[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

I'm experiencing this on my 330. I feel slight vibrations at speeds over 40MPH or so, definitely very noticeable at 65+ and it's steady, doesn't change with acceleration or deceleration. Could this still be a driveshaft issue? Only 140K on the car. I have a 325i with 250K miles on the original driveshaft and it's as smooth as can be, just a clunk when changing directions.

Also on the 330 with the vibrations, the slight vibrations are felt in the seats of the car, but there's definitely a more pronounced vibration felt in the steering wheel. I replaced both front wheels because they were bent, but kept the same tires since they were relatively new. I also replaced a crunchy wheel bearing, and new thrust arms and struts. I have M3 wishbones waiting to install oncey alignment shop moves into their new location.

I'm really thinking the front tires are to blame, but could that also be causing the vibrations I'm feeling in the seat?

Bent wheels will not damage tires and make them vibrate. Perhaps the tires were damaged when the wheel were bent? Broken belts, which is very rare in a modern tire, will cause vibration. But if you feel it in the seat and it is related to speed, the driveshaft could be the culprit.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Bent wheels will not damage tires and make them vibrate. Perhaps the tires were damaged when the wheel were bent? Broken belts, which is very rare in a modern tire, will cause vibration. But if you feel it in the seat and it is related to speed, the driveshaft could be the culprit.

I wasn't trying to suggest that the bent wheels damaged tires. Just stating that in my effort to fix vibrations I replaced bent wheels, and I suspected a tire may have been damaged when that wheel was bent. I had the old tires on the new wheels road force balanced and the technician said it balanced fine though I didn't get any data. I can also spin the wheels when the front end is jacked off the ground and still see that the tire isn't perfectly round.

I feel it in the seat for sure but most noticeably in the steering wheel. Can a bad driveshaft result in steering wheel vibrations?

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. I think the OP is on the right track with trying a new wheel and tire set. I had a spare set of 16" wheels and tires but they don't fit over the 330i rotors.

[RJ Squirrel]

Friend of mine went through this with another german car that uses bolts rather than studs/nuts to hold the wheels on. Problem was wheels were not centering up properly- new set of OEM wheels fixed it

[TassieBMW]

Originally Posted by RJ Squirrel

Friend of mine went through this with another german car that uses bolts rather than studs/nuts to hold the wheels on. Problem was wheels were not centering up properly- new set of OEM wheels fixed it

Can you elaborate on this?

Does "not centering up properly" mean that the surface of the wheel which contacts the hub was not flat?

[Joshe93]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

I'm experiencing this on my 330. I feel slight vibrations at speeds over 40MPH or so, definitely very noticeable at 65+ and it's steady, doesn't change with acceleration or deceleration. Could this still be a driveshaft issue? Only 140K on the car. I have a 325i with 250K miles on the original driveshaft and it's as smooth as can be, just a clunk when changing directions.

Also on the 330 with the vibrations, the slight vibrations are felt in the seats of the car, but there's definitely a more pronounced vibration felt in the steering wheel. I replaced both front wheels because they were bent, but kept the same tires since they were relatively new. I also replaced a crunchy wheel bearing, and new thrust arms and struts. I have M3 wishbones waiting to install oncey alignment shop moves into their new location.

I'm really thinking the front tires are to blame, but could that also be causing the vibrations I'm feeling in the seat?

Do you live around the north where they salt roads in the winter? With your 330 and Williams I have a hard time thinking guibo/flex disc but it may be drive shaft unbalanced to a bruised/slightly warped wheel to the tow and such. Definitely start cheap with inspecting for any visible warps, with William steel belt buckle in tires usually means they hit a pot hole or curb, also get a good 4 wheel alignment and watch whoever balances the wheels to see if they put weights in multiple spots to keep balance. As for the clunk you seem to know a good bit but I had a high mileage 330 that just made like one clunk when turning into at 90 degrees or there about that ended up being the first symptoms of worn bushing to sway bar. Also the bushings in the steering check those.
Hope it helps and doesn't need the stealership!

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Joshe93

Do you live around the north where they salt roads in the winter? With your 330 and Williams I have a hard time thinking guibo/flex disc but it may be drive shaft unbalanced to a bruised/slightly warped wheel to the tow and such. Definitely start cheap with inspecting for any visible warps, with William steel belt buckle in tires usually means they hit a pot hole or curb, also get a good 4 wheel alignment and watch whoever balances the wheels to see if they put weights in multiple spots to keep balance. As for the clunk you seem to know a good bit but I had a high mileage 330 that just made like one clunk when turning into at 90 degrees or there about that ended up being the first symptoms of worn bushing to sway bar. Also the bushings in the steering check those.
Hope it helps and doesn't need the stealership!

Nope. Southern CA. Zero rust or corrosion anywhere, not even a spec of surface rust on any exposed component.

I replaced two bent front wheels already which made a big difference - one was likely OK but had a lot of curb rash so I just replaced that too. I had the existing tires mounted on the new rims then road force balanced. Unfortunately I didn't ask for the printout and don't how precisely they were balanced, but the improvements were significant though not completely gone. It's possible one or both front tires have been damaged from hitting a bad pot hole (if it bent the rim, it could have bent the tire). When I spin the wheels with the front end off the ground, I can visibly see the tires aren't perfectly round - there's a noticeable low spot which is definitely worse on one of the two front tires. I don't know what's acceptable or not, and I have not ruled out a damaged or defective tire. The problem is that there is a lot of tread left on the tires and the vibration is so slight now I'm willing to tolerate it until it's time to replace tires.

My 330i doesn't clunk at all. My 325i has a driveshaft clunk only when changing directions. It's definitely not swaybars. I suspect the plastic damper ring between the two driveshaft sections is gone. Zero driveline vibrations, this car rides smoother than a brand new Hyundai, just that clunk when I start moving after backing out of my driveway. It's been doing that as long as I've owned the car, and I put 35K miles on the car since then and it hasn't gotten any worse.

[alpinec1984]

check those tires for bubbles and sidewall impact breaks. I assume you have the sport wheels by the sizes you gave, those are very tough wheels so if you bent them the tires surely took a savage beating. Just jack the car and spin them to check for roundness. Look at the inner sidewalls too.

I use the 235/45/18 and 255/40/18 fitment with non runflat PS4’s. No harshness at all no vibrations.

BTW tire grading during manufacture usually will fail a tire with more than 1mm of runout either radial or sidewall (axial). 0.5mm is met most of the time for new tires. If you can easily see substantial runout on a hand-spin, the tires are trash.