Devastated!

Fellow 7 owners I hoped I might have solved my vibration issues with 4 refurbed wheels and new tyres at considerable expense only to find she still feels like I'm driving up a cobbled street,. I took the car in thinking it was a tyre issue, I was told that they were mis sharpen, old and I had some small buckles. Fare to assume this might be the problem

Many pennies later the car looks fab but at 55 mph, drives like it has square wheels. The wheels are original 19inch spoke wheels as fitted from new and the tyres are new Dunlop as recommended for the car, not run flats.

The weird thing is this, some months ago I ran over a small bolder on the neighbours lawn, slow speed on the rear right, the car drove like silk and thought nothing of it. 2months later the vibration started and my wallet emptied.

It the bolder was the cause I might have expected to feel the vibration sooner? Or might it have caused something to stress and weaken with time, I'm at a loss. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Um, you bent something and now it is broken loose or is vibrating loose. Have you taken the car to a qualified BMW mechanic that will check all of the suspension?

There cold be multiple problems, and driving the car could be making it worse.

My indy charges 49.90 to put the car on a rack and check it out, that's refundable if I use them for the repair.

Good luck

Thanks Sirstopher.

Yea had it checked out by a BMW specialist although not a dealer, he suggested a mis shaped rear tyre which prompted its change. The fitter saw the buckle which prompted the refurb! Looks like I might have to take it to a dealer, just wanted to avoid the robbery!

Will post any findings

I stay away from BMW at all cost. The only item that I will ever have them work on is alignment because they are the only place that can do it correctly.

I didn't look at your area but I would get on the phone and call every shop that can and will work on a BMW. Ask what their shop rate is, ask if they check your car and find the problem that the diagnostic charge is waved.

Many shops will work with you on this, you have to be firm in your request and get everything in writing.

I have two shops that I trust here, one will let me shop for parts and that is a plus because everyone marks stuff up or charges a higher shop per hour fee. Eventually you will find the best shop for your needs.

The shop I also like the best is great at the hourly rate, does quality work but is slow, I add two days to his quotes right off the bat.

Hope this helps again the dealer would be my last resort.

interesting....our bmw started doing the same thing but only after i installed 20" rims few weeks ago....the vibration starts over 45mph and gets worse with speed..under 45mph car is smooth

with stock oem 18's and bridgestone el400 car drives so smooth,but ever since i put 20's on the car they are staggered the vibration is there...

will have to take off front rims and take them to a place for balance and see if that helps...

all the bushings...suspension components look like new and solid on front

so im thinking its tires...back ones are falken fk452 they are excellent but front ones are some cheap brand..

will get back with results after wheel balance

Originally Posted by bayerisheteknik

interesting....our bmw started doing the same thing but only after i installed 20" rims few weeks ago....the vibration starts over 45mph and gets worse with speed..under 45mph car is smooth

with stock oem 18's and bridgestone el400 car drives so smooth,but ever since i put 20's on the car they are staggered the vibration is there...

will have to take off front rims and take them to a place for balance and see if that helps...

all the bushings...suspension components look like new and solid on front

so im thinking its tires...back ones are falken fk452 they are excellent but front ones are some cheap brand..

will get back with results after wheel balance

Wheel balance should help. It will let you know if your tire has a flat spot or bends on the wheels. You would also feel most of the vibrations from the front just cause it would cause the steering wheel to vibrate.

Originally Posted by pmpn8ez

Wheel balance should help. It will let you know if your tire has a flat spot or bends on the wheels. You would also feel most of the vibrations from the front just cause it would cause the steering wheel to vibrate.

thats where i feel it at the steering wheel....i just checked my PSI on wheels and back tires since they are 275/35/20 i had them at 41PSI but went down to 40PSI and fronts i had them at 37.5PSI but went down to 35PSI....so will see tommorow and if thats not gonne fix it than had to take the tires for balance.....

I have today called a few garages and have found one who will put the car on a rolling road to see exactly wher e the vibration is coming from. I'm reasonably confident its not the wheeles.

I've also got some leads on BMW specialists who charge half the price of the dealers.

Once we've identified the area I can hone in my investigation.

Thanks for the advice

Originally Posted by Ultimate7

I have today called a few garages and have found one who will put the car on a rolling road to see exactly wher e the vibration is coming from. I'm reasonably confident its not the wheeles.

I've also got some leads on BMW specialists who charge half the price of the dealers.

Once we've identified the area I can hone in my investigation.

Thanks for the advice

what PSI are you running on front tires?

To be honest I don't know, they inflated them when the tyres were replaces Andi haven't checked!

i would recheck PSI,maybe they overinflated them

Could you isolate which side exactly is causing the vibrations. Front will vibrate the steering wheel and rears would vibrate your seat cushion. From there see if you could determine if it is passanger/driver side. Pull that wheel off and inspect for any wheel damage or maybe even a tire out of round such as a bubble. Replace the wheel with your spare and drive it around and see if that solves the issue. Start off with the minor solutions and if doesn't work then progress.

Originally Posted by Ultimate7

Fellow 7 owners I hoped I might have solved my vibration issues with 4 refurbed wheels and new tyres at considerable expense only to find she still feels like I'm driving up a cobbled street,. I took the car in thinking it was a tyre issue, I was told that they were mis sharpen, old and I had some small buckles. Fare to assume this might be the problem

Many pennies later the car looks fab but at 55 mph, drives like it has square wheels. The wheels are original 19inch spoke wheels as fitted from new and the tyres are new Dunlop as recommended for the car, not run flats.

The weird thing is this, some months ago I ran over a small bolder on the neighbours lawn, slow speed on the rear right, the car drove like silk and thought nothing of it. 2months later the vibration started and my wallet emptied.

It the bolder was the cause I might have expected to feel the vibration sooner? Or might it have caused something to stress and weaken with time, I'm at a loss. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Can you describe the vibration a bit better? Do you feel it in your seat, steering wheel or both? Does it change with speed? How so?

There could be a few GOOD possibilities on what is causing the issues you are experiencing and these are my steps to eliminating vibration issues. With more info I can try to help out more.

Most common is wheel balancing; make sure you go to a GOOD shop that uses HUNTER ROAD FORCE machines to balance tires. Clean off your wheels as good as you can get them before you go!

Second issue I've noticed with newer tires is that most shops aren't mounting them properly. Make sure your tires have seated on the rim properly! A tire shop should be able to check this. IF it hasn't, dismount it and then remount the tire using high pressure mounting techniques!

Third, check all the lug bolts and make sure they are in good condition and properly torqued.

Fourth, check the suspension by putting the car on a lift and moving the wheel back and forth and such. Depending on which way it moves you can find and see if the issue is the control arm (thrust arm) bushings, the actual control arm (thrust arm), swaybar bushings, etc.

Csmeance.

Thanks for getting in touch.

The vibration is felt through the seat and a little through the steering wheel. It's generally worse around 55 moh and the frequency increases with speed. This gives the sense that it improves with speed!

I wnt this morning to have the tyre pressures checked as I had fitted new tyres. I found they were all set at 2.2 bar, I've had the rears set at 2.5 and this seems to have had a positive effect although the vibes are still there.

Next week I am visiting a garage with a rolling road so I can identify where the problem lies and visually check whilst running the car.

I will report my findings

Thanks everyone for your help so far I can tell you that there is nothing more frustrating and disappointing than not enjoying your drive!

still having issue...went down from 37.5 PSI to 35 PSI on fronts while still having 41 PSI on rears and now vibration in steering wheel is not as bad as used to be but still present...before it started around 45mph now starts at 53mph

should i lower the PSI on front to less then 35 with tire size 245/40/20???

last chance is to have them balanced with computerized machine and see if that is going to help...

all bushings on front end and all components are like new

From what I can tell there are four us now with that annoying vibration that's felt in the seats as steering wheel. My beast goes in tomorrow to have the lower control arm bushings checked, driveshaft inspected, and another member suggested counter weights might be missing in the driveshaft. My INDY doesn't think it's any of these items, still think its the wheels. Idk anymore.

Originally Posted by Ultimate7

Csmeance.

Thanks for getting in touch.

The vibration is felt through the seat and a little through the steering wheel. It's generally worse around 55 moh and the frequency increases with speed. This gives the sense that it improves with speed!

I wnt this morning to have the tyre pressures checked as I had fitted new tyres. I found they were all set at 2.2 bar, I've had the rears set at 2.5 and this seems to have had a positive effect although the vibes are still there.

Next week I am visiting a garage with a rolling road so I can identify where the problem lies and visually check whilst running the car.

I will report my findings

Originally Posted by bayerisheteknik

still having issue...went down from 37.5 PSI to 35 PSI on fronts while still having 41 PSI on rears and now vibration in steering wheel is not as bad as used to be but still present...before it started around 45mph now starts at 53mph

should i lower the PSI on front to less then 35 with tire size 245/40/20???

last chance is to have them balanced with computerized machine and see if that is going to help...

all bushings on front end and all components are like new

Vibration in your seat predominantly means that it's the rear tires that are at at fault; and the slight vibration at the steering wheel means that there is a little bit of the front as well.

Now that we know the rear tires are the BIG issue, lets start with some things. First of all what rims are on the car? Are they BMW? What size are they?

Next the tires, What tires do you have and what size are they? The tires can be a HUGE issue! Where were they installed and how were they balanced? I suggest a tire place use a Road Force Balancer which warms up the tire and applies a load to it as they are much more accurate.

Third, do you have any sort of spacers, adapters or foreign objects between the wheel and the hub of the car?

Fourth, What is the condition and torque on the rear lug bolts? If improperly torqued or if damaged, the lugs cannot do their job properly!

Fifth, how are the bushings on the rear suspension?

Originally Posted by csmeance

Vibration in your seat predominantly means that it's the rear tires that are at at fault; and the slight vibration at the steering wheel means that there is a little bit of the front as well.

Now that we know the rear tires are the BIG issue, lets start with some things. First of all what rims are on the car? Are they BMW? What size are they?

Next the tires, What tires do you have and what size are they? The tires can be a HUGE issue! Where were they installed and how were they balanced? I suggest a tire place use a Road Force Balancer which warms up the tire and applies a load to it as they are much more accurate.

Third, do you have any sort of spacers, adapters or foreign objects between the wheel and the hub of the car?

Fourth, What is the condition and torque on the rear lug bolts? If improperly torqued or if damaged, the lugs cannot do their job properly!

Fifth, how are the bushings on the rear suspension?

the rear tires are falken fk452 size 275/35/20 and couple weeks ago i have put a 20mm ecstunning spacers ordered them new...
front tires are achilles dessert hawk uhp size 245/40/20
rims brand unknown...staggered
bought rims with tires for 500 cash...both front and rear tires are brand new
achilles tires looks like cheaply made tires and falken fk 452 are pretty good
when i bought the rims guy mentioned that he had the tires/rims balanced so i took his word for it...looks like computer balance is my next step
rear lug bolts are very good condition and torgued properly
bushings are ok front and rear

Originally Posted by bayerisheteknik

the rear tires are falken fk452 size 275/35/20 and couple weeks ago i have put a 20mm ecstunning spacers ordered them new...
front tires are achilles dessert hawk uhp size 245/40/20
rims brand unknown...staggered
bought rims with tires for 500 cash...both front and rear tires are brand new
achilles tires looks like cheaply made tires and falken fk 452 are pretty good
when i bought the rims guy mentioned that he had the tires/rims balanced so i took his word for it...looks like computer balance is my next step
rear lug bolts are very good condition and torgued properly
bushings are ok front and rear

Tire size seems about right, the front tires I'm weary of since it's an off-brand. 500 dollars for rims and tires? I'd be more concerned about the rims at that point since it's pretty hard to find a decent looking wheel that can support the weight of our cars for that little money, and esp. one that is the right size (20x9 and 20x10).

You mentioned the spacers, did you buy the extended rear lug bolts with those spacers? Also have you tried taking them off? Another member had HORRID vibrations with the spacers on and once they were taken off, the problem was resolved!

Originally Posted by csmeance

Tire size seems about right, the front tires I'm weary of since it's an off-brand. 500 dollars for rims and tires? I'd be more concerned about the rims at that point since it's pretty hard to find a decent looking wheel that can support the weight of our cars for that little money, and esp. one that is the right size (20x9 and 20x10).

You mentioned the spacers, did you buy the extended rear lug bolts with those spacers? Also have you tried taking them off? Another member had HORRID vibrations with the spacers on and once they were taken off, the problem was resolved!

well i got them of craigslist....guy had them on his e66...they are not bent,the chrome on lips is not perfect thats why only 500 for rims and tires but falken fk452 were brand new and fronts

were new too just not falkens but achilles

yes the spacers came with extended rear bolts as i would not be able to put the rear rims on with stock lug bolts...

i think i measured the rear rims and they were 20x11 or 10.5 outside edge to outside edge

im pretty sure the front rims are problem..as only the steering wheel is shaking

ill try to lower the rears to 38psi and see if that helps but still have to take rims to get balanced...just too busy right now

I think I mentioned this before but somebody else had this problem, turned out to be a bad wheel hub.

Check this out:
http://www.***********.com/catalog/?...951+4294963605

The above is the parts bin.com The forum won't allow the whole link to be posted.

Originally Posted by jenkx

I think I mentioned this before but somebody else had this problem, turned out to be a bad wheel hub.

Check this out:
http://www.***********.com/catalog/?...951+4294963605

The above is the parts bin.com The forum won't allow the whole link to be posted.

i wish that was the case on my flagship..but already checked while had the car on jack and there was no movemet in any direction both side/side and up/down...everything is solid
maybe its the rims its self since i bought them used

Originally Posted by bayerisheteknik

i wish that was the case on my flagship..but already checked while had the car on jack and there was no movemet in any direction both side/side and up/down...everything is solid
maybe its the rims its self since i bought them used

I have the same issues, and both sets of my wheels were brand spanking new...

Originally Posted by bayerisheteknik

i wish that was the case on my flagship..but already checked while had the car on jack and there was no movemet in any direction both side/side and up/down...everything is solid
maybe its the rims its self since i bought them used

Could be slightly bent, not necessarily loose. I hope you solve the problem.