Steering wheel vibes!!

[Philthy]

Hi folks

First post!!!

Bought a 57 plate x5 se from Arnold Clark, it had one RFT and three normal tyres when i got it and pulled all over the place, anyway I managed to source another three Bridgestone RFT 20" tyres so now have a full matching set, trouble is I am feeling vibration and steering wheel shake from 50mph upwards,, had the balancing checked and booked it in for laser alignment next week,, does anyone have suggestions for common failings?? Shame it's spoiling the drive a bit as it feels like the vibration comes through the set!

Cheers phil

[Horizon]

I used to have a 5 series E60 with run flats. I hated the crashy ride so I swapped the Runflats for normal tyres. The ride quality was 100% better, but I was getting a vibration at 65/70 mph. The vibration was coming from what felt like the rear wheels, I took it into another tyre fitters who said he knew what the problem would be.
After putting it on the 2 post ramp he invited me to stand at the rear of the car while he spun the wheels slowly.
You could see that 3 out of the 4 wheels were buckled, he said it was a common problem with the Runflats causing the wheels to buckle and even crack due to the stiffness of the sidewalls. He also said that it only becomes noticeable when the tyres are changed.
I had to buy a new set of rims, BMW refused to admit it was a common problem,

[535dboy]

Is Arnold Clark a BMW dealer? I've heard of the name but can't think where from

Can't believe anybody would sell a car with the mismatch

[4687ah]

If you visit Scotland there's a yellow Arnold Clark sticker on virtually every second car, he really is massive up there.
He seems not to sick with certain makes neither, he has dealerships for a good few different manufacturers, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's got a BMW dealership now.
He seems to be pushing into England more and more now. Once you have spotted that yellow sticker in the rear windscreen of a car, its surprising how many more you start to notice up and down the motorways.
I wouldn't mind being a quid behind him!

[Philthy]

I was after buying one privately and it just so happened they had one as a px at decent money... Has 40k on clock and was 17grand which I thought was ok. Yeah you can imagine the fun I had getting them to replace tyres for bridgestone rft's, the air suspension was leaking too so they told me to put it bmw and they would pick up the tab.. £690 later! So all in all I have claimed about £2000 of warranty work within my 60day warranty which ain't bad! It's a great car but the vibs coming through steering us getting at me now... Tyre place said one if the front wheels had a slight buckle and needed 150 gram weight to put right but it did 0/0 on machine so shouldn't cause much issue... Anyone got any ideas?

[X5Sport]

Firstly.....

It's possible that the balance isn't spot on.  These big wheels don't need much of an error to have an effect.  Or you could have a flat spot on the original tyre?

Richard

[Philthy]

Yeah think I will get the balance re checked, the original tyre is on the rear, the vibs only really started after the new tyres were fitted, don't get me wrong it never sat happy with four different tyres either and its certainly pulling left... Will report back once balance and alignment re-done. Can it be possible that a new tyre is bad too?

[535dboy]

Mine had a ton of weights on it when I sold it as it was proper buggered

[Philthy]

Did it vibrate at 50mph too?

[535dboy]

[quote="Philthy"]
Did it vibrate at 50mph too?
[/quote]

Can't remember the exact story, almost a year ago now

The guy that does my lotus ones sorted it.

[X5Sport]

Could be a bent wheel too.  Any sign of curbing?  Our E46 had a wheel 'splayed' by a pothole and that caused vibration until it was fixed.  It did not show up on a balance machine, only a 'run out' gauge.

Richard

[Philthy]

No real curbing, I took them all off tonight and cleaned them/inspected for cracks best I could... No problems I could see however they do not appear to be genuine bmw... No serial number or bmw badge on the inside... They look like double m spoke 300 but guess they must be replicas. Diamond cut