[TassieBMW]

After tens of thousands of trouble free miles my 2005 E90 330i M Sport has developed a vibration. It can be felt through the seats and chassis at all speeds but feels most noticable at over 100km/h (60mph) on smooth surfaces.

Initially I thought it was wheel related as it seems to be in sync with their rotation. As it turns out, two were slightly buckled and I had both repaired, however to my surprise this did not solve the vibration.

I took the car to my mechanic for a service yesterday and expected him to be able to locate the issue (this guy was a BMW master tech for 20 years prior to starting his own shop) but he wasn't able to find anything. I asked him to check the driveshaft and other such things under the car and he reported that everything looked great apart from minor cracking in the guibo (this is not the issue as he noticed it previously before the vibration was present). I asked him if it was potentially the driveshaft center bearing but he said when they go it is usually very obvious and didn't think it was worth pulling off the heat sheilding to check.


The other thing about the car that's been driving me spare for a long time is the horrid ride quality made worse by the fact the car is an M Sport. Being still on the originals the car is well overdue for new shocks and struts and I intend to do this soon, however what threw me off is my mechanic said he inspected them and couldn't see any evidence of leaks so they must be still servicable?
Given how bad the ride is this seems crazy to me, I reckon the only reason there's no leaks is that all the fluid was already gone many moons ago!


Before I sort out the ride comfort I am determined to kill this vibration.
To completely rule out the wheels and tires I plan to get another set and try them on the car, although I'm pretty confident this won't solve it.
Other than that, all I can think of is replacing the driveshaft....?

Any ideas on how to solve this mess would be appreciated.

I love my car and want to keep it but if I can't get these issues sorted I don't think I can stand to drive it anymore.

[ctuna]

Do you still have the Runflats?
Get rid of them if you want a better ride.
You didn't say what size the tires are.
Low profile tires augment the riding on ball bearings
effect.
The first year of the E90 suffered from what is
called pot hole explosion because of the shock system
and the Runflats.

https://www.nathansbmwworkshop.com/b...or-dean-videos

[TassieBMW]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Do you still have the Runflats?
Get rid of them if you want a better ride.
You didn't say what size the tires are.
Low profile tires augment the riding on ball bearings
effect.
The first year of the E90 suffered from what is
called pot hole explosion because of the shock system
and the Runflats.

https://www.nathansbmwworkshop.com/b...or-dean-videos

I've never had runflats due to trying to keep harshness to a minimum.
Tyres are factory spec for M Sport, 255/35/R18 at the rear and 225/40/R18 at the front.

If I replace the shocks and bump stops with new components (updated part number that was used in LCI cars) will this solve a lot of the early E90 suspension harshness?

[e92_josh]

I would check that the rear brakes aren't seizing up.

I had awful vibration both braking and non-braking after one of my rear calipers went, the mechanic I use said he sees a lot of E90s where the rear calipers seize up when the brakes get warm.

Might help with you issues?

[TassieBMW]

Originally Posted by e92_josh

I would check that the rear brakes aren't seizing up.

I had awful vibration both braking and non-braking after one of my rear calipers went, the mechanic I use said he sees a lot of E90s where the rear calipers seize up when the brakes get warm.

Might help with you issues?

Thanks for the suggestion however the characteristic of this vibration is not consistent with a brake caliper seizing. I think the most likely culprit is probably something in the driveline or maybe bushings (would rear subframe mount bushings do this?). It's just odd that a very experianced mechanic couldn't pick it.

[Efthreeoh]

I'd bet it's the driveshaft, despite what the tech says. Either the center bearing is bad, or the shaft lost a weight, or the u-joints are out of spec.

I spent a lot of time chasing the same issue down on my car. I replaced the wheel bearings first, then the diff, it ended up being the driveshaft.

[E92_William]

I've taken my car to experienced mechanics and they couldn't figure the thing out. What I'm trying out is going to put the wheels from my E46 on the E92 and drive it on the highway and see if the vibration is still there. If it is I will have to check the driveline. What I did the other weekend was put it up on jack stands on the rear and with the traction control off I started getting it up to speed (this is ridiculously unsafe) and it would begin vibrating even with the wheels off at 40. Didn't have time to look further into it but might be something you want to try out.

Pretty much same issue as yours. My bet is on the driveshaft u joint

[TunafishE93]

Could you expand on this, "two were slightly buckled and I had both repair"...like what was buckled, the wheel, the tire? And what was this repair you speak of??

[TassieBMW]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm betting the driveshaft too, just need to try some different wheels and tyres and if it is still present I think that confirms it.

What will be trickier to work out is if the whole thing needs replacing or its just a guibo or the centre bearing. If it's a u-joint will it be obvious?

[TassieBMW]

Originally Posted by TunafishE93

Could you expand on this, "two were slightly buckled and I had both repair"...like what was buckled, the wheel, the tire? And what was this repair you speak of??

Two wheels were bent/buckled/out of round. The repair was to correct this (very common).

[E92_William]

I previously replaced my driveshafts front guibo and the center support bearing. There really wasn't any improvement. It was about a year ago. Waste of a whole days worth of work taking out the exhaust and all that. I'd just replace it with a good new or rebuilt unit and do it right the first time

[marvinstockman]

Does the vibration happen when the car is cold, or do you have to drive awhile before it starts.

When it starts, pull over and carefully feel all the wheels for one that is extra, extra hot. Remember, fronts are normally hotter than the rears.

As was said, this is a common problem, and has happened to me on two BMW's and one Ford.

[TassieBMW]

The vibration is always present whilst the car is moving and doesn't come or go based on any external factors such as temperature or when the car is at operating temperature. Also there is no sound that accompanies it.

If you look at the passenger seat you can see the headrest jiggling back and forth, and at higher speeds if you put your hand on the drivers seat you can feel the whole thing shaking.

The reason that my mechanic likley couldn't diagnose it was because he mentioned he didn't really feel it when driving the car, however this would be due to the fact that the horrible ride comfort from the old shocks make it difficult to seperate the regular NVH from this specific vibration.


I have also tried throwing the car into neutral whilst driving and doing different things with the brakes but none of this has any effect. Also, there are no clunks or anything like that, and under hard acceleration the vibration does not worsen, however at higher speed it does become slighly more apparent.

[TunafishE93]

I would see how it goes with new wheels tires.. Repairing wheels is an art that is not commonly practiced now a days...

Also if you want to keep stock 18" go with 225/45/18 and 255/40/18 it will help alittle with the ride, last longer, give you a little more clearance, and better traction.. Win win ..

[E92_William]

Your mechanic could and should have ran the car while on the lift to see if he saw anything or felt anything

[TassieBMW]

Originally Posted by E92_William

Your mechanic could and should have ran the car while on the lift to see if he saw anything or felt anything

I'm assuming he did.

If a different set of wheels and tyres don't solve it though I'm going to get it on a lift and have a good look under it myself while its running.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by TassieBMW

The vibration is always present whilst the car is moving and doesn't come or go based on any external factors such as temperature or when the car is at operating temperature. Also there is no sound that accompanies it.

If you look at the passenger seat you can see the headrest jiggling back and forth, and at higher speeds if you put your hand on the drivers seat you can feel the whole thing shaking.

The reason that my mechanic likley couldn't diagnose it was because he mentioned he didn't really feel it when driving the car, however this would be due to the fact that the horrible ride comfort from the old shocks make it difficult to seperate the regular NVH from this specific vibration.


I have also tried throwing the car into neutral whilst driving and doing different things with the brakes but none of this has any effect. Also, there are no clunks or anything like that, and under hard acceleration the vibration does not worsen, however at higher speed it does become slighly more apparent.

The center bearing mounts in the trans tunnel right behind the front seats, so when it goes bad, you feel the vibration from the front seats.

[TassieBMW]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

The center bearing mounts in the trans tunnel right behind the front seats, so when it goes bad, you feel the vibration from the front seats.

I'd say thats likely the culprit.

One question though, if it was would the vibration worsen under acceleration?
Because in my case it does not.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by TassieBMW

I'd say thats likely the culprit.

One question though, if it was would the vibration worsen under acceleration?
Because in my case it does not.

Mine got slightly worse as road speed increased (i.e. 60 to 70 MPH), but not in relation to acceleration (i.e. 0 to 60 time).

[phils2]

Not sure about the vibration, but shocks wear internally, with no leaks and still pass inspection, even the push test, but become very harsh over time.
I've changed mine (not just on this car) for just aftermarket and the difference has been night and day.
Although, I must admit my E90 did skip and bounce on some corners slightly.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Mine got slightly worse as road speed increased (i.e. 60 to 70 MPH), but not in relation to acceleration (i.e. 0 to 60 time).

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?

[TunafishE93]

Sounds like a balance issue above. Have you tried a different shop to balance the tires.. Some cant be balanced and the shops just them as close as possible without telling.. Others will need rotation of tires on wheels which some shops just dont put the time in..