2013 W212 E63 AMG - Wheel wobble/vibration at high speed

[AlexM]

Hi everyone,

I have a moderatey severe vibration on the front axle of my E63 that manifests and gets worse at high speeds. I understand that most vibrations coming from an imbalance usually are worse at a certain speed, and then smooth out as you go faster. In this case it seems to get worse the faster I go.

i have recently had all four wheels refurbished and powder coated, and at the time all four wheels had to be straighened as they were visibly out of round. I have had them all balanced again since then. We do have a lot of pyramid-style speed humps in my area - I am wondering if they could have become buckled again, but nothing was visible on the balancing machine and and they balance perfectly.

Is there something else that could cause such a vibration through the front axle?. Any suggestions?.

Regards,
Alex

 

[ftb]

Do you feel the vibration through the steering wheel or entire car (seats, etc)? My partner's GL expressed exactly the same behaviour when we bought it. Fine at normal speeds, very strong vibrations at over 60-70. Turned out the wheel was out of balance with unevenly worn tyres. Changed the tyres, was good until we sold the car a few years later.

 

[AlexM]

It is more felt through the steering than anything but the also through the seats. Is there anything that a wheel balance wouldn't reveal, other than a problem with the tyres?. I had a new set of Conti 5s on the front about 4k ago, there is about 6mm of tread an no abnormal looking wear patterns. Tracking and geometry seems fine, and both front wheels are well balanced. No problem with the brakes either - they work smoothly with no brake judder.

Is it possible that a worn suspension component could cause these symptoms?. It has never been completely satisfactory with this car during my ownership.. always present to a greater or lessee extent. The problem is quite severe at (ahem) very high speeds and it is undermining my confidence.

Regards,
Alex

 

[dozypillock]

Have you actually watched the wheel, when it is being turned?
I seem to recall a wheel I had years ago that was almost square(not quite that pronounced, but you get my drift) that balanced perfectly. It only became apparent when turning the wheel slow, with something alongside it.
If you have a friend with 2 wheels that will fit, it may be worth borrowing them, and seeing if problem goes.



Neil

 

[AlexM]

Yes, I watched it being turned slowly on the balancing machine and the inner and outer edge of the rim didn't appear to move up or down as it was rotated

 

[AlexM]

hmm.. interesting.I've done about 250 miles overf the weekend, and the car feels quite a bit better than it did on Saturday. Is it possible that the tyres take a while to go back to being fully round after the car has been standing for a week? especially if the outside temperature is droppping?

 

[sirius9]

Tyres do take some miles to warm up after left standing for a period of time.
Plus i find that i am extra sensitive whenever getting car back from dealership garage. Trying hard to notice if anything different.
Once driven a while, it alls goes back to normal.

 

[notsofast]

Yes, I watched it being turned slowly on the balancing machine and the inner and outer edge of the rim didn't appear to move up or down as it was rotated

The buckle or out of round can be very small and you will still experience the vibration described. It is unlikely this will be visible on the wheel balancer. I have checked mine previously by jacking up the car and placing a pointer on the rim to check for out of round. Example here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sodQFDuH5Bw]
If you watch the tyre only, the out of round is far less visible as it rotates.

Buckles will usually be on the inside edge of the rim as there is no support from the wheel face. Also tyres can develop out of round faults and other defects that only manifest at speed. It is worth fitting the spare (if so equipped) and moving it around the four corners to see if you can nail down the issue. Also, it can be very difficult sometimes to identify which corner or even front to rear is causing the problem. I have wasted time previously mincing around having a suspect wheel balanced and/or replaced only to find it was another corner altogether that was creating the vibration.
The last trick is a tad risky unless you take great care. Jack up the driven wheels and spin them up with the car in gear. Any vibration faults become immediately apparent. Swap the wheels front to rear to check all four. Be sure the car is very secure on stands / jacks. The ABS / ASR warning light will come during testing but will correct itself once the car is driven on all four wheels a few yards.

 

[AlexM]

thanks - i think that a wheel out of round is the most likely problem. I will get them checked again. I can imagine that a road wheel being out of round will cause strange out of balance forces.

I think the OE wheels seem to be quite 'soft'.

 

[altreed]

I suffer wheel wobble on our BMW, I believe the front calipers are dragging slightly and the disc is slightly warping as it gets hot - feeling like mis-balance at speed.

Check your brake calipers....

 

[AlexM]

Brakes aren't dragging when wheels are off the ground, so don't think it is that. I had the front wheels rebalanced again, and the offside front needed 40g when the old weights were stripped, and the nearside front 140g!. Not sure why there is such a big disparity. The front nearside rim has a slight buckle, so will need to take it back to the refurb place to get straightened... again!.

Clearly these wheels arent very strong and are easily damaged by UK roads.

 

[st13phil]

I had the front wheels rebalanced again, and the offside front needed 40g when the old weights were stripped, and the nearside front 140g!. Not sure why there is such a big disparity.

Putting the absolute difference NSF to OSF to one side for a moment, when the wheels were rebalanced was the amount of weight needed to balance them significantly different in amount or location to the weight that was taken off? If so then I'd say that was worthy of investigation.

 

[paul_f]

Stop straddling speed humps, put one wheel over the top

 

[AlexM]

Paul, I think you could be right - the pyramid humps will hit the wheel on the weakest side, but I don't go crashing over them, I'm pretty careful. They are absolutely everywhere around here!.

Maybe I should be sending my repair bills to the local authority.

Regards,
Alex