[umpqua5]

The car has some vibration at idle, enough to feel it in the steering wheel and headrest. This is with the engine warm... I know there has been posts about vibration at speeds and I have that too. Especially noticable when I\'m in the passsnger seat. I\'m coming from a 335 coupe with sport suspension to a 535 without and I\'m not talking about the harshness, just that it never feels like a luxo cruiser smooth, passanger seat always vibrating at speeds and my stomach always jittery. Dealer of course cant find anything, although they havent used the Hunter Force like I asked. Car also pulls to the right, with me having to hold the steering a couple if degrees to the left to make it go straight. 500 mi on the car, 2 weeks old.
I hate that these thoughts are in my head, but I\'m somewhat regreting the purchase since I traded the coupe for a more luxo ride due to some back issues. Even in the back, there\'s as much room as in my 3er coupe, the 3er sedan seems to have more legroom and it\'s tight for my 6yr old in a booster... We kinda rushed the decision with the 2011 having a huge discount at the dealer and dissappearing quickly from the lot.
Just venting I guess...

Sorry for wrird slashes, i guess issues with iphone app for bimmerpost

[yogi799]

Mine is super smooth. Seats don't vibrate at any speeds. Super luxo cruiser as you called it at any velocity...

I just fixed my pull to the right as well (by ditching original tires). Really happy with the car now.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=587540

[rexus300]

My current E92 is much smoother than my F10 on the highways even with both with regular non-rfts all season Michelin tires. I hate the way the F10 looses composure on certain highways at certain speed while the 335xi coupe still stays planted and firm with no vibration at all like the F10 which gets jittery and some vibes on certain asphalt, grooved roads, and ripple highways. Its unsettling and gets me annoyed. I am planning on getting rid of the 2011 5 in spring time and get the new 2012 Audi A6 or back to the Lexus with the 2013 Lexus GS. I will still keep my 3 series coupe. Btw, I have driven other F10s 2011 year and they feel unrefined on the highways around Michigan. For me I should of ordered the car with the dynamic damper system to refine the ride more and keep it planted better with the regular tires.


BTW, if you say that you feel vibration more in passenger seat then your driver's seat then the bad tire or rim is in the rear of the car on the right side. I would DO the hunter road force machine ASAP to detect the bad tires or rims.

[ibimmer954]

My 535i vibrates at idle when the engine is cold. I've read that it's because the engine runs pretty lean at idle (emissions?) and when the engine is still cold, the results can be the vibrations. Once the engine warms up, it's less of an issue in my car.

[kirbyj]

My 2011 535 runs like a dream. The car drives straight ahead and the ride is very smooth. I can drive at speed into corners on major highways and then just steer comfortably around them and even if the road gets a little rough the ride is still controlled. I do have all the handling options such as sport trans, DHP, and X Drive. I run mostly in normal mode.

Even though the 19" GY LS's may bubble up, I find them to be smooth riding tires. I have no problems with RFT's. My car tracks just where I want it to go and when I open her up she bursts out of the gate like a thoroughbred. Oh I love my car!

[umpqua5]

Thx for the posts fellas. I guess I'm not the only one and there's some hope although I hate I have to spend any time/money to make a $60k car behave like it should. I'm going tonight to a local shop that's gonna mount all 4 wheels on hunter road force and see what we see. Should be $60 well spent.

[rexus300]

umpqua5

Just following up as a nice way to see how you are feeling with your car? Is it now smooth at all speed regardless of being at 70, 75, or 80 plus mph? There are some interesting comments including mines that the car does not feel smooth around 70-75 no matter how good the tire/wheel balance and is due to the suspension damping rates and characteristics that makes it more sensitized to the road surface conditions (, ripples, grooves, and even recently paved asphalt, etc) at around 70 mph zone and is smoother at other speeds. It is contributed by the soft springs and dampers not working well with one another even if you put regular tires to get rid of the rougher feelings of the RFTs. Anything irregular with highway surface will be felt at that speed zone on this car no matter what. It a great car overall but still not sure why some of the 5 does it and others do not. BMW has not brought any solutions other than bad tire/rim defect and balance which have been fixed and ruled out by many of owners on different boards spanning across Europe, US, and Asia.

[imposss]

Originally Posted by baloo588

umpqua5

Just following up as a nice way to see how you are feeling with your car? Is it now smooth at all speed regardless of being at 70, 75, or 80 plus mph? There are some interesting comments including mines that the car does not feel smooth around 70-75 no matter how good the tire/wheel balance and is due to the suspension damping rates and characteristics that makes it more sensitized to the road surface conditions (, ripples, grooves, and even recently paved asphalt, etc) at around 70 mph zone and is smoother at other speeds. It is contributed by the soft springs and dampers not working well with one another even if you put regular tires to get rid of the rougher feelings of the RFTs. Anything irregular with highway surface will be felt at that speed zone on this car no matter what. It a great car overall but still not sure why some of the 5 does it and others do not. BMW has not brought any solutions other than bad tire/rim defect and balance which have been fixed and ruled out by many of owners on different boards spanning across Europe, US, and Asia.

I have exactly the same problem car doesnt feel smooth 65-80 miles i dont know what to do. Been in shop 3 times for balancing and changed wheels and tires still same thing

[BigKutta]

I have a 2 week old F10 528 with the 4 turbo. The engine is not very smooth at idle and is actually loud when you are standing outside. There are brief spurts of vibration when standing still, although they are not as severe as you describe, yet noticeable. My 10 yr old e46 was smoother at idle. Your pulling is certainly not normal to the F10, you should get that checked out.

The ride is not very comfortable of certain surfaces and I think that is largely due to the RFTs on the car. Although this car is much more luxo than my e46, it does take a bit getting used to driving a bigger car that just isn't capable of handling like a 3 series, otherwise I think it has plenty of power and I can ramp up to a 100mph without a problem or hesitation. With regard to the back seat, there is more room than the 3 series for sure, my kids have told me so.

[sycd]

My 535i is a bit like that. This was still my first thought after the first day of driving the car, it wasn't as smooth as the 335i sport that we traded in. The ride was more rubbery at highway speed with slight vibrations that can be felt through the floor.

I experienced the same type of ride quality problems when I tried switching summer tires (Michelin RFTs) to all season (non-RFTs) on my 335i. Even with the perfect balance, the all season did not provide the same ride smoothness as the summer tires.

I'm wondering if the folks who have problems here have all season or winter tires, or if the same problems are seen with high performance summer as well. I have the all season on stock 18" and planning to upgrade to summer high performance on 19-20 next summer.

[rexus300]

sycd,

We have non runflat all season Michelin Exaltos a/s on our 335xi coupe and its smooth at all speeds on all highways with no vibration since switching out from runflats. However on the 535i xdrive, I have tried 4 different types of brands on my 18 inch wheel sets with the Michelins Pilot Sport A/S balancing the best and with the smoothest ride. Yet they have this jitttery vibration that is small on this car around 70-75 that is not smooth and you can really tell by speeding up beyond 75-80 and stay below 70 that the car is smoother. The rims were fine and balance was done several times. Yet the car has a tendency to do it and almost all of them do it. The 19 inch wheel set made it worse. I feel it through the seats and floor around that speed. So it is yet to be seen if the problem with this car is inherently in the weak soft suspension or something else.

[Expatmarais]

Originally Posted by baloo588

sycd,

We have non runflat all season Michelin Exaltos a/s on our 335xi coupe and its smooth at all speeds on all highways with no vibration since switching out from runflats. However on the 535i xdrive, I have tried 4 different types of brands on my 18 inch wheel sets with the Michelins Pilot Sport A/S balancing the best and with the smoothest ride. Yet they have this jitttery vibration that is small on this car around 70-75 that is not smooth and you can really tell by speeding up beyond 75-80 and stay below 70 that the car is smoother. The rims were fine and balance was done several times. Yet the car has a tendency to do it and almost all of them do it. The 19 inch wheel set made it worse. I feel it through the seats and floor around that speed. So it is yet to be seen if the problem with this car is inherently in the weak soft suspension or something else.

Yup same here back to the same old problem I've had with my 535d M sport since the start. It definitely comes and goes though. Have now driven 18k km and for 10k had nothing to report whilst on winter tyres from Dunlop. In fact i have been marvelling at how wonderful it rides and handles. But last week all of a sudden it turned jittery on me for no reason. As earlier post described headrest seat and sufficient for passenger seatbelt rather annoyingly juddering against door trim. Then on way to garage for a check up it had completely disappeared. My dealer thinks I've got a screw loose (in the head) and I'm starting to think he may be right... It drives me totally crazy when it happens so you have all my sympathy.

[vdubturbo]

Overall my 535 has been wonderfully smooth. I do get an occasional bouncy idle on cold start which goes away fairly quickly. The only vibration I've ever noticed is at low RPM cruise. The ECU likes to get the gearbox into the highest gear possible for fuel economy and sometimes I find it plugging along in 8th at 35 or 40mph... which I think is right around 1,200 rpm. When this happens, you can feel a slight engine vibe through the armrest. But it's so minimal sometimes I think it's my cell phone or the stereo.

Other than that one tiny nit, the car rides great.

[Rbembas_M3]

Originally Posted by yogi799

Mine is super smooth. Seats don't vibrate at any speeds. Super luxo cruiser as you called it at any velocity...

I just fixed my pull to the right as well (by ditching original tires). Really happy with the car now.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=587540

what kind of tires did you buy? I don't have any pull or feeling vibrations.

[Rbembas_M3]

Originally Posted by kirbyj

My 2011 535 runs like a dream. The car drives straight ahead and the ride is very smooth. I can drive at speed into corners on major highways and then just steer comfortably around them and even if the road gets a little rough the ride is still controlled. I do have all the handling options such as sport trans, DHP, and X Drive. I run mostly in normal mode.

Even though the 19" GY LS's may bubble up, I find them to be smooth riding tires. I have no problems with RFT's. My car tracks just where I want it to go and when I open her up she bursts out of the gate like a thoroughbred. Oh I love my car!

I hear you i love my baby.... only problem I've been having is my clutch i have the manual 6 speed.... it seems to slip when I dump the clutch shifting from 1st to 2nd gear, doesn't happen all the time, it's like its not hooking up.. and yes i changed to sport mode.

[Rbembas_M3]

Originally Posted by umpqua5

The car has some vibration at idle, enough to feel it in the steering wheel and headrest. This is with the engine warm... I know there has been posts about vibration at speeds and I have that too. Especially noticable when I\'m in the passsnger seat. I\'m coming from a 335 coupe with sport suspension to a 535 without and I\'m not talking about the harshness, just that it never feels like a luxo cruiser smooth, passanger seat always vibrating at speeds and my stomach always jittery. Dealer of course cant find anything, although they havent used the Hunter Force like I asked. Car also pulls to the right, with me having to hold the steering a couple if degrees to the left to make it go straight. 500 mi on the car, 2 weeks old.
I hate that these thoughts are in my head, but I\'m somewhat regreting the purchase since I traded the coupe for a more luxo ride due to some back issues. Even in the back, there\'s as much room as in my 3er coupe, the 3er sedan seems to have more legroom and it\'s tight for my 6yr old in a booster... We kinda rushed the decision with the 2011 having a huge discount at the dealer and dissappearing quickly from the lot.
Just venting I guess...

Sorry for wrird slashes, i guess issues with iphone app for bimmerpost

Not having any vibration problems and at 120 run awesome...

[sycd]

Originally Posted by baloo588

sycd,

We have non runflat all season Michelin Exaltos a/s on our 335xi coupe and its smooth at all speeds on all highways with no vibration since switching out from runflats. However on the 535i xdrive, I have tried 4 different types of brands on my 18 inch wheel sets with the Michelins Pilot Sport A/S balancing the best and with the smoothest ride. Yet they have this jitttery vibration that is small on this car around 70-75 that is not smooth and you can really tell by speeding up beyond 75-80 and stay below 70 that the car is smoother. The rims were fine and balance was done several times. Yet the car has a tendency to do it and almost all of them do it. The 19 inch wheel set made it worse. I feel it through the seats and floor around that speed. So it is yet to be seen if the problem with this car is inherently in the weak soft suspension or something else.

I'm wondering I'm having the same issue. Mine doesn't seem as bad. On ours it really seem to be no worse than vibration caused by bad tires. Next time I'm out for a drive I'll try to pay more attention and see if it is as speed specific as yours. BTW my 535i has the 6 speed manual trans.

Perhaps it could be a drive train issue? Has BMW looked into that? On a previous RWD (non-BMW) I used to have, I had bad vibration/drone at around 65-70mph and not below or after. I had completely replaced/rebalanced the wheels and tires and nothing helped. However when I had people with me in the car or after replacing the suspension, which changed the angle of the drive shaft slightly, the problem was not as noticeable.

[umpqua5]

An update...

The car spent 5 days in the shop, I even drove with the shop forman. He immediately confirmed the pull and the steering wheel not being centered. He noticed the vibration which is my biggest complaint but he said the way the new suspension geometry was redisigned, it just how they ride. Alas, he said he will do everything he can to counter my expressed regret of the car not having 4 inter-connected circles on the back instead of a roundel.
They fixed the pulling and the wheel is centered now. They road force balanced the tires, swapped the two fronts and the best they can get on the road force was 6 and 17. I know some poee here state #s have to be under 10, but from looking around, under 25 is whithin spec. They re-indexed the front struts too, moving them 10mm. The ride has not improved... Not sure what to do any more. It's not as bad driving but it makes my wife sick riding in it, so we can't take it anywhere. As much as I hated having to trade my 335, this one will go as soon as the last payment is made, if not before then.

[sycd]

Originally Posted by umpqua5

An update...

The car spent 5 days in the shop, I even drove with the shop forman. He immediately confirmed the pull and the steering wheel not being centered. He noticed the vibration which is my biggest complaint but he said the way the new suspension geometry was redisigned, it just how they ride. Alas, he said he will do everything he can to counter my expressed regret of the car not having 4 inter-connected circles on the back instead of a roundel.
They fixed the pulling and the wheel is centered now. They road force balanced the tires, swapped the two fronts and the best they can get on the road force was 6 and 17. I know some poee here state #s have to be under 10, but from looking around, under 25 is whithin spec. They re-indexed the front struts too, moving them 10mm. The ride has not improved... Not sure what to do any more. It's not as bad driving but it makes my wife sick riding in it, so we can't take it anywhere. As much as I hated having to trade my 335, this one will go as soon as the last payment is made, if not before then.

Can you take another one off the dealer lot for a quick drive to compare? It seems the least they could offer after all this trouble.

[rexus300]

I definitely recommend you drive the 2012 versions as I am hearing they are smooth with no complaints compared to bad batches of 2011 5 series with the bad dampers. I was reading over on another forum translated from Spain mentioning that the complaint there are widespread and they have been looking into the suspension dampers and 1 person had it replaced on all 4 suspension with 98% of vibration gone. In addition, the road force of 16 lbs is max spec for BMW. So the 16 lbs will be felt as vibration though and if you try to get rid of it by getting another tire below that then you can at least see if the bad tire is the cause or not. 25 lbs max spec is general population of cars. BMW are very sensitive so do not take any answers saying that above 15 lbs is fine. Get it lower into single digits. My 3 series will have small vibration in steering when road force was greater than 10lbs in front but for the rear it was up to 12 lbs with no vibrations. In my case for the 535, it was not tire/wheel combo as the best ones below 10 lbs still had vibration abeit small in the 70-75 zone that was noticeable in the front seats. The dampers are not doing the right rate and force to keep the wheels planted to the road at around that MPH region (hyperressonance due to "in-phase" of the suspension with the wheel hop or the road irregularities). I want to drive a 2012 but I am not going to as I sold my 2011 and I dont want to deal with BMW on this now for few years and just keep the E92 coupe and go for another luxury midsize sedan.

[umpqua5]

Originally Posted by sycd

Can you take another one off the dealer lot for a quick drive to compare? It seems the least they could offer after all this trouble.

Miles have been accumulating while we kept going back and forth as the first time in the shop they could not find any problems with anything.
I don't see them swapping it. And I would lose too much to be looking at the '12 so soon.

[sycd]

Originally Posted by umpqua5

Miles have been accumulating while we kept going back and forth as the first time in the shop they could not find any problems with anything.
I don't see them swapping it. And I would lose too much to be looking at the '12 so soon.

I meant to disprove their theory that it is normal for the F10 to drive this way, which according to your update is the excuse they are now using to not fixing it properly. "the way the new suspension geometry was redisigned, it just how they ride" seems to be B.S. There might really be an issue with the suspension, but not by design or because of the geometry, but because of something like faulty shocks as someone suggested.

It would be easy to disprove or confirm that theory by driving a couple of similar 535 from their lot.