I have been experiencing engine vibration lately all the time when the car is not moving. When ever the car is on, I can hear the engine vibration (not running, vibration) and if I put my hand on the dash, I can feel the vibration. I opened the hood, and everything seems to sound normal. Any ideas or suggestion where to look or what to fix? I recently changed the oil and oil levels are fine, no leaks apart from a minor leak on the sump.
Vehicle details - 2004 E60 525i M54 with Auto trans.
A DIY from Margal would be pretty useless to you. Margal has a V8 E60, you have an I6. That said, since your engine is much smaller it should be MUCH easier since access and room are much greater in the I6 cars. If a DIY is really needed you can search either here or on the 3 series forums, the mounts will be different on the 3 series but the engine is the same and the procedure should be nearly identical.
I have the same car with the same problem! I will deal with this problem this weekend.I will change engine mounts, and spark plugs maybe. I'll post feedback. I allready changed tranny mounts and exhaust mounts, and rear balljoints 2 weeks ago. 165000 km on the clock.
Ihave replaced my engine mounts and spark plugs along with leaky VCG this weekend and only to find out my engine mounts were ok. Spark plugs had no oil coleague mechanic said that by the look of spark he had a good combustion. Vibration is gone but idle fluctuations (+50 rpm, -50 rpm) persists on my tacho. i think i am going to do my intake CPS soon? any ideas anyone?
Thanks grim a for sharing your feedback from your work. Much appreciated, did you took any pics for doing engine mounts? Might help me if you can share them and the steps?
After closely monitoring, I noticed the vibration gets twice as loud in noise and feel if the AC is turned on. Is this problem actually related to AC by any chance? Also, apart from mechanical tensioner on AC and alternator what other pulleys could cause noise or vibration or is suggested to be changed?
Unfortunatlly i did not take any photos, my hands were dirty and we changed some suspension parts also so I did not have any time to do photos. Also engine mounts were problem to get them out once they were loose, we raised engine very slowly. Pay attention before you do this to liberate autobox oil cooling hoses and take away your intake with MAF for gaining more access. I dont know for E39 but E60 does not have many space to take mounts out. You need to raise your engine 5-6 cm( I did mine).try googleing engine mounts DIY. I am not sure if it is related to A/C. I do not have any knowledge about A/C system. I have replaced all tensioners and belts along with termostate and water pump few months ago and this flactuations are still present. I put mechanical tensioners thou. For your pulleys, you can check them by taking of your belts and then roll them. If they stop very fast and no noise they are ok, but if they keep spining they are gone. I will try next with intake CPS or try to change oil filler cap because when i took my valve cover i saw some oil around oil filler? Is it possible that oil escapes through oil filler cap?
Hey grimma, thanks for posting promptly and the details. For the Oil cap, another friend of mine here who is quiet knowledgeable on E60 suggested to use food wrap around the oil filler cover and all around the VC and see if that fixes the issue. If it does, then change the gasket on the oil filler cap or cap itself. I have yet to try that fix yet.
Thanks for confirming you have the same problem too Cali Buk. So far, three of us seems to be having this problem and today I discovered something else. When this vibration occurs, if you actually move the gear into Parking, the vibration either disappears or calms down like a beast. When I moved the gear back into drive, the vibration started again, and then increased with the AC on. So I am not sure if it is a combination of Transmission and AC, but I don't know what is it and it is driving me mad guys :rofl:, okay I am serious.
I recently put on new belts but never thought about checking the pulleys, so I have new tensioners for engine and AC which I will be swapping over the weekend. That is not going to help as grimma already confirmed, but I think mine are due now at 146K.
Thanks NathO to join the vibration club, if you read through you will know grimma did not fix the issue by changing the mounts. See what you can find about the transmission or the AC. Is there a way to check the transmission oil level? or Transmission mounts?
Also, there was a theory about the Exhaust mounts playing up.
I have search many threads and forums that include every BMW that has a 4.4 n62.From all these threads over 9 years of this problem Ive only read two that have been cured.First was a bad seal for throttle body to intake,second was engine mounts.Countless other threads ended without cure.Many back when still under warranty took them to the dealer and has SIB done which raises valve lift at idle.OK for a day then back to same condition.If not cold start idle then intermediate levers should be ok .So.....some other valve train defect or like you were saying transmission converter lock up?
Just to add I did an experiment .Going 45 on flat road I shifted into neutral and coasted at idle speed.My perception was a very smooth idle.Dont know if this means anything.
I had the same problem with my car. I took it to the dealership and they did a diagnostic on it and found nothing wrong with the engine. The mechanic just bumped up the idle 150 rpm above what it was. My car was idling low, sometimes it would even go down to 500 rpm.
I had the same problem with my car. I took it to the dealership and they did a diagnostic on it and found nothing wrong with the engine. The mechanic just bumped up the idle 150 rpm above what it was. My car was idling low, sometimes it would even go down to 500 rpm.
OK, in last 6 months I have replaced: engine and transmission mounts, exhaust mounts, rear ball joints with integral links(PITA) with big screw, intake boot hose, I have 3 ICV every one work same(try them all three), throttle gasket, NGK spark plugs( judging by the old spark plugs it had good combustion) , Injector gaskets(2 per injector) , 4 times Valve Cover Gasket, Oil Separator with corresponding hoses,new water pump and thermostat with new pulley's, belts and belt tension-er x2, dealer did serviced my Automatic box (new pan, and some other parts with oil) warranty payed more than CHF 1000, rear left wishbone and next week I will change one rear spring because she cracked. I don't know if I have forgot anything. i drive this car on relatively slow relations so I can explain some times there is this condensations in engine oil but once per week i drive her more than 100 km so this goes away. Also I change her oil and filter every 12000 km. i start to think that there is a small gasket on the top of intake manifold that have little vacuum leak: http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=NA51&mospid=47752&btnr=11_2879&hg=11&fg=40 number 3 or 4, and the oil filler cap. how ever soon I will go to my friend that has a DIS and I want to do some live checks before I start with replacement of intake and exhaust cam position sensors. Car is E60, M54, 525i 164000 km automatic box. If anyone have any idea please give it.
Holy cow dude, you seem to practically have new car with all the work you have done. Pity the Vibration still exist. I am still confused on that intake stuff. Did you happen to change what was recommended by dolfan13 on the intake i.e. seal for throttle body to intake? You mentioned throttle gasket, is that the same thing?
also several air filters and cleaned MAF. As for replacement the engine mounts I lifted my car. I had professional lift in company where I work, and we have this hydraulic cylinder that we use for supporting stuff like gearbox, suspension, engine, anything, it is like some kind of jack for gearboxes. So we jacked this with some 2x4 inches wooden pieces.
Procedure:
Disconnect battery negative wire,
remove intake hose which go to ICV and throttle along with MAF and Air filter housing,
take away engine mount upper screws( one per mount)
lift the car,
take away lower engine mounts screws,
if it is car with auto-box, take away little hatch that holds auto-box cooling hoses, it is near right side engine mount ( when standing in front of the car)
support engine with this gearbox jack and piece of wood on the oil pan,( be very careful)
when you lift engine check and double check if it is free , make sure he is not twisting anything.
You need to lift one or two inch.
than you take away your mount and you put a new one. do this one by one.
put screws and torque them to spec, upper 56 N-m and lower i forgot.
put all back and you have new engine mounts.
I am sorry if I forgot anything, i hold no responsibility if you damage your car by doing this procedure above.
Hey guys, can I request all the people having this problem to post what engine oil you are using in your car, specific brand and type e.g Castrol Edge Titanium 0W40 etc. I am not sure if this problem is related to engine oil or not?
I have the same exact problem with my 550i. The steering wheel vibrates at idle when my foot is on the brake. As soon as I start moving or put it in park the vibration stops.
I started noticing the vibration just prior to an oil change. I was about a half quart low when I took it in, so I hoped that was the cause. After changing the oil the vibration still exists. They put in 10w30 Castrol synthetic, not sure about the exact type.
I've read posts that suggest low AC refrigerant levels may contribute to the problem. However, I notice the vibration with AC on or off. I don't buy the engine mount theory either - maybe in extreme cases.
I do notice that my car idles at exactly 500, which seems a little low. I never knew the dealer could raise the idle RPM, but that might be a good place to start start. A few folks indicated that helped.
Even though the vibration is barely noticeable, it drives me crazy, so I'm looking forward to someone posting a definitive solution.
Okay guys, its getting a bit hard to track of who has done what to find a solution to this problem, but surely we are seeing more E60 owners with same problem. Although no one wants to believe it is engine oil, but for some reason I want to track it in case at the end it is the reason. So here is a list of all people who have reported the same problem with some details.
Me - Mobil 1 0W40
Margal - ??
grimma - Mobil 1 5W40 - changed engine mounts as well, no joy.
Cali Buk - Pending update on idle increase
Nath0 - Castrol Magnatec 5W30 - Oil change helped the vibration a little (not much).
dolfan13 - Castrol GC 0w30
Jesuslopez 530i - idle increase helped, now sits on 650-700 (very strange because mine sits at similar idle but no joy for me)
mkarner79 - Castol Synthetic 10W30 - Suggested AC compression air
Now, does anyone knows how to check AC compression air? The fact that AC on/off increases the vibration, I am very tempted to have this verified. So please help or join the Vibration Club, so together we can finally put an end to this problem as clearly it drives me nutts :rofl:
Count me in for the same problem. I just got the car too. 38k miles now, 2010 528.
I was advised by my independent BMW mechanic during pre-purchase inspection to mention this to the dealer. It almost feels like the car is running on low RPM and it sounds like woooowwww woooooowww wwwwwwooooowww inside the cabin when it idles. It's hard to explain until you actually get inside the car and notice it. During the pre-purchase inspection (which was done AFTER the purchase) tech noticed it and asked me about it. Also, steering wheel vibrates.
I am having it checked out as I type this. I will let you guys know what they find.
I will post as soon as I find out. I told them that I read about this problem and it could be anything from engine mounts to software update, but I don't think SA was listening to me. lol I mean, engine mounts at 38k miles? Sounds ridiculous to me. I really hope they will find out what's up with that. The sound that the car makes inside the cabin actually drives me crazy.
Ok, I have an update for you guys. I don't know yet if it will be ok, but dealer just called and said they ran diagnostics and increased RPM by 150.
Again, I will let you guys know if the vibration is gone once I drive it. Should be after 5pm EST, but I am thinking they noticed it.
They checked engine mounts and they were ok.
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