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      08-23-2020, 09:53 AM   #23
cfm56d7b
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Although tire vibration can be maddening, the reasons are usually fairly straightforward. If the only change prior to the symptoms was addition of new go flat tires, then the range of possible root causes is smaller. Few suggestions:

- The wheels may not be properly torqued. If the shop used an impact wrench, never visit this shop again. The lug nuts must be torqued with a torque wrench

- The tires could be defective. It's rare yet it happens. Where are the vibrations coming from: front axle or rear axle? Tires should have been inspected for uneven tread placement or signs of even slightest cupping

- The wheels may have micro cracks. Centrifugal forces expand the crack and change the geometry of the wheel. Since the symptoms appear at high speeds, it's a possibility

The above steps do not even have to be mentioned to a competent shop.

Keep us updated!
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      08-26-2020, 12:09 PM   #24
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Sold a car because previously because of vibrations and mine is also currently vibrating at high speed... but...

- Try another set of wheels ?
- Try to find when it occurs (hard acceleration, throttle off, neutral, high speed cornering, straight, etc...) - see SRHosein post.
- Wheel torque is important.
- Try to find where it occurs : steering, seats, center console, ...
- Have your brake disks checked/replaced. Can be rear disks too.
- There are many settings on the Roadforce machine so a good technician is also required.
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      08-26-2020, 12:12 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cfm56d7b View Post

- The wheels may have micro cracks. Centrifugal forces expand the crack and change the geometry of the wheel. Since the symptoms appear at high speeds, it's a possibility
Good point! Can this be seen during visual inspection ? Thanks
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      08-26-2020, 12:41 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desmat View Post
Good point! Can this be seen during visual inspection ? Thanks
Good old magnifying glass can help.

Incidentally, are your tires slowly losing pressure? This is one possible indicator of micro cracks.
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      08-26-2020, 02:11 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cfm56d7b View Post
Good old magnifying glass can help.

Incidentally, are your tires slowly losing pressure? This is one possible indicator of micro cracks.
No actually their not - the pressure is holding well - Thank you though - good idea
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      08-29-2020, 11:06 AM   #28
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Dude - There's alot of stuff on this thread, but here's what I propose. I'm the type of person who cannot live with any vibrations on my car, and have gone through various trial and errors with wheels and tires in the past. Go to a shop that has a road force balancing machine and actually knows what they're doing. Don't go back to the other two shops you went to. Get a third person to check this, and ask them to check EACH wheel. Honestly do some research on google for shops that specialize in road force balance, read the google reviews, give them a call and discuss what I mentioned below before you go to the shop - if they know what you're talking about.. give them a shot, if they have no clue, then you have your answer - KEEP looking for another shop!

1) Put it on the machine and spin it. while it's spinning CLOSELY observing the inner and outer parts of the rim for wobbles. Most of the time, if the wheel is bent, you will see a slight shimmy, if not a a really bad one right off the get go .. that means that particular wheel needs to be repaired or replaced.

2) if the wheel is not bent and spins true, the hunter roadforce machine spits back a number in the bottom left corner, that is called the passenger limit. The roadforce machine measures the roadforce and gives this number back. If this number is greater than 9LB, likely with BMW suspension you will feel it on the highway if you are the type of person to notice vibrations easily. Most people are OK with under 20LB of plimit and don't notice it much. Anything greater than 20LB, you will feel it. This number is comprised of both the road force from the wheel, OR the tire. Usually if the wheel is NOT bent, it is the tire!

3) If the RIM is straight, and the number is greater than 20, I would say, ask the tech to "MATCH MOUNT" the wheel with the tire. This procedure is compromised of unmounting the tire, and matching the tire with the high/low spot of the rim, to reduce the plimit, hence reducing the vibrations.. this is what "road force balancing" is all about. Sometimes when they match mount, this can get the number down or higher, it all depends on many factors such as: the run out of the rim, and the tire roundness. Sometimes depending on the tire brand / quality, you can never get the road force numbers down and need to get a whole new set of tires because the quality is too poor, or bent rims have made the tires develop a weird out of roundness.


Report back to the thread when you have this information from the tire tech & I can help advise on you what you should do to resolve your issue. Without the following information, nothing can really narrow done what the issue with your wheel/tire setup is and why you're having vibrations:

Let us know if:

1) If any of the wheels are ACTUALLY bent. Ask whoever claims the wheel is bent to show you a video of the bent wheel or show you a visual in person. Get some proof rather than some BS "He said/she said" the wheel is bent but the other shop said it's not!
2) What the Plimit on each wheel and tire is.
3) The DOT on the tires and if they have any micro cracking or separation. Sometimes shops have tires sitting around for a long time, in bad storage conditions, and then they sell them to you only for you to be surprised with vibrations on highway speeds.
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Last edited by Nexus313; 08-29-2020 at 11:31 AM..
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      08-29-2020, 02:29 PM   #29
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Ok, before our friend spends any more time or money chasing down "vibrations" how about this for an idea...

MAYBE it's NOT the wheels or tires?

Years ago my brother called me in a panic because the car was "pinging."
So he threw parts at the motor, but no effect. Same "pinging" at 3500-3750 rpm.
I finally went over to his house and did a drive with him...

Catalytic heat shield was the noise.

So what else cause or make vibrations at highway speeds?
If we've balanced and rebalanced the wheels, replace a tire, and even rechecked suspension pieces, then perhaps it's NOT the wheels or wheel related.

When you say vibration, what is happening in the car or to the car? Is the steering wheel shaking? Is the car making noises? Is the car shaking? Does it happen at exactly the same speed or RPM?

My theory? I think you've got a loose under panel that vibrates at certain speeds.
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      08-30-2020, 10:40 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by exE36M3 View Post
Ok, before our friend spends any more time or money chasing down "vibrations" how about this for an idea...

MAYBE it's NOT the wheels or tires?

Years ago my brother called me in a panic because the car was "pinging."
So he threw parts at the motor, but no effect. Same "pinging" at 3500-3750 rpm.
I finally went over to his house and did a drive with him...

Catalytic heat shield was the noise.

So what else cause or make vibrations at highway speeds?
If we've balanced and rebalanced the wheels, replace a tire, and even rechecked suspension pieces, then perhaps it's NOT the wheels or wheel related.

When you say vibration, what is happening in the car or to the car? Is the steering wheel shaking? Is the car making noises? Is the car shaking? Does it happen at exactly the same speed or RPM?

My theory? I think you've got a loose under panel that vibrates at certain speeds.
He stated in his original post that this happened when he switched to different tire setup.
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      08-30-2020, 02:03 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus313 View Post
He stated in his original post that this happened when he switched to different tire setup.
Except this... "Once the tires settled (first 300 miles or so)"...
It doesn't usually take 300 miles for an unbalanced wheel or bad alignment to show up.

FWIW, I agree with your post above. Not every tire shop can balance a wheel or align a car.
My old E36 M3 was stupidly finicky, if the toe or wheel weights were off, the steering wheel shook.
And given I drove a 70 mile commute on the freeway everyday, get alignment and wheel balance!

After the OP has exhausted all the obvious things, maybe it's time to drop down a level.

Last edited by exE36M3; 08-30-2020 at 02:13 PM..
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      08-30-2020, 03:20 PM   #32
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Thanks people,
I found the best road force shop and they balanced the wheels again (didn't see any problem with wheels or tires). It improved a lot but still vibrations at high speed.

I tried to localise it (drove 3k km on very good French roads) and it's felt in the steering wheel and seat, not so much in the pedals/floor if it helps. It's not very strong vibrations but I notice it always above 70 mph....

I guess I'll get the suspension checked, the car is still under warranty and did about 24k miles so far - thanks for all the help and advice!
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      08-30-2020, 04:36 PM   #33
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RoundRound

Well there's ONE sure way to figure out if the wheels really are an issue.
Contact a local BMW shop or a dealer and borrow a set of 4 wheels.

If the issue persists, it's not your wheels.
If it goes way, then you can narrow the issue down wheel by wheel.
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      02-21-2022, 11:27 PM   #34
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resolution?

I am in a similar boat. I recently changed my tires from Bridgestone runflats to Michelin PS4S non runflats.

1) I feel slight vibrations on the steering wheel, specially at high speeds. The tire shop did road force balance the tires during mounting.

2) With the new tires I feel every single anomaly of the road transmitted to the steering wheel. With non-runflats that was not the case. Or maybe I am over analyzing the new tires and being hyper aware ?

OP - What was the resolution to your issue ?

Last edited by nfs26; 02-24-2022 at 06:31 PM..
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      02-22-2022, 11:22 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nfs26 View Post
I am in a similar boat. I recently changed my tires from Bridgestone runflats to Michelin ASPS4 non runflats.

1) I feel slight vibrations on the steering wheel, specially at high speeds. The tire shop did road force balance the tires during mounting.

2) With the new tires I feel every single anomaly of the road transmitted to the steering wheel. With non-runflats that was not the case. Or maybe I am over analyzing the new tires and being hyper aware ?

OP - What was the resolution to your issue ?
I don't know to be honest
I did several road force balancing in two very good shops but still had vibrations, took the car to a dealer, they said the balancing was bad (I doubt it) and they balanced the wheels, it still has some modest vibrations but it could be just the m-sport suspension and british roads. I got used to that.

The tires are great and the ride is almost 'comfortable' - still love the car. I hope it helps.

PS
Not clear from yoru post but if you went from 'go flat' tires to 'run flat' ones the ride will be much harsher.
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      02-24-2022, 06:26 PM   #36
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Thanks for your response.
I went from Bridgestone runflats to Michelin PS4S all seasons “go flat”
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      04-26-2022, 11:46 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RoundRound View Post
I don't know to be honest
I did several road force balancing in two very good shops but still had vibrations, took the car to a dealer, they said the balancing was bad (I doubt it) and they balanced the wheels, it still has some modest vibrations but it could be just the m-sport suspension and british roads. I got used to that.

The tires are great and the ride is almost 'comfortable' - still love the car. I hope it helps.

PS
Not clear from yoru post but if you went from 'go flat' tires to 'run flat' ones the ride will be much harsher.
It's an old thread but I see it's been recently active. Have you made any new progress with diagnosisi?

I have what I think is a similar issue with my 3 year old 225xe, I can feel increasing vibration at speed on good quality motorways. Recently drove across France and back and the vibration was quite obvious when doing 80mph / 130kph. I've noticed it on UK motorways also but much less so. Who knows if the UK road surface is different and it either masks it or the french road surface exacerbates it, unsure. The vibration is felt through the seat, slightly in the steering wheel and through the pedals.

I recently changed two front tyres as they were approaching minimum depth, the problem was there prior to and after the change. The front left was wearing unevenly, more wear on the outside so had the wheels aligned at the tyre change, feeling of the problem remains.

I'm now wondering if front wheel bearing could be a candidate, or secondarily some unbalance in the drive shaft assembly since it's FWD.
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      04-27-2022, 12:21 PM   #38
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Something else to consider that I haven't seen mentioned, the tires could be slipping on the wheel, which would disrupt the balance and explain why it seems like every time you get the balance checked the response was it wasn't correct. Easy way to check is with a fabric paint pen, make a small mark on the rim and tire sidewall and see if they move out of alignment with each other.
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