Shakes at Highway speed

[seadzz]

Picked up a CPO 325Ci a few weeks ago and have noticed at 65 MPH the car gets the shakes. You can feel it both in the steering wheel and throughout the entire car. Shakes so bad the rear view mirror is useless.

I brought the car back to the $tealer and had them balance the wheels. Shakes still there.

A few details:

Car has new brakes and rotors

New Tires all around, alignment OK balance OK

Car has 42000 miles on it

If I travel below 65 no problem

Above 80 MPH problem goes away.

Any advice would be helpful so when I visit the dealer I can sound semi educated and hopefully get them to resolve the problem. I am getting tired of being treated like a poor step child by this dealers service department for buying a CPO and not buying new.

Bigger question is why doen't the $tealer find these problems when they do the CPO thing?

I would think ball joints, tie rods and the like would not be the cause at such low mileage...your thoughts?

Thanks folks.

sdz

 

[Tom]

Have them rotate the rear wheels to the front to see if the problem goes away. It could be a bad tire or bent rim.

If that doesn't help, have them check your control arm bushings.

 

[TheBry]

Have them check your tread too. This happened to me earlier this year -- heavy shimmy and shake at speeds over 70MPH. Turns out my front tires were wearing irregularly. Couldn't rotate fronts to back since I have the sports package, so I had to get new tires. The new tires and an alignment / balance service did the trick. She's smooth as silk now.

 

[Big Daddy]

Like Tom and Bryan have said, start with the tires, looking for bulges, check the rims for bends. They can be ever so slight and have a big effect at speed. I bent a rim last summer and could not see it. My tire guy found it on the balancing machine. If the tires and rims look good try Tom's suggestion, if that is not it I would have the drive line checked, and from there it just branches out. Ball joints, guibo flex disc, etc.

 

[Wadula]

i experienced that tire balancing only works for speed up to 60-65 mph. i had my focus in the shop three times back then cause the tires were not balanced enough for higher speeds. you might wanna tell the tech what you want him to do...prepare for higher speeds.

 

[seadzz]

They solved the problem yesterday. Dealer balanced the tires a third time and from the marks left by the old weights seems the tech had to move them 20-40 degrees to get tires to run true.

Its too bad this problem was not surfaced during the CPO process but I guess that can happen if they never road test the car.

I think without your collective help I would have been lost.

Thanks.....crusing at 85 and loving it!

sdz

 

[MyHarley]

If you can, go to Discount Tire and purchase warranty on your tires so you can have balanced every 5000 miles by tire professionals plus you will have road hazard coverage as well...........my opinion, dealership is certified to fix cars not tires, tire company is certified to fix tires not cars...........

 

[Wadula]

smart

 

[Big Daddy]

If you can, go to Discount Tire and purchase warranty on your tires so you can have balanced every 5000 miles by tire professionals plus you will have road hazard coverage as well...........my opinion, dealership is certified to fix cars not tires, tire company is certified to fix tires not cars...........

You said it, and Tim confirmed it! I am Discount Tires number one customer!