Wheel Shimmy redux

Neither. Take it back and ask them to fix it. It should be as smooth as silk assuming the road is conducive to that.

Agreed. If its brand new it should ride like a dream. Take it back and have it fixed.

-Brandenn

go back and get the wheels balanced

New cars are usually supplied with higher spec tyres than the ones you buy later so don't need balancing from new.

Nonsense.

I'd suggest you look at new 'decent' makes in the showroom and see just how many have balance weights fitted. None - in the case of BMW. They require the makers to supply tyres - and wheels - already within balance tolerance.

Aftermarket tyres - even of the same make - can be regarded as seconds.

That is certainly not the case - I must agree with Fred on this one. My '01 330xi certainly had balance weights when new. Further, the OEM Conti Sport Contacts certainly aren't the best tire available, unless you want to consider long life (~40K miles) "better".

Every new car I've purchased - Chrysler, Toyota, BMW, Porsche - has had cheaper and lower performing tires than are available on the aftermarket. It's clearly the car manufacturers attempting to keep overall prices low that drives this. The only exceptions to this I know of are some very high performce cars - Porsche Turbo, Ferrari, Honda NSX, etc.

Absolute bullocks, Dave.

FloydR

I call bull. My 2004 BMW didn't have those ugly hammer-on balancing weights that you can readily see.

But it DID have less the intrusive looking balancing weights on the interior of the wheels.

I'm not talking about different brands of tyres, but the *selection* of the same make sent to the factory for fitting to new cars.

Have it your own way. Has it not occurred to you that tyres of the same make sometimes need more balancing than others - or not at all?

Proper balancing may require weights fitted other than in the middle of the wheel.

Could be to balance the wheels rather than the tyres.

Yeah, that's it Dave. The tires are balanced to perfection but the wheels can't be manufactured within tolerance without stick-on weights.

You are too funny...

Do you ever admit it when you are wrong?

Have you ever noticed that tires made in the same plant, in the same manufacturing batch, on the same day and hour, need different weights to be balanced (even upon the same rim?) Why do racing tires have balance weights

?Why did both sets of OEM tires/wheels that I have for my 330xi (I havea set of 325i sport package wheels/tires: Michelin MXM 225/45 on 17x75in addition to the original rims) have weights? I think you should go and look for the stick-on weights at your local dealership, before you continue this discussion.

FloydR

"Fred W" wrote

Occasionally, but he's gone off the deep end before.

FloydR

Depending on the design of wheel some do have added on weights to achieve balance.

So you think all tyres are made to such a poor tolerance they *all* have a significant balance error? And not that they vary? If they all had the same balance error it would be simple to balance them. But they vary between 'perfect' to large errors, and the car makers get the best of them to cut down on manufacturing costs. When you buy replacements you're getting the left overs...

?> Why did both sets of OEM tires/wheels that I have for my 330xi (I have> a set of 325i sport package wheels/tires: Michelin MXM 225/45 on 17x75> in addition to the original rims) have weights?

I have done. Is it outside your comprehension that having to balance tyres adds to the cost of a vehicle? And that car makers who buy them by the thousand can demand better tolerances than when you buy a set as replacements?

?>> Why did both sets of OEM tires/wheels that I have for my 330xi (I have>> a set of 325i sport package wheels/tires: Michelin MXM 225/45 on 17x75>> in addition to the original rims) have weights?>

On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 03:18:28 GMT, Psycho waffled on about something:

IIRC, the main reason tyres (tires) need balancing is because of the steel mesh used in their construction. The mesh is wound round the part finished tyre for a few layers and then cut. As the start of this mesh spiral and end of this mesh spiral are very rarely directly in line which each other, there are always a few millimetres where one patch of the tyre has one more, or one less layer of steel mesh. Which obviously makes the tyre slightly off balance.

Dodgy.

Of course, back in the days before belted tires (steel or otherwise), balancing was just as necessary. The only difference I recall was that an unbalanced tire/wheel resulted in a steering shimmy between 35~45 mph, not at the higher speeds we find today.

Tom K.