My recently purchased, lightly-used M3 has vibration and slack in the drivetrain

Mr.Joe · 09-15-2017, 05:59 AM

Apoligize in advance for my poor English writing.

So i just bought a almost New m3 competition. The car had been used by the bmw headquarters here in Norway, but had only done about 3000 miles when i got it. I used to work at a BMW dealership so i got a pretty fair deal on the car.

Had the car for about 2 months now, and allready from the start i noticed a slight vibration from the steeringwheel under Acceleration between 50-75mph. The Whole car makes a slight vibration, but it can best be felt from the steering. (almost like lane departure) At first i thought it came from the lack of traction or something. I allso detected a bit of slack in the drivetrain from stand still. If i Lock the gear and go on and off the Accelerator, the car seems to "jump" or hesitate before giving me the full Power, feels like there is some slack somewhere.

I got more aware of this after test driving a 2018 M3 With 1500 miles on it. The 2018 was so Sharp and smooth to drive. No slack of any kind, and was totally different to drive! So i got one of the mechanic out to test drive both mine and the 2018 car. He agreed that it was night and day.

At the end of the day, the result was to order a New diff. But im afraid it could be so much more, after Reading several horror stories on the drivetrain on these cars.

Have anyone found a solution to this vibration problem. or the drivetrain slack?

Wywrot · 09-15-2017, 08:18 AM

I have the very same issue. Two years already. I can say one thing to You - BMW will do nothing with this. You need to used to it and live with it. They completely don't know what is going on - they will probably change lots of parts in your car and at the end will say - car is ok, no issue at all and vibration is normal because it is M3. My issue is not solved and I stuck with "shaking" car... There is lots of threads about vibration issue...
For example: http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1409452

Good luck!

SanchoDivine · 09-15-2017, 09:05 AM

First thing you need to do regarding the vibration is to check your tires and rims for any imperfection (both sides) and have them re-balanced if you have not done so already. Wheels being unbalanced or too worn (there are bumps between the treads that will cause vibration when time to change) are often the culprits of vibration. Next thing to look at would be wheel alignment, then bearings, then suspension components.

I'm not sure enough is known regarding your slack/lag experience and assuming you have a DCT, I don't have enough experience with those to help if it is part of the issue.

Takumi587 · 09-15-2017, 12:04 PM

i would definitely try to get it resolved especially under warranty. If anything then potentially consult a lemon law attorney? Not sure if you have lemon law protections where you are...

In any event, I would never just accept the issue and live with it. Vibration at the wheel alone would annoy the heck out of me.

Mr.Joe · 09-18-2017, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wywrot

I have the very same issue. Two years already. I can say one thing to You - BMW will do nothing with this. You need to used to it and live with it. They completely don't know what is going on - they will probably change lots of parts in your car and at the end will say - car is ok, no issue at all and vibration is normal because it is M3. My issue is not solved and I stuck with "shaking" car... There is lots of threads about vibration issue...
For example: http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1409452

Good luck!

This is exactly what i am afraid of... read some threads about this, and its not looking good... How far did they go on Your car? did they change the Whole drivetrain?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SanchoDivine

First thing you need to do regarding the vibration is to check your tires and rims for any imperfection (both sides) and have them re-balanced if you have not done so already. Wheels being unbalanced or too worn (there are bumps between the treads that will cause vibration when time to change) are often the culprits of vibration. Next thing to look at would be wheel alignment, then bearings, then suspension components.

I'm not sure enough is known regarding your slack/lag experience and assuming you have a DCT, I don't have enough experience with those to help if it is part of the issue.

Yes my car is a DCT.
It is not a Wheel vibration issue. Have checked the Balance, and there is no issue there. Just put on the Winter Wheels, and have the exact same problem now...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takumi587

i would definitely try to get it resolved especially under warranty. If anything then potentially consult a lemon law attorney? Not sure if you have lemon law protections where you are...

In any event, I would never just accept the issue and live with it. Vibration at the wheel alone would annoy the heck out of me.

I still got over 4 years of warrenty left. The car was registred in march this year. 5 years/200.000km warrenty here in Norway.
Not exactly sure what lemon Law is? but we have a Law here that says if they try to fix a certain problem more than 3 times, you have the right to get a New car. I am not 100% sure exactly how it Works, but i will definitly look into it!

I refuse to live With this vibration thing, especially when i know its not suposed to be there!

Wywrot · 09-18-2017, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Joe

This is exactly what i am afraid of... read some threads about this, and its not looking good... How far did they go on Your car? did they change the Whole drivetrain?

They changed: all wheel hubs with bearing, left carrier, steering rack, driveshaft, differential... No change at all...

Mr.Joe · 09-18-2017, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wywrot

They changed: all wheel hubs with bearing, left carrier, steering rack, driveshaft, differential... No change at all...

I sure hope thats not the case for mine... looks like i just have to wait and see... 3 weeks delivery on a New diff.

Seems like this happend to a lot of MY17?

CanAutM3 · 09-18-2017, 07:26 AM

Hmmmm.... used by BMW headquarters, used for the ///M driving schools maybe...

ItsaGoose · 09-18-2017, 11:20 AM

From a diff thread:

I had the exact same issue. The speeds you mentioned are exactly the speeds I experienced it at. And that is the best way to describe it - it is as if the lane change vibration is constantly on.

They opened a PUMA case and flew in engineers from Germany as this east the first occuranc of this issue and they were intent on resolving it.

Turned out the main culprit was the connection with the CF driveshaft. Once they replacing the connectors and then adjusted the driveshaft (there are three possible settings they told me) then it resolved the issue.

The repair bill was $37k CDN! It took many weeks to troubleshoot, but in the end it was resolved.

Aaaaaaaaa · 09-18-2017, 12:59 PM

Hmm wonder if this was the real reason the driveshaft was changed to steel

GrussGott · 09-18-2017, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pheerlx

Hmm wonder if this was the real reason the driveshaft was changed to steel

This.

Aaaaaaaaa · 09-18-2017, 02:01 PM

I will take pre-offers on my steel shaft when I get my car later this year.

HPIA4v2 · 09-18-2017, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsaGoose

From a diff thread:

I had the exact same issue. The speeds you mentioned are exactly the speeds I experienced it at. And that is the best way to describe it - it is as if the lane change vibration is constantly on.

They opened a PUMA case and flew in engineers from Germany as this east the first occuranc of this issue and they were intent on resolving it.

Turned out the main culprit was the connection with the CF driveshaft. Once they replacing the connectors and then adjusted the driveshaft (there are three possible settings they told me) then it resolved the issue.

The repair bill was $37k CDN! It took many weeks to troubleshoot, but in the end it was resolved.

Jesus, that's 1/3 of the car cost

Wills2 · 09-18-2017, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

Jesus, that's 1/3 of the car cost

The must have flown over 1st class and had a few steak dinners...

GrussGott · 09-18-2017, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pheerlx

I will take pre-offers on my steel shaft when I get my car later this year.

Aaaaaaaaa · 09-18-2017, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Quote:

Originally Posted by pheerlx

I will take pre-offers on my steel shaft when I get my car later this year.

Fine enjoy your vibrating shaft in your undercarriage.

GrussGott · 09-18-2017, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pheerlx

Fine enjoy your vibrating shaft in your undercarriage.

Mr.Joe · 09-19-2017, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

Hmmmm.... used by BMW headquarters, used for the ///M driving schools maybe...

No, we dont have the driving Schools over here, but i am sure that the car drivin hard. Lots of different People driving it. But its built for that! shouldnt be a problem...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsaGoose

From a diff thread:

I had the exact same issue. The speeds you mentioned are exactly the speeds I experienced it at. And that is the best way to describe it - it is as if the lane change vibration is constantly on.

They opened a PUMA case and flew in engineers from Germany as this east the first occuranc of this issue and they were intent on resolving it.

Turned out the main culprit was the connection with the CF driveshaft. Once they replacing the connectors and then adjusted the driveshaft (there are three possible settings they told me) then it resolved the issue.

The repair bill was $37k CDN! It took many weeks to troubleshoot, but in the end it was resolved.

Is all of this registred in the PUMA? Seems like i need to point this out to my mechanic. Do u have anything that can help me find this PUMA case, or something u can send me? would be much apriciated.

CanAutM3 · 09-19-2017, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Joe

No, we dont have the driving Schools over here, but i am sure that the car drivin hard. Lots of different People driving it. But its built for that! shouldnt be a problem...?

Is all of this registred in the PUMA? Seems like i need to point this out to my mechanic. Do u have anything that can help me find this PUMA case, or something u can send me? would be much apriciated.

The BMW site does mention Norway as site for their driver trainng program...

https://www.bmw-drivingexperience.co...ningsorte.html

Mr.Joe · 09-19-2017, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

The BMW site does mention Norway as site for their driver trainng program...

https://www.bmw-drivingexperience.co...ningsorte.html

Its different over here, its not a driving School, its more of a m-experience. Its held once a year, where costumers are invited to try out different m-models on track. I was there, so i know my car wasnt used on the track. I worked at a BMW dealership until this summer as a salesman. And before i purchaced the car i asked them specific if the car had been used on the track or not. Because i wanted New tires if they had used it on the track. They confirmed that it wasnt so im trusting them on their Word... but i Guess i never really know.

Either way it shouldnt matter. I was planning on tracking the car myself, and these cars are built for this kind of driving.

Imperial328i · 12-03-2020, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Joe

Its different over here, its not a driving School, its more of a m-experience. Its held once a year, where costumers are invited to try out different m-models on track. I was there, so i know my car wasnt used on the track. I worked at a BMW dealership until this summer as a salesman. And before i purchaced the car i asked them specific if the car had been used on the track or not. Because i wanted New tires if they had used it on the track. They confirmed that it wasnt so im trusting them on their Word... but i Guess i never really know.

Either way it shouldnt matter. I was planning on tracking the car myself, and these cars are built for this kind of driving.

Was there any resolution to your issue? I’ve got a dealer appointment for this same problem.

Pvt_D · 12-03-2020, 08:04 PM

I have had both F30 340i with the B58 and F80 M3 - have experienced on both and fixed them both.

If your tires are > 2 years old or have > 20k miles on them - can almost bet it is the tires. These OEM tires don't last very long, but they are good performance-wise - or you have lost a balance weight. That can happen pretty easily and I know some db jerks that like to knock them off of cars that have room to do so.

Then your biggest worry with new tires is how badly the idiot replacing your tires is going to gouge up your rims when replacing - I can say this used to happen every single time I had tires replaced. I have realized you must do a before inspection with the rims and the installer.

09-15-2017, 05:59 AM	#1
Mr.Joe New Member 2 Rep 7 Posts Drives: 2017 F80 M3 Competition Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Tonsberg, Norway iTrader: (0)	My recently purchased, lightly-used M3 has vibration and slack in the drivetrain Apoligize in advance for my poor English writing. So i just bought a almost New m3 competition. The car had been used by the bmw headquarters here in Norway, but had only done about 3000 miles when i got it. I used to work at a BMW dealership so i got a pretty fair deal on the car. Had the car for about 2 months now, and allready from the start i noticed a slight vibration from the steeringwheel under Acceleration between 50-75mph. The Whole car makes a slight vibration, but it can best be felt from the steering. (almost like lane departure) At first i thought it came from the lack of traction or something. I allso detected a bit of slack in the drivetrain from stand still. If i Lock the gear and go on and off the Accelerator, the car seems to "jump" or hesitate before giving me the full Power, feels like there is some slack somewhere. I got more aware of this after test driving a 2018 M3 With 1500 miles on it. The 2018 was so Sharp and smooth to drive. No slack of any kind, and was totally different to drive! So i got one of the mechanic out to test drive both mine and the 2018 car. He agreed that it was night and day. At the end of the day, the result was to order a New diff. But im afraid it could be so much more, after Reading several horror stories on the drivetrain on these cars. Have anyone found a solution to this vibration problem. or the drivetrain slack?
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

09-15-2017, 08:18 AM	#2
Wywrot New Member 11 Rep 22 Posts Drives: F80 Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Poland, Gdańsk iTrader: (0)	I have the very same issue. Two years already. I can say one thing to You - BMW will do nothing with this. You need to used to it and live with it. They completely don't know what is going on - they will probably change lots of parts in your car and at the end will say - car is ok, no issue at all and vibration is normal because it is M3. My issue is not solved and I stuck with "shaking" car... There is lots of threads about vibration issue... For example: http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1409452 Good luck!
	Appreciate 0 Quote

09-15-2017, 09:05 AM	#3
SanchoDivine Captain 554 Rep 908 Posts Drives: 2017 F80 M3 Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: San Antonio iTrader: (0)	First thing you need to do regarding the vibration is to check your tires and rims for any imperfection (both sides) and have them re-balanced if you have not done so already. Wheels being unbalanced or too worn (there are bumps between the treads that will cause vibration when time to change) are often the culprits of vibration. Next thing to look at would be wheel alignment, then bearings, then suspension components. I'm not sure enough is known regarding your slack/lag experience and assuming you have a DCT, I don't have enough experience with those to help if it is part of the issue. __________________ '17 Alpine White M3, Club 6MT instagram.com/sancho_divine
	Appreciate 0 Quote

09-15-2017, 12:04 PM	#4
Takumi587 ///M3 Enthusiast 397 Rep 993 Posts Drives: 05' M3 and 21' Tesla Model 3 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pasadena iTrader: (1) Garage List 2015 Mercedes AMG GTs [0.00] 2020 BMW M340i [0.00] 2005 BMW M3 [0.00]	i would definitely try to get it resolved especially under warranty. If anything then potentially consult a lemon law attorney? Not sure if you have lemon law protections where you are... In any event, I would never just accept the issue and live with it. Vibration at the wheel alone would annoy the heck out of me.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

09-18-2017, 07:26 AM	#8
CanAutM3 General 21117 Rep 20,741 Posts Drives: 2021 911 turbo Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Montreal iTrader: (1) Garage List 2022 Audi RS6 [10.00] 2021 Porsche 911 turbo [10.00]	Hmmmm.... used by BMW headquarters, used for the ///M driving schools maybe... __________________ Porsche 911 turbo 2021 992 GT Silver Previous cars: M4cs 2019 F82 Limerock Grey / M4 2015 F82 Silverstone / M3 2008 E92 Silverstone / M3 2002 E46 Carbon Black
	Appreciate 2 stormlv932.00 Kankles1484.50 Quote

09-18-2017, 11:20 AM	#9
ItsaGoose Private First Class 49 Rep 196 Posts Drives: 2016 6MT M4 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Seattle, WA iTrader: (3)	From a diff thread: I had the exact same issue. The speeds you mentioned are exactly the speeds I experienced it at. And that is the best way to describe it - it is as if the lane change vibration is constantly on. They opened a PUMA case and flew in engineers from Germany as this east the first occuranc of this issue and they were intent on resolving it. Turned out the main culprit was the connection with the CF driveshaft. Once they replacing the connectors and then adjusted the driveshaft (there are three possible settings they told me) then it resolved the issue. The repair bill was $37k CDN! It took many weeks to troubleshoot, but in the end it was resolved.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

09-18-2017, 12:59 PM	#10
Aaaaaaaaa Banned 7559 Rep 5,056 Posts Drives: The other M3 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: So Cal iTrader: (0)	Hmm wonder if this was the real reason the driveshaft was changed to steel
	Appreciate 3 GrussGott18180.50 WI_Rob93.50 theweebabySeamus376.00 Quote

09-18-2017, 02:01 PM	#12
Aaaaaaaaa Banned 7559 Rep 5,056 Posts Drives: The other M3 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: So Cal iTrader: (0)	I will take pre-offers on my steel shaft when I get my car later this year.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

12-03-2020, 08:04 PM	#22
Pvt_D New Member 10 Rep 15 Posts Drives: 2017 F80 DCT AB Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Midwest iTrader: (0)	I have had both F30 340i with the B58 and F80 M3 - have experienced on both and fixed them both. If your tires are > 2 years old or have > 20k miles on them - can almost bet it is the tires. These OEM tires don't last very long, but they are good performance-wise - or you have lost a balance weight. That can happen pretty easily and I know some db jerks that like to knock them off of cars that have room to do so. Then your biggest worry with new tires is how badly the idiot replacing your tires is going to gouge up your rims when replacing - I can say this used to happen every single time I had tires replaced. I have realized you must do a before inspection with the rims and the installer.
	Appreciate 0 Quote