Mild vibration at 80 MPH

[TooFan328i]

I have a mild vibration emanating from the front end when I go over 80MPH. The inside rearview mirror becomes hazy with the vibrations. I suspect it's the balancing on the front wheels. I just called my dealership, and they said, it's not under warranty as the car has around 4600 miles. They want to charge me around $100 for re-balancing the front two tires. Does this sound correct? Anyone else having the same issue? Is there any other reputable place I can go to and get it done?
Thanks.

[AIRPOWER]

Do you have spacers?

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by AIRPOWER

Do you have spacers?

Nope! Pure stock. And didn't even hit potholes either. I kind of always observed something funky since I bought the car.

[rr006rbc]

Did you hit a gnarly pothole or a curb? Wheels shouldn't be out of balance unless you've abused something..

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by rr006rbc

Did you hit a gnarly pothole or a curb? Wheels shouldn't be out of balance unless you've abused something..

Nope. Rough roads here and there, but nothing very nasty. As, I mentioned I did observe this when I bought the car, but I was learning the car, so I didn't pay much attention, and always thought that it was a muscle car and it's normal

[rr006rbc]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Nope. Rough roads here and there, but nothing very nasty. As, I mentioned I did observe this when I bought the car, but I was learning the car, so I didn't pay much attention, and always thought that it was a muscle car and it's normal

Haha definitely not a muscle car with a six cylinder engine. Turbos are cheater add-ons to me. But don't get me wrong; love my F80 to pieces. Go to a tire shop and have them rebalance for a fraction of the price.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

I have a mild vibration emanating from the front end when I go over 80MPH. The inside rearview mirror becomes hazy with the vibrations. I suspect it's the balancing on the front wheels. I just called my dealership, and they said, it's not under warranty as the car has around 4600 miles. They want to charge me around $100 for re-balancing the front two tires. Does this sound correct? Anyone else having the same issue? Is there any other reputable place I can go to and get it done?
[...]
Rough roads here and there, but nothing very nasty. As, I mentioned I did observe this when I bought the car, but I was learning the car, so I didn't pay much attention, and always thought that it was a muscle car and it's normal

I would take the car to a competent tire shop before I contemplate letting a dealer attempt to balance out the wheels/tires. Start by searching here:
http://www.tirerack.com/content/tire...tallation.html

BMW dealers are both over-priced and simultaneously inexperienced in tire balancing work (largely due to the former).

a

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by afadeev

I would take the car to a competent tire shop before I contemplate letting a dealer attempt to balance out the wheels/tires. Start by searching here:
http://www.tirerack.com/content/tire...tallation.html

BMW dealers are both over-priced and simultaneously inexperienced in tire balancing work (largely due to the former).

a

Thanks. Any reputable guy you can recommend? (who won't damage the bimmer )

[TooFan328i]

Update: Took it to ACM (Thanks a lot guys for accommodating me at short notice!), and got the wheels balanced. The vibration is still present. It's mild @ 60 MPH and goes away between 60-80 MPH, only to come back at 80 MPH.

Any suggestions? I will call up the SA tomorrow and see what he says.

Thanks.

[Stage1]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Update: Took it to ACM (Thanks a lot guys for accommodating me at short notice!), and got the wheels balanced. The vibration is still present. It's mild @ 60 MPH and goes away between 60-80 MPH, only to come back at 80 MPH.

Any suggestions? I will call up the SA tomorrow and see what he says.

Thanks.

So you took it to ACM, they charged you to balance the wheels, and that didn't fix the problem?

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by Stage1

So you took it to ACM, they charged you to balance the wheels, and that didn't fix the problem?

I went to ACM to balance the wheels as the dealership wanted a boat load of money . ACM folks were very cool and wanted my feedback if that resolved the issue. No complains about ACM from that front.

I guess my diagnosis was incorrect, and there is some other issue. Even the SA at the dealership said that their first work would be to balance the wheels, but I have to pay arm and a leg for it.

[TooFan328i]

Update: Spoke to the SA, and he was like, yeah the car is supposed to be rougher than a regular car etc etc. I told him that other folks are also complaining online. He was like, are you sure that the wheels were balanced properly. Then he said there might be something wrong with the tires. I have scheduled something with the dealership next weekend as I am traveling this week. They will have someone from the shop ride with me.

[V3rbatim]

I also had vibrations at 80+mph after getting my cAr lowered on springs and tire swap. Had a shop wheel allign the car and the front wheels balanced. Peoblem solved! $120 allignment and $30 wheel balance.

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by V3rbatim

I also had vibrations at 80+mph after getting my cAr lowered on springs and tire swap. Had a shop wheel allign the car and the front wheels balanced. Peoblem solved! $120 allignment and $30 wheel balance.

I see. My car is pure stock. Let me see what the dealership says. They better not say that this is normal blah blah blah.

[ymbf80m3]

I have the same issue and the dealer gives me the same bs about rough suspension etc...
Any updates ?

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by ymbf80m3

I have the same issue and the dealer gives me the same bs about rough suspension etc...
Any updates ?

Going there tomorrow morning. I will take the shop foreman for a drive, and let me see what he says. I will keep you posted.

[ymbf80m3]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Going there tomorrow morning. I will take the shop foreman for a drive, and let me see what he says. I will keep you posted.

Great! Thanks!

[TooFan328i]

Update: The shop foreman took the drive and confirmed that he could also feel the roughness/vibrations at both 60 and 80 MPH. He didn't comment as to what could be wrong, but he has taken the car in for a thorough lookup. He said that he will go from ground up, tires, wheels etc. Let's see what he finds. I came back with a loaner

[ymbf80m3]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Update: The shop foreman took the drive and confirmed that he could also feel the roughness/vibrations at both 60 and 80 MPH. He didn't comment as to what could be wrong, but he has taken the car in for a thorough lookup. He said that he will go from ground up, tires, wheels etc. Let's see what he finds. I came back with a loaner

Sounds good, please keep me posted.

It also happened to me on my F10 550i M Sport Package and I drove it for 25k miles and my dealer was never able to fix the problem.

That's why I'm so concerned that this car has it as well. Hopefully they'll come up with a good fix for you that you can share.

Good luck!

[TooFan328i]

Update: The SA called me and said the tires seem to be the culprit. The Continentals on my car are showing some issues on the roadforce balance. Something like 40-47 pounds of road force on the tires.
He said that he will be working with Continental and see what can be done as the tires need replacement. I have 5K miles, and I said that this is happening from day 1. All he said that , he will try to see what Continental can do for me as it's beyond the 1200 mile window. But, regardless, even if Continental pro-rates the tires, I will still have to pay for difference, mounting etc.

[ymbf80m3]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Update: The SA called me and said the tires seem to be the culprit. The Continentals on my car are showing some issues on the roadforce balance. Something like 40-47 pounds of road force on the tires.
He said that he will be working with Continental and see what can be done as the tires need replacement. I have 5K miles, and I said that this is happening from day 1. All he said that , he will try to see what Continental can do for me as it's beyond the 1200 mile window. But, regardless, even if Continental pro-rates the tires, I will still have to pay for difference, mounting etc.

They said the same thing with my 550i, they couldn't bring the right front tire down from 50# on road force to the 15-26# recommended.

The said I had to replace the tire, I did and spent $500+ on it. End result the problem never went away

[ymbf80m3]

Hopefully they can find a way to work it out for you and get the problem fixed