Vibration in the cabin

[sardius]

Hi guys, I live close to a hwy and as soon as I get on it with the engine still cold (without pushing it) and with progressive but not aggressive acceleration I feel vibrations taking place in the cabin. It almost feels as if the wheels are out of balance slightly, not sure. The car is still new and I haven't hit any potholes of any nature. Is this supposed to be normal? When the car warms up (engine/tires I guess) I don't feel the vibration anymore...

Thanks in advance guys.
Sardius

[1SerieStud]

Originally Posted by sardius

Hi guys, I live close to a hwy and as soon as I get on it with the engine still cold (without pushing it) and with progressive but not aggressive acceleration I feel vibrations taking place in the cabin. It almost feels as if the wheels are out of balance slightly, not sure. The car is still new and I haven't hit any potholes of any nature. Is this supposed to be normal? When the car warms up (engine/tires I guess) I don't feel the vibration anymore...

Thanks in advance guys.
Sardius

Check the balancing and the air in your tires. I have a philosophy that when the tires are a little low in air and the car stays still overnight, the section of each tire that is on the ground gets slightly bent out of round and then it takes a bit of driving to restore that shape, explaining the vibrations you may be feeling.

I hope this helps.

[Dackelone]

OP - what tire brand does your car have? Reminds me of Pirelli's or Vredestein tires I once had on a previous BMW. It would take a few miles before they would be round after sitting over night outside.

Dackel


PS: Have you checked your hubs to see if they are rust free and taht your wheels are torqued correctly? Make sure everything is tight.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by 1SerieStud

Check the balancing and the air in your tires. I have a philosophy that when the tires are a little low in air and the car stays still overnight, the section of each tire that is on the ground gets slightly bent out of round and then it takes a bit of driving to restore that shape, explaining the vibrations you may be feeling.

I hope this helps.

Your philosophy is also a known truth.
Some tire brands are more susceptible to going out of round after sitting for a while. The worst offender brand, in my experience, is Continental.
These tires were used on Audi's, and they were infamous for wheel/tire vibration during the first few miles until the tires warmed and ran properly.

The OEM RFT Dunlops didn't have this condition on my 135i.
When I switched over to the new Conti DWS last fall I started having this minor issue. I still have it. The severity of the vibes is directly related to how long the car sits, the longer the sit the harsher the vibes.
Even after an 8 hour work shift I have a slight vibe, which goes away within a couple of miles.

OP:
If you have OEM RFT's then have the balance checked on the tires, as the Dunlops are not that prone to this condition.
I've also noted that a lot of Dunlop RFT's use a LOT of weight in order to get them to balance. I was shocked to see how much weight is used for these tires from the factory.
My Conti's required a good amount of weight too, but not as much.
This leads me to believe that even the OEM rims may not be that true from the factory, and that also leads to needing more weight to balance.

I haven't noticed much vibration caused by tire pressure though.
Maybe if your tires are extremely low there would be an issue, but your TPMS would go off if they were that low.
Have the run out of the wheels and tires checked, and of course the balance. Once balanced BMW's drive vibe free. I find BMW to be one of the best as isolating vibes from the steering.

Good luck.

[sardius]

Wow thanks so much for the info guys, I am always learning more and more about our cars here. So thanks again

I still have the Dunlop RTF from the factory. After reading your posts, it all indicates that the tires go out of round after sitting overnight. I am not really sure about the tire pressure as nothing has warned me of any loss in pressure. Regardless, I will have the dealer check the balancing again when I take her in next week for faulty gps.

Good weekend all!

[fancyfl1ght]

Originally Posted by sardius

Hi guys, I live close to a hwy and as soon as I get on it with the engine still cold (without pushing it) and with progressive but not aggressive acceleration I feel vibrations taking place in the cabin. It almost feels as if the wheels are out of balance slightly, not sure. The car is still new and I haven't hit any potholes of any nature. Is this supposed to be normal? When the car warms up (engine/tires I guess) I don't feel the vibration anymore...

Thanks in advance guys.
Sardius

After I drove my 135i off the dealer lot, there was a lot of vibrations. After driving about 100-300 miles everything smoothed out nicely. I have OEM runcraps. Usually the vibrations are coming from flatspots where a new car was sitting for a long time.

Now if the vibrations persist long after the break in period, this could be a out of balance tire or alignment. You can tell by where the vibrations are which end needs alignment. Steering wheel shaking means the front end, your butt shaking is usually the rear wheels.

[moveswiftly]

Vibrations are usually caused by: Bent Wheel, Out of Balance Wheel, or Uneven tread wear.

[gyrfalcon]

I'm with the first reply. Your tires are cold and slightly flatspotted after sitting overnight. They warm up and the vibes go away.

[DouginNC]

Agree with the previous posts. Z rated tires flat-spot over night, but usually work themselves out after 5 to 10 miles of driving. I just had a set of Micheline runflats put on my 2008 128i Convertible, they are H rated, and they don't flat spot and are are very smooth at all speeds, especially on the highway. They are so smooth I'm having a hard time understanding why people hate runflats.

DouginNC

[IDBMW]

I agree with the flat spot theory. I have the same thing happen to me. I get out of my subdivision on to a 55 mph hwy that has been refinished and is really smooth. I can really feel the vibration for about 5 – 10 miles after the car has been sitting. Let the car sit for a couple week then drive it and there is way more vibration. The fact that after the ties are warm and I drive the same road, I feel the vibration is not a concern.