steering wheel vibration everytime I change lanes too fast, it seems to happen more often during traffic. I notice the side mirror has a hazard light on too.

[JoinTheRace]

Here is the answer to the issue......

SI B36 01 13
Wheels and Tires February 2013
Technical Service

SUBJECT
Steering Wheel Vibration at Speeds of 42-55mph


MODEL
F30


SITUATION
The customer complains of vibration at speeds between 42-55 mph.

CAUSE
Wheel/tire combination

Drive flange/wheel bearing

Alloy wheel to wheel hub clearance out of tolerance

Tension strut hydro-mount leaking

CORRECTION
Before starting the procedure, the complete wheel/tire must be checked for correct tire pressure and damage.

The hydro-mount of the tension strut must be inspected for leaks.

The vehicle should be road-tested to verify the customer complaint and severity of the vibration.



Check the wheel centering of the light-alloy rim on the wheel hub. To do so, clean the contact surfaces of the wheel hubs and the light-alloy rims, and only slightly tighten the wheels.
Using a feeler gauge at the bottom position, determine the maximum play. Play of 0.1 mm is still within the permissible tolerance. Play of 0.15 mm or greater is outside the permissible tolerance.
Document the clearance check at each wheel.



If there are tolerance variations, the affected components (wheel bearing/drive flange) must be measured individually.
Nominal values for wheel bearing/drive flange: 72.47 mm-72.50 mm (caliper gauge measuring equipment)
If the tolerance is too great, the wheel bearing/drive flange must be replaced.
If the tolerance is too great and the wheel bearing/drive flange is within tolerance, the corresponding rim(s) must be replaced.
If all affected components are within specification, check the wheel balance.

Note: Warm the tires before balancing, and then test the wheels directly on the balancing machine.

Before any adjustments, document: tire pressures, total amount of weights on each wheel, and results of the road test.

Using the tire balancing machine, Hunter GSP 97 BMW:

Measure all complete wheels with regard to RFF (radial force fluctuation).

If necessary, match target values (mark the low point of the rim by measuring the rim without the tire).

Check the rim on the balancing machine; max. radial run-out. Refer to the notes in RA 3610715.

Align the match point of the tire with the low point of the rim and balance, including load force.



From the balance and load force screen, press the up/down arrow button once: K4 Show Runout and force matching/K4 Show details.
Target values:
Radial 1st Harmonic less than 17lbs
Radial T.I.R. less than 26lbs

If the target values cannot be achieved, submit a PuMA case with the subject “F30 Vibration Between 42-55 mph.”

Provide all the measured data:

Clearance check at each wheel

Tire size

Tire manufacturer

DOT

Rim styling

Rim manufacturer (on the back)

Max. radial run-out

Values of the road force Hunter measurement

If all affected components are within specification, continue.

After wheel balancing and installing the wheels with the lowest road force measurement to the front of the vehicle, perform a vehicle road test. Document the results of the road test.

If no vibration is found, the vehicle can be released.

For vehicles with the N20 engine without SA 2VL (Sport Steering) where all wheels are OK and the procedure does not improve the situation, submit a PuMA case with the subject “F30 Vibration Between 42-55 mph.”

WARRANTY INFORMATION
If performing the diagnostics outlined in this Service Information bulletin and/or the PuMA case recommendations results with eligible and covered work, claim this work with the applicable defect code(s) and labor operations listed in KSD2.

Wheel balancing as a stand-alone repair is covered under the New Vehicle/SAV Limited Warranty, up to the first 2,000 miles.

Wheel balancing that is a “consequential” repair procedure to perform a covered repair is covered.

Note: Please follow any TeileClearing (TC) or Diagcode (DC) requirements that may apply to this additional work.

[ Copyright © 2013 BMW of North America, LLC ]

[dc_bmw]

i've read this notice before, but never heard my dealer mention it.
They delegated the repair process to the local HQ now. I should be hearing back from them next week.
Sometimes the vibration seems te be supported by a knocking/pounding feel. Could that be the tolerance?

[BavarianFanatic]

The bulletin brings to light the fact that there may be issues with error stacking among the various components. You can easily have an assembly of parts that each individually are within allowable tolerances, but when assembled as a whole unit are outside of allowable tolerances. That's why they have such a detailed step-by-step procedure. Normal troubleshooting will usually only check individual components. A situation such as this is far more difficult to pinpoint.

Has anyone ever kept tabs of the tire models on the effected cars? It's plausible the tires are generating a frequency that aligns with the resonant harmonic of the suspension.

It's clear that BMW has put some thought into the details of this bulletin. It's also clear they're collecting data for further analysis if the dealers aren't able to identify the problem. It's a process. You can't just assume the fix on one car will be a univeral solution. Blindly throwing parts at a car is just plain wasteful. I still think a great deal of this is due to the tires or completely unrelated to the rolling stock.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by archer636

seems like most complaints(including myself) are from Florida- If it was temperature related we would be seeing complaints from other southern states as well- I am inclined to think it is a bad batch shipped to FL.

would be nice if we could put together an online polling site to record production date/purchase state to identify trends more accurately

No offense, but this isn't logical. They don't build a whole batch of cars destined for one single location. They are distributed all over the country as they arrive. It's more likely to be a function of your roads if there is in fact a high incidence in a given locale.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

The bulletin brings to light the fact that there may be issues with error stacking among the various components. You can easily have an assembly of parts that each individually are within allowable tolerances, but when assembled as a whole unit are outside of allowable tolerances. That's why they have such a detailed step-by-step procedure. Normal troubleshooting will usually only check individual components. A situation such as this is far more difficult to pinpoint.

Has anyone ever kept tabs of the tire models on the effected cars? It's plausible the tires are generating a frequency that aligns with the resonant harmonic of the suspension.

It's clear that BMW has put some thought into the details of this bulletin. It's also clear they're collecting data for further analysis if the dealers aren't able to identify the problem. It's a process. You can't just assume the fix on one car will be a univeral solution. Blindly throwing parts at a car is just plain wasteful. I still think a great deal of this is due to the tires or completely unrelated to the rolling stock.

Agreed!

[claykin]

In layman English

Originally Posted by X5dforme

Wheel balancing as a stand-alone repair is covered under the New Vehicle/SAV Limited Warranty, up to the first 2,000 miles.

If over 2K miles ask the customr to pay for wheel/tire balance.

Wheel balancing that is a “consequential” repair procedure to perform a covered repair is covered.

If customer complains, book it as warranty work.



BMW has to be smart enough to know that people lead busy lives (to pay for their Bimmers) and many wait until a service interval or other more serious problems before complaining about this issue. I've also heard from several dealers that re-balancing rarely does anything positive to resolve the issue.

There's no reason why a tire should need balancing during its lifetime, unless its punctured and needs to be patched. I have NEVER in my almost 30 years of driving had to balance tires mid-stream unless there was a puncture or the wheel weights came off for some reason (more of an 1980's-90's issue).

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by claykin

There's no reason why a tire should need balancing during its lifetime, unless its punctured and needs to be patched. I have NEVER in my almost 30 years of driving had to balance tires mid-stream unless there was a puncture or the wheel weights came off for some reason (more of an 1980's-90's issue).

Absolutely true. There's nothing short of damage that would change the balance of the assembly. The same holds true for alignments. Short of physical damage or disassembly/repair necessitating it. If the alignment strays too far from specs due to component wear, it's time to replace the worn components.