[77562887]

My car drift and hit a hidden rock in the snow
It hits the side of one rear rim and breaks it
After that I found my car starting to have a slow vibrating sound (about every other second)from the back starting from 60mph, gets faster when I speed up and eventually be constant, even after I replaced the rim...
I'm taking it back to the dealership on Monday, but just want to have a mind set before I committed suicide hearing the bad news from dealership...

What would be the cause of it? rear axle?
Approximately how much will it take to fix?
Is it going to cause any permanent harm which makes the car fragile and easy to deformed?

btw it's not rpm related, pure speed related

here's a pretty picture...

[BMW-NC]

Uhm you are driving around with a BROKEN rim?

[raleedy]

Originally Posted by BMW-NC

Uhm you are driving around with a BROKEN rim?

Uhm, I think if you read his post you'll see that he said he replaced the rim. Probably no point in posting a picture of the new rim.

Lesson to AWD owners: AWD provides acceleration, but no help at all with steering or braking!

[gatoman39]

Most common reasons associated with this type of behavior is:
1. Unbalanced wheel
2. Alignment
3. Defective tire

[77562887]

Originally Posted by gatoman39

Most common reasons associated with this type of behavior is:
1. Unbalanced wheel
2. Alignment
3. Defective tire

The rim I hit is the right rear one and I didn't replace the tire since the dealership said they didn't find any broken bands...

However, I didn't feel that the vibration comes from the right rear side, it actually comes from the whole rear seat (could hear it from the left rear, too) which I'm afraid that instead of the right rear tire or wheel, it's the rear axle... or something worse...

I don't have much knowledge with cars, but do my assumption make sense?

[gatoman39]

Originally Posted by 77562887

The rim I hit is the right rear one and I didn't replace the tire since the dealership said they didn't find any broken bands...

However, I didn't feel that the vibration comes from the right rear side, it actually comes from the whole rear seat (could hear it from the left rear, too) which I'm afraid that instead of the right rear tire or wheel, it's the rear axle... or something worse...

I don't have much knowledge with cars, but do my assumption make sense?

What you feel and what is the source may be two different things. The odds are more likely that the alignment is off, or that the tire sidewall has been damaged which may only manifest at certain speeds and is not perceptible to the human eye, but is certainly felt at certain speeds. Go back to the dealer and tell them your problem.
Car and driver had a problem with the 750i they were doing a long test on. Turns out the brand new tires they bot were defective. Read post here:
2010 BMW 750Li xDrive - Long-Term Road Test

[rexus300]

I had this problem before and even after replacing rim, the tire had no visible damage but the road force number on it was very high on the hunter balancing machine so I had to replace the tire too. I would get the whole wheel and tire put on the hunter road force machine at the dealer to check the tire road force and replace it.

[77562887]

Originally Posted by baloo588

I had this problem before and even after replacing rim, the tire had no visible damage but the road force number on it was very high on the hunter balancing machine so I had to replace the tire too. I would get the whole wheel and tire put on the hunter road force machine at the dealer to check the tire road force and replace it.

Thanks for all the replies, appreciated

Did the vibration problem get fixed by just replacing the tire?

How did you hit your rim? I hit only one rim and the hit was pretty concentrated on the very side of the rim (didn't touch the skirt and rarely hit the tire), which causes me to be afraid of the damages inside (like axle...) since the angle of hitting it is extreme...

[rexus300]

I also thought I damaged the axle, etc after sliding into the curb but these cars are so well built nowadays. My alignment was badly out on the wheel that hit the curb (rear left wheel) and so I had to do the 4WD alignment. When the mechanics do the alignment they always inspect the hub, axle, suspension, bearings, etc as they all can affect the alignment when it is being done. So you should do the 4WD alignment. As for the tire, replacing both the tire and the rim solved the problem for me. I would not keep that tire especially if you really snapped that rim.

Also tell the dealer to check the road force and have the tire and wheel assembly with no more than 10 lbs of force. I hate it when its above 10 lbs since it causes vibration in steering or the rear even if it is perfectly balanced after spinning it. Its important to do this.

I learned that when hitting a pothole or curb and getting vibration: Check the rim (replace if needed), then if still problem (have the tire road force checked to make sure it is not deformed and replace if needed too), and always do a 4WD alignment check.

[77562887]

Originally Posted by baloo588

I also thought I damaged the axle, etc after sliding into the curb but these cars are so well built nowadays. My alignment was badly out on the wheel that hit the curb (rear left wheel) and so I had to do the 4WD alignment. When the mechanics do the alignment they always inspect the hub, axle, suspension, bearings, etc as they all can affect the alignment when it is being done. So you should do the 4WD alignment. As for the tire, replacing both the tire and the rim solved the problem for me. I would not keep that tire especially if you really snapped that rim.

Also tell the dealer to check the road force and have the tire and wheel assembly with no more than 10 lbs of force. I hate it when its above 10 lbs since it causes vibration in steering or the rear even if it is perfectly balanced after spinning it. Its important to do this.

I learned that when hitting a pothole or curb and getting vibration: Check the rim (replace if needed), then if still problem (have the tire road force checked to make sure it is not deformed and replace if needed too), and always do a 4WD alignment check.

You are my savior

[77562887]

Dealer said he "guess" it's the wheel bearing causing the problem...

[rexus300]

Wheel bearing makes woop woop noise and replacing it will be needed after hitting a rock or curb. I misread your post earlier and I can see that you had sound every other second and increases with speed and I had this problem on 2 of my cars and replacing wheel bearing will help. Never had vibration feel though. See how it feels after the wheel bearing. The tire can be replace if you are physically feeling vibration after this wheel bearing is replaced. Hope this helps!

[77562887]

After replacing the bearing the noise does go away!
Thanks for all the replies!!
Still figuring if the vibration exist, I found it somehow noticeable under some circumstances which I think wouldn't be relevant to this topic...

[rexus300]

Good to hear!! If you still feel some vibration, replace that tire. Otherwise it could be just the road groves and contour that you are feeling. I was over sensitive for vibration after my experience so you are not the only person. IT was a pain at first since the dealer was always guessing the obvious cause of vibration on my Lexus but at the end I was smart enough to replace both the rim and tire and do a proper road force balancing along with the 4WD alignment and the car was back to new.