Vibration

Hello again,

My vibration is still happening.

I got my spare tyre balanced and swapped it with the wheel that was buckled on the rear drivers side of my car.

Took it out, but the vibration is STILL there, plus i don't know if i'm getting paranoid but the whole entire ride comfort seems to be getting worse.

I suppose it could be the general bad condition of the roads but i'm getting really frustrated. Apart from that the car has no other probs so I just wish I could enjoy owning my BMW!!

Help me please!!

Hi,

I have exactly the same problem, but its around 50mph I get it. (520 no tow bar)

The guy who sold me the car had the original wheels changed to rep M5 wheels because of vibration and he swears the problem disappeared.  I had the fronts balanced and the problem reduced and it definetely seems to be the rears that are at fault as my trousers now agitate my leg hairs when I am driving.  I am waiting to get new tyres as I have about 4 nails in each tyre so when this finally happens I'll let you know.  I think worst case the wheels are buckled.

Can anyone recommend a good tyre place for balancing?

On a previous car (vectra) I had to take the car back to the same garage 4 times, and then eventually gave in, they swore the wheels were buckled, went somewhere else in Motherewell and problem dissapeared, unfortunately no longer there.

PMC

Stuganderson - are your wheels genuine BMW or aftermarket?

Wackenzie - the reps might need spacers.  If a spacer is missing (you may only be missing one) it can cause a vibration in the car.

Take off the wheels and check if there is a plastic ring between the wheel and the hub.  If you have no spacers, it could be possible that they are needed but the previous owner never bothered to put them on, or a tyre centre didn't bother putting them back on after a tyre change.  If you hav 1, 2, or 3, then you're missing spacers.  If you have 4, then they may be wrong (some wheels are supplied with a couple of different size/types of spacers).

Or it could be something completely different!!!

Fey!,

thanks for that advice, I should be able to check and update pretty soon.

shaky Pete .

E39's have the larger centre bore on the hubs so I doubt missing spigot rings would be the problem.

korblood85 wrote: hi everyone!im new and i need help! i have a 03 520i e39,and i get this steering wheel vibration at 80km/h  if i increase the speed it goes away,it also goes away when im breaking!! mystery.....

Have a look at this:

http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=40105&am p;KW=big+pimpin

Not sayin that this is the problem but maybe.

I would stay clear of Kwik-Fit!!

I got them to balance all 4 wheels on my 5 series, but it was still vibrating at 70mph so I went back and asked them to re-check them. They did, and said the back 2 wheels were out and re-balanced them.

Still vibrating so I went to small independant garage my dad had recommended as he had taken his 5 series Alpina there.

They checked all 4 wheels and found all 4 were out!! (1 was 60grams out). I got them to do a laser alignment check too but happily that was pretty much spot on.

The result is a smooth ride and an enjoyable drive.

Ahhh nightmare

You should be able to see if it has thrown a weight off the rim.

It could be a drive line vibration.

Prop shaft bearings/mounts/rubber connection?

Diff input/output shaft bent? But what would cause it to bend.

Drive/half shaft worn CV joint?

If a driveline joint is not 100% square or perfectly aligned then it will vibrate.

I remember a guy on here had a vibration problem on an E34.  IIRC he spent £2k on it including a new prop shaft and it turned out to be a fault with one of the splined joints on one of the drive/half shafts.

Ah ha found the post.

http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=9636& ;KW=prop%2Fproblems

The problem will be finding a suitably qualified mechanic who can easily find the fault and not charge like a wounded bull for finding nowt.

Keep us posted

Andrew