2012 328i Steering Wheel Vibration
 

I've been experiencing a slight steering wheel vibration from 40-60mph in my new 328i. You can feel the small vibration with your hands on the wheel, but it becomes even more obvious when you take you hands off the wheel and see it moving on its own.

A few other people have posted about this issue, but I haven't seen any updates recently. I took mine in to the dealer last week and they balanced the tires. It was maybe a little better for a couple of days, but seems to be back full force now.

My car was an early May 2012 build. Did they resolve this issue in later builds? Has anyone gotten resolution on this issue?

There is no fix to this problem, soooo many F30's have this problem.

I have no vibration on my 2013 F30/N20 Sports Line.

No vibration on my 2013 F30. I have the no-line (17" rims) with adaptive M suspension.

No vibs in ours either - 2013 NoLine with standard 17" wheels and Bridgestone Turanza RFTs.

Anyone having the same issue please post. This is very concerning to me because nothing pisses me off worse than steering wheel vibration. If my car has it and I can't get rid of it I will lemon the car. No excuse to have vibration on a 50k car.

It will disappear in the 3rd year of production, solved at the design level.

And how do you know that? :dunno:
cheers
vern

I'm hoping this is solved for MY2013+ builds. I agree with Windsor that steering vibrations are one of the most annoying issues one can have with an otherwise perfectly good car.

Sorry I need to briefly highjack this thread...
Jlukja: What are your thoughts on the Adaptive M suspension with a no-line? I am thinking going that route, but wasn't sure if the option is not as interesting vs having it with a Sport Line...
Thanks for your comments!

I once had an Acura MDX with a persistent vibration. After multiple wheel balances, alignments, new rims, etc., I gave up and sold it with only 7,000 miles on it. My 1981 Celica (first car, paid $1,000 for it) didn't vibrate. There's NO reason any new car should vibrate, let alone the Ultimate Driving Machine.

Slight vibration on my 2 week old 2012 328i (18in wheels).

2012 Sportline w/ 18" square setup shod with Conti SSR RFT's. Non VSS-equipped. Small, albeit persistent vibes since 500miles. Had the tires road-force balanced by the dealer and did not solve problem. Vibes are most noticeable at 50mph, but again, they are so minor that as long as they don't get worse, I will let it go.

It does seem to appear that for the most part, it has nothing to do with tires, VSS, Line/No-Line, etc... The root problem seems to be the ZF equipment. The only fix would be replacement of the entire steering box.

Great :mad:

Has anyone with the variable steering rack had this problem?

i have read of people with the VSS having the problem

I have a 2013 that has adaptive-m which now comes with VSS.

I do not have any vibration issues. Whatever it is it seems that it's far more common in the 2012 MY cars than the 2013s. I suspect a quiet fix at the production level for this issue was introduced recently.

I did not test drive the sport line so I do not have a point of reference for comparison. I can tell you that I am extremely pleased with the adaptive suspension. Its like having two cars instead of one. In eco pro and comfort mode it completely soaks up bumps, cracks, and other road imperfections. In this mode I think job 1 is to make your ride as smooth as possible. In sport mode it becomes much more communicative and firm without it being hard. I feel much more of the road without it being jittery. In this mode I think job 1 is to keep the tires in contact with the road surface as much as possible and keep the car as flat as possible through turns. It provides firmess and resists steady state compression due to weight shift in a turn yet it still yields if you were to hit a small curb or hole while in the middle of that turn. I've read a complaint of how it responds if you drive it hard in fast slalom. I can tell you that at 6/10 on the switchbacks it was wonderful. It was very fun to play with in the Alps (we did ED).

I'm not sure how VSS would contribut to this. As I understand it, VSS is just a different gear ratio on the steering rack once you turn the wheel past 100-degrees. It shoul d make no difference when going straight, regardless of speed.

What is vss, adaptive suspension, and how do I know if I have it? Thanks.

vss is the variable sport steering, adaptive suspension is the active dampeners

if you have the dynamic handling package for $1000 then you have both

Thanks! I'll have to check the spec sheet for my car...

History is my guide. Although, HPFP prob wasn't really addressed until the 4th year o'production. Unreal....and easy to solve.

This is well known issue for experienced technicians. Apart for balancing cause the other reason for vibration at these speeds is rim not matching hub diameter.
I guess rim manufacturer supplied BMW with out of spec rims.

It seems like new generation of service technicians needs instructions even for basics and BMW just released it for them. Ask your dealer to open following link on BMW intranet:

https://pumap.bmwgroup.com/puma/meas...d=52131175&lin


Measure no.
51742297-02
Subject
Steering wheel torsional vibrations/vibrations at speeds of between
60 - 130 km/h
Release date (mm/dd/yy)
9/12/12
Status
Approved
Organization
V4-R1, CAR
Vehicles affected
E series
F20 F21 F30 F31
Engine Body
Production period (from/to)
(mm/dd/yy)
/
Comment on production period
Feedback (all cases relating t
measure up to) (mm/dd/yy)
Complaint
Customer complaints due to wheel-excited steering wheel torsional vibrations between 60-130 km/h.
Cause
Wheel/tyre combination/drive unit flange or wheel bearing
alloy wheel on the wheel hub outside tolerance
Measure
In the event of a customer complaint, work through the following procedure (before starting the procedu
the complete wheel must be tested for tyre pressure and damage):
Note: Check for flat spots. Rim check on balancing machine, max. 0.3 mm
radial run-out. Otherwise, replace the rim.
Please see the notes in the Repair Instructions 3610715.

Check the wheel centring of the light-alloy rim on the wheel hub. To do so, clean the contact surfaces
the wheel hubs and the light-alloy rims, and only slightly tighten the wheels. Using a feeler gauge at the
bottom position (see attachment 1), determine the maximum play. Play of 0.1 mm is still within the
permissible tolerance. Play of 0.15 mm would be outside the permissible tolerance.
If there are tolerance variations, the affected components (wheel bearing/drive unit flange) are to be
measured individually.
Nominal values for wheel bearing/drive unit flange: 72.47 mm - 72.50 mm (calliper gauge measuring
equipment )
If a component is not in the specification, contact technical support.
Have the following data ready.
- Tyre size:
- Tyre manufacturer:
- DOT:
- Rim styling
- Rim manufacturer (on the back):

Borant when was this released? And do you think the 2013s being build in July/August had this issue resolved?