Had warranty work done - car now shakes
Discussion
Hi
Had my f10 into a BMW dealer for some insured warranty work and it's not been right since.
It was put in after a 1000 mile trip to France where the car performed beautifully as a family car loaded up with luggage and my two small kids in the back. Made full use of the dry conditions and French roads with speads up to 130kph and smooth as I'd expect a 5 series to be.
Car went into a BMW dealer immediately on its return for two rear shocks, two front wishbones and a KDS.
Got the car back and the alignment was wrong. The wheel was off centre and it had a drift to the left on a flat road which was not present before. More concerning though was a vibration through the seats at motorway speeds.
Took car back and they redid the KDS and told me all four wheels are buckled and they rebalanced them for me. No charge. Got the car back with the fuel reserve light on so they'd done a lot of test driving (down from over a quarter) and was assured it was fixed.
Picked car up, and next day took the car on a another long trip and it was immediately obvious once up to motorway speeds that the vibration/shaking is still present. The car tracks better so the alignment is better. However the vibration in the seats is strongly suggestive of backnwheels severely out of balance or buckled. I took them off and there is no obvious damage.
Once I got to my destination I immediately emailed the service chap and let them know their balancing efforts had not been successful.
It's been two weeks of me asking them what they plan to do about this and now want the car back to "assess" it.
I've asked what that means and what they plan to do, given that the wheels are obviously buckled.
Not sure why I'm posting this other than to get some thoughts. Seems unbelievable to me that the wheels were buckled by the dealer but at the same time, the car did not shake like that before they got it.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Had my f10 into a BMW dealer for some insured warranty work and it's not been right since.
It was put in after a 1000 mile trip to France where the car performed beautifully as a family car loaded up with luggage and my two small kids in the back. Made full use of the dry conditions and French roads with speads up to 130kph and smooth as I'd expect a 5 series to be.
Car went into a BMW dealer immediately on its return for two rear shocks, two front wishbones and a KDS.
Got the car back and the alignment was wrong. The wheel was off centre and it had a drift to the left on a flat road which was not present before. More concerning though was a vibration through the seats at motorway speeds.
Took car back and they redid the KDS and told me all four wheels are buckled and they rebalanced them for me. No charge. Got the car back with the fuel reserve light on so they'd done a lot of test driving (down from over a quarter) and was assured it was fixed.
Picked car up, and next day took the car on a another long trip and it was immediately obvious once up to motorway speeds that the vibration/shaking is still present. The car tracks better so the alignment is better. However the vibration in the seats is strongly suggestive of backnwheels severely out of balance or buckled. I took them off and there is no obvious damage.
Once I got to my destination I immediately emailed the service chap and let them know their balancing efforts had not been successful.
It's been two weeks of me asking them what they plan to do about this and now want the car back to "assess" it.
I've asked what that means and what they plan to do, given that the wheels are obviously buckled.
Not sure why I'm posting this other than to get some thoughts. Seems unbelievable to me that the wheels were buckled by the dealer but at the same time, the car did not shake like that before they got it.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
bmwmike said:
Hi
Had my f10 into a BMW dealer for some insured warranty work and it's not been right since.
It was put in after a 1000 mile trip to France where the car performed beautifully as a family car loaded up with luggage and my two small kids in the back. Made full use of the dry conditions and French roads with speads up to 130kph and smooth as I'd expect a 5 series to be.
Car went into a BMW dealer immediately on its return for two rear shocks, two front wishbones and a KDS.
Got the car back and the alignment was wrong. The wheel was off centre and it had a drift to the left on a flat road which was not present before. More concerning though was a vibration through the seats at motorway speeds.
Took car back and they redid the KDS and told me all four wheels are buckled and they rebalanced them for me. No charge. Got the car back with the fuel reserve light on so they'd done a lot of test driving (down from over a quarter) and was assured it was fixed.
Picked car up, and next day took the car on a another long trip and it was immediately obvious once up to motorway speeds that the vibration/shaking is still present. The car tracks better so the alignment is better. However the vibration in the seats is strongly suggestive of backnwheels severely out of balance or buckled. I took them off and there is no obvious damage.
Once I got to my destination I immediately emailed the service chap and let them know their balancing efforts had not been successful.
It's been two weeks of me asking them what they plan to do about this and now want the car back to "assess" it.
I've asked what that means and what they plan to do, given that the wheels are obviously buckled.
Not sure why I'm posting this other than to get some thoughts. Seems unbelievable to me that the wheels were buckled by the dealer but at the same time, the car did not shake like that before they got it.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
My first thought was why, if the car drove so good in France, did it go immediately go in for shocks and suspension work. I didn't know these were warranty items unless they were faulty? Had my f10 into a BMW dealer for some insured warranty work and it's not been right since.
It was put in after a 1000 mile trip to France where the car performed beautifully as a family car loaded up with luggage and my two small kids in the back. Made full use of the dry conditions and French roads with speads up to 130kph and smooth as I'd expect a 5 series to be.
Car went into a BMW dealer immediately on its return for two rear shocks, two front wishbones and a KDS.
Got the car back and the alignment was wrong. The wheel was off centre and it had a drift to the left on a flat road which was not present before. More concerning though was a vibration through the seats at motorway speeds.
Took car back and they redid the KDS and told me all four wheels are buckled and they rebalanced them for me. No charge. Got the car back with the fuel reserve light on so they'd done a lot of test driving (down from over a quarter) and was assured it was fixed.
Picked car up, and next day took the car on a another long trip and it was immediately obvious once up to motorway speeds that the vibration/shaking is still present. The car tracks better so the alignment is better. However the vibration in the seats is strongly suggestive of backnwheels severely out of balance or buckled. I took them off and there is no obvious damage.
Once I got to my destination I immediately emailed the service chap and let them know their balancing efforts had not been successful.
It's been two weeks of me asking them what they plan to do about this and now want the car back to "assess" it.
I've asked what that means and what they plan to do, given that the wheels are obviously buckled.
Not sure why I'm posting this other than to get some thoughts. Seems unbelievable to me that the wheels were buckled by the dealer but at the same time, the car did not shake like that before they got it.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
My second thought was that my old E46 shook and indeed a wheel was buckled, but the cause was a sticky caliper, which was found (it was hot to the touch) after failed attempts at balancing and an argument that it was the buckled wheel causing the problem. Could that be a cause?
I'd put it in originally for a "loose" feeling over rough ground like cobbles or speed bumps, and also a bouncy ride with excessive (imo) dive under braking. The dealer diagnosed a dud rear shock and "very slight" play in front wishbones.
The new wishbones did squat to fix the loose feeling. Glad I didn't pay the £900 they original quoted before warranty stepped in.
The rear shock made more of a difference than I would have expected.
But to all intent and purpose it was almost perfect in France and the UK on holiday. Certainly no shaking. Just a bit bouncy over motorway undulations etc.
The new wishbones did squat to fix the loose feeling. Glad I didn't pay the £900 they original quoted before warranty stepped in.
The rear shock made more of a difference than I would have expected.
But to all intent and purpose it was almost perfect in France and the UK on holiday. Certainly no shaking. Just a bit bouncy over motorway undulations etc.
xjay1337 said:
Take it to a trusted independent tyre shop to balance the wheels. You will see if they are buckled on the balancing machine.
Check the tyres for bulges or odd wear as well.
Thanks. Yea was thinking of doing this. It had new front tyres the week before in went to France and the wheels were balanced then, so I'll try and take it back there for a check. Finding the time is the issue. Check the tyres for bulges or odd wear as well.
I've had both our cars in for Insured work only to come out needing alignment, despite the dealer's insistence that the alignment was within tolerance on the KDS. The feckin' wheel wasn't straight on my car, and you could visibly see the rear wheel was out (they'd done the rear wheel bearings).
Had both aligned on a Hunter system at the Infiniti garage down the road instead and they've been perfect. The one that had work at the rear was miles out at the rear, and the one that had work at the front was miles out at the front... I should've billed the dealer for it really but decided I CBA.
Are you still on RFTs? If so, unless the wheel is badly buckled, you shouldn't really pick up any vibration as the rigidity of the RFT sidewall makes up for it (at least IME)
Had both aligned on a Hunter system at the Infiniti garage down the road instead and they've been perfect. The one that had work at the rear was miles out at the rear, and the one that had work at the front was miles out at the front... I should've billed the dealer for it really but decided I CBA.
Are you still on RFTs? If so, unless the wheel is badly buckled, you shouldn't really pick up any vibration as the rigidity of the RFT sidewall makes up for it (at least IME)
Well, funny you mention that. The dealer originally only wanted to change one shock and not do a KDS. They insisted it was not required. I checked BMW TIS which specifically stated that if at the time of replacement the car has over 80000km both shocks must be replaced. And, if changing wishbones a KDS must be done. I phoned the warranty company and they called the dealer and told them to do it properly.
Turns out the first KDS was done poorly and the "after" section of the rears was left blank. It is my belief that the first alignment was done to the front only, though they insisted that is not possible.
Long story short they seem to cut corners where possible. I bet most people don't go checking TIS and the dealer then gets away with turning a job around more quickly. Be interesting to see what they bill the warranty for those jobs.
Turns out the first KDS was done poorly and the "after" section of the rears was left blank. It is my belief that the first alignment was done to the front only, though they insisted that is not possible.
Long story short they seem to cut corners where possible. I bet most people don't go checking TIS and the dealer then gets away with turning a job around more quickly. Be interesting to see what they bill the warranty for those jobs.
Riggie said:
I'm assuming that the dealer is in Cardiff? Just useful to know, as I'm on the lookout for an F11 and would like to know which ones to avoid.
After my recent search for an F11 I can add two more dealers to the 'ones to avoid' list! They are in the vicinity of Sheffield and the other northern Wales if that's any help.Sorry to hear of your issues Mike, nothing more to add other than I hope they can get you sorted without too much of a problem. If it wasn't for the AUC warranty I would only be dealing with my local specialist, far better knowledge and service given there!
Thanks for the well wishes 
Spoke to dealer and they are saying it was only ever the 2 wheels buckled. Not all four as they originally said. OSR and OSF with "minor" buckle according to the work shop notes, and were (and I quote) "100%" corrected with the balancing machine. Service advisor made an odd comment that he'd hoped we could have resolved this at "our level" but now the service manager is involved ( since I called and asked for him - 10 days ago!).
So that leaves me in a quandary. Why would my car vibrate after having two wishbones and two rear shocks. Honestly for all I know, without going taking bits apart, it could be dangerous. Did they forget to tighten something up! I'd hope not considering they had it for a whole day for the repeat KDS and balancing and check over.
Guess I've no option but to check with a local tyre specialist and see what they say and take it from there.
Spoke to dealer and they are saying it was only ever the 2 wheels buckled. Not all four as they originally said. OSR and OSF with "minor" buckle according to the work shop notes, and were (and I quote) "100%" corrected with the balancing machine. Service advisor made an odd comment that he'd hoped we could have resolved this at "our level" but now the service manager is involved ( since I called and asked for him - 10 days ago!).
So that leaves me in a quandary. Why would my car vibrate after having two wishbones and two rear shocks. Honestly for all I know, without going taking bits apart, it could be dangerous. Did they forget to tighten something up! I'd hope not considering they had it for a whole day for the repeat KDS and balancing and check over.
Guess I've no option but to check with a local tyre specialist and see what they say and take it from there.
Well I guess to close this off. My local independent had the car for 30 minutes and achieved what Shytner couldn't do in a whole day.
None of the wheels are buckled. They were balanced incorrectly. Not just out but way out.
No idea how my balanced wheels came to need balancing after a 3 day holiday at a main dealer but ho hum. Live and learn.
Unfortunately it means I'm going to have to cancel the excellent Allianz warranty because there are no useful franchise dealers nearby. Pity.
None of the wheels are buckled. They were balanced incorrectly. Not just out but way out.
No idea how my balanced wheels came to need balancing after a 3 day holiday at a main dealer but ho hum. Live and learn.
Unfortunately it means I'm going to have to cancel the excellent Allianz warranty because there are no useful franchise dealers nearby. Pity.
I've had a lot of experience of getting wheels balanced to try to cure a vibration and finding that the result is even worse afterwards. I presume that wheel balancing machines need regular calibration/maintenance in order to stay accurate, and a lot of them don't actually get maintained properly.
I solved the issue by only using a really good specialist wheel/tyre company that knows what they're doing.
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