Thoughts on vibration?

[50i]

My f15 50i vehicle has been having vibrations at highway speed 70+. I brought the vehicle to the shop and they diagnosed it as a possinle TC. First, they replaced the fluid and reset adaptations but it did not improve. 2nd is they road forced balance all the wheels and they where able to balance all 3 exept for one they said the one wheel was 80lbs road force they think that it may be the souce of the vibration.they recomended replacing the wheel. I was able to disable (rwd) the TC using xDelete and tested it as a (rwd) and i still felt same vibration. Does it mean the that the TC is okay?

[RED_Y_]

I am not quite sure why wheels weren't balanced in the first place, it is much easier process then servicing transfer case. 90% of vibrations at higher speed are caused by wheel balance being off, or damaged rims. If they can't balance one of the wheels than I think it is safe to assume your TC is fine ( changing oil and resetting adaptions still a good thing to do regardless).

[50i]

Thanks for the reply. Im in the process of getting a replacement wheel. Is there anything else i should be checking asside from the wheels?

[RED_Y_]

Go one step at the time, get new wheel, balance it and perform the road test.

[shimmy23]

do you feel the vibration in the body or more in the steering wheel?

[50i]

I feel it more on the body rather than the steering wheel.

[tfunk88]

What shop diagnosed that as transfer case? 😳

Wheel is probably the issue, could be driveshaft center support bearing, driveshaft guibo, etc. but start with the wheel (or tires) if it’s known to be bad

[50i]

tfunk88 my local indy shop. They said its possible but not recomended since they said the wheel needs to be replaced due to the road force result. They did check the rest of the drivetrain and said it was okay.

[tfunk88]

Well, unless they pulled the entire exhaust and also a bunch of panels underneath they didn’t check the center support bearing lol

How many miles are on your 50i? I’m guessing it’s the wheel, but if it turns out that’s not the only thing causing vibration will need to find other possible sources

[50i]

tfunk88 50i is 78k miles. They did remove the exhaused and checked the driveline. And said they found nothing. Is just confusing why im not feeling it on the steering wheel but they said the front wheel was the one that they cant balance.

[RED_Y_]

Originally Posted by 50i

tfunk88 Is just confusing why im not feeling it on the steering wheel but they said the front wheel was the one that they cant balance.

Well its electronic steering so it does make sense that you don't feel it in the steering wheel much.

[50i]

RED_Y_ hmm. I guess it does make sense. Didnt think about that😂.

[dentprotony@gmail.com]

Front driveshaft likely have excessive play in the splines, many of my customers complain about vibrations and noise , everything smooth and quiet after upgraded unit is installed

[50i]

dentprotony@gmail.com

Already on the list Tony. Waiting for you to contact me back 😂

[dentprotony@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by 50i

dentprotony@gmail.com

Already on the list Tony. Waiting for you to contact me back 😂

Oh my bad, did you contact me on Facebook or email? Thanks!

[50i]

dentprotony@gmail.com

Facebook.😁

[50i]

**Update** just had new wheel and the Front driveshaft from dentprotony@gmail.com. Vehicle now rides smooth.

[tlow98]

Thanks for the update!

[dentprotony@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by 50i

**Update** just had new wheel and the Front driveshaft from dentprotony@gmail.com. Vehicle now rides smooth.

No more vibrations???

[Swiftness~]

Originally Posted by 50i

**Update** just had new wheel and the Front driveshaft from dentprotony@gmail.com. Vehicle now rides smooth.

This doesn't explain much whether it was the wheel or driveshaft if you did them both at once, nonetheless glad its resolved

[shimmy23]

bmw doesn't have an updated part for this? why would they design the shaft splines to be 25mm too short?

[dentprotony@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

bmw doesn't have an updated part for this? why would they design the shaft splines to be 25mm too short?

These were problematic from 2010-2019 x5. Bmw issued an updated 866 shaft as a solution but it had same length splines and it didn’t really improve anything. Honestly not sure why they didn’t address this, maybe they thought ujoints were the weak link, but here we are unfortunately. They took out a lot of transmissions and engines it aint even funny smh