# front end vibration at highway speeds



## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

i'm getting front end vibration at around 87mph on what seems to be newly paved smooth pavement. this seems to happen only around that speed (and maybe higehr speeds but i did not check at higher speeds when i'm getting the vibes at the lower 87mph  )and not anything around 75mph and lower. it happens under acceleration and coasting. i have not checked under braking.  :dunno: edit: the vibration seems to be a low frequency vibration.

things that i've recently done were oil inspection w/ undercarriage inspection, new oem rotors/pads, new wheels and tires: bbs rk and toyo t1-s 225/45ZR17 all round w/ 36psi front and 39psi rear. i've had my front control arms replace maybe less than a year ago.

i'm want to figure out what's the least expensive way to diagnose and fix the problem w/o doing unecessary expensive work. so maybe have a tire place check the front tires high speed balance first, then test? what next? the rear wheels checked for balance? then bring it into the dealer for suspension play and wheel alignment? :dunno: i'm out of warranty so i can no longer bring it into the dealer frivolously  . :eeps:


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## avalys (Oct 14, 2003)

I had the same problem, though it started at much lower speeds (~60). Having my fronts balanced solved it.

You should use the Tirerack.com dealer locater to find a reputable shop near you, if you don't know of one already. The major chains (Pep Boys, Town Fair Tire, etc.) all suck.


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## nickeltong (Mar 16, 2004)

Check also if your tires are unidirectional. Most likely is your tire balance.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

i was thinking about picking up a torque wrench and checking the torque on the nuts but i called the dealer and they said that they do use the torque wrenches instead of the impact to replace them. so i'm going to get my car to a hunter gsp9700 place have them do a road force check and balance on the front wheels to start. strange thing is that i don't know what has changed? i think they were fine when i first got them back in march but *seems* to be vibrating after i got my car back from oil service and rotors/pads replacement. :dunno: mind you i don't take the car up to those speeds very often. :eeps:


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

nickeltong said:


> Check also if your tires are unidirectional. Most likely is your tire balance.


checked.


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## pony_trekker (May 26, 2003)

Definitely bring it to a good shop to have the tires balanced. It's an art. Usually at the dealer, they give it to some green 19 year old who has to do it 3-4 times.


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## hmr (Jul 28, 2002)

How's the tire wear? I ask because uneven tire wear, as a result of misalignment, could cause some vibration. :dunno: 

BTW, I find it's best to stick with OEM tires for the 3er. Switching to ContiSport Contacts solved noise and vibration problems I had with non-OEM Pirellis, not to mention an improvement in handling and stability. I think BMW goes to some length to select tires which are best suited for their cars, and going non-OEM may be asking for trouble. :soapbox:


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

hmr said:


> How's the tire wear? I ask because uneven tire wear, as a result of misalignment, could cause some vibration. :dunno:
> 
> BTW, I find it's best to stick with OEM tires for the 3er. Switching to ContiSport Contacts solved noise and vibration problems I had with non-OEM Pirellis, not to mention an improvement in handling and stability. I think BMW goes to some length to select tires which are best suited for their cars, and going non-OEM may be asking for trouble. :soapbox:


the handling of the toyo t1s vs. the oem contitouring ch95 is night and day. just no comparison whatsoever. as well as being the lightest tire out there. imo, bmw just chooses whatever brand/model of tire that they can get a deal on. they use so many models: goodyear rsa, bridgestone turanzas, contitourings, contisportI, michelin pilot sports, bridgestone re04, pirelli p6? etc.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

had my front tires rebalanced w/ the hunter gsp9700. left tires went from 28lbs to 18lbs (great but acceptable) of roadforce. right tires went from 21lbs to 10lbs (very good to excellent) of roadforce. feels much smoother now at **mph/*** :eeps: km/h.  set me back $70cad. now i feel a bit of vibes in the back. i think i may do those as well. i'm just curious how well balanced the wheels from the factory are. :dunno:


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## rwg (May 10, 2002)

HW said:


> had my front tires rebalanced w/ the hunter gsp9700. left tires went from 28lbs to 18lbs (great but acceptable) of roadforce. right tires went from 21lbs to 10lbs (very good to excellent) of roadforce. feels much smoother now at 87mph/140km/h.  set me back $70cad. now i feel a bit of vibes in the back. i think i may do those as well. i'm just curious how well balanced the wheels from the factory are. :dunno:


How many miles on the tires? Imo, the factory balance is decent, but all kinds of things can change the balance. I once had a vibration that was caused by a brake dust deposit on the inside of the wheel (really - I cleaned it off and the vibration was gone). Tire wear can throw off the balance. If you have a flat fixed and they remove the tire, they probably just mark the tire and rim and try and put it back "the way it was."


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

rwg said:


> How many miles on the tires? Imo, the factory balance is decent, but all kinds of things can change the balance. I once had a vibration that was caused by a brake dust deposit on the inside of the wheel (really - I cleaned it off and the vibration was gone). Tire wear can throw off the balance. If you have a flat fixed and they remove the tire, they probably just mark the tire and rim and try and put it back "the way it was."


these are brand new (got'em in march) rims and tires. i'm guessing that the dealer/mailorder didn't do a roadforce balance on them. :dunno: they're not list as one in my region (they are from my province) having the hunter gsp9700. happy to say that the rims are still perfect and have not damaged them.  no patches on them and have only ~6000km on them.


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## rwg (May 10, 2002)

But - that's not a factory balance. :dunno: At best it's a dealer balance and the quality varies dealer by dealer (and probably day by day and tech by tech).

When I ordered snow tires mounted on wheels from Tirerack, I had to have them rebalanced. They vibrated above 65 as delivered.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

my car was shaking at highspeeds so i had the rears roadforce balanced this morning. the rears were 39 and 42 lbs  now they're down to 23 and 20 lbs and w/ lots of balancing weights.  still not that good but almost everything was tried including swapping from one side to the other. total was $103  . hopefully this would improve it to a satisfactory level.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

after the rear wheel balancing, it feels as if i'm getting more power to the pavement.  could the slight wheel hopping/vibrations be robbing that much hp? :dunno: i remember complaining that my mileage had gone down after getting the new wheels. 11.4L/100km to 11.7L/100km.  :dunno:


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

:dunno: no response. ... but found my answer here.

http://www.leeric.lsu.edu/bgbb/7/ecep/auto/d/d.htm


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

hmmm.... i'm still getting vibrations but now it's smooth up until about *** :eeps: km/h(**mph) and at *** :eeps: km/h(**mph) the vibration starts coming back.  previously the vibration started at 120km/h and becomes unbearable at *** :eeps: km/h. 

roadforce tally stands at: :tsk: 
front: 18 lbs and 10 lbs
rear: 23 lbs and 20 lbs

was: 
front: 28 lbs and 21 lbs
rear: 39 lbs and 42 lbs


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## visor (Sep 7, 2002)

150km/h?!! :yikes: :eeps: 

Ummm...I think this is a significant improvement from previously. Just don't go past that speed and you won't have any problems.  
Otherwise, better plan on putting aside some $ for speeding tickets and point demerits.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

was very-very brief :eeps: no cars around me and guard barriers on both sides w/ one dividing oncoming, 2 lanes. are you a constable? :eeps: :angel:

these imperfections bother me even if i don't go at those speeds.  can't help it. :tsk:


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## kurichan (May 1, 2004)

HW said:


> i was thinking about picking up a torque wrench and checking the torque on the nuts but i called the dealer and they said that they do use the torque wrenches instead of the impact to replace them. so i'm going to get my car to a hunter gsp9700 place have them do a road force check and balance on the front wheels to start. strange thing is that i don't know what has changed? i think they were fine when i first got them back in march but *seems* to be vibrating after i got my car back from oil service and rotors/pads replacement. :dunno: mind you i don't take the car up to those speeds very often. :eeps:


When was the last time you had them balanced? Were the tires rotated when you had the service done? They might have rotated unbalanced back tires to the front where you'd feel the imbalance more?


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

kurichan said:


> When was the last time you had them balanced? Were the tires rotated when you had the service done? They might have rotated unbalanced back tires to the front where you'd feel the imbalance more?


i got these new and were only static balanced. see original roadforce values. really, really bad. factory wheels are normally roadforced balanced well. not sure what they use as the maximum. maybe max 10 lbs :dunno:

i had them roadforced balanced not too long ago. see new roadforce values. alright but i'm guessing not to bmw factory range. 10,18,20,23 lbs from 21,28,39,42 lbs  
i had them balanced 2 at a time because it was expensive and i was hoping that just the front would solve the problem but it turned out that the back ones were way worse. total cost of roadforce balancing w/ cost of adjusting and remounting was 170cad and not within factory.


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