C300Kid

I posted a while back about my steering wheel vibration after getting new wheels/tires. I ended up taking it to an entirely different shop and they said the first place balanced it wrong and they corrected it. It drove perfectly for a couple days so I assumed all was well. Then the vibration came back. It's not as bad as before but it's still a major annoyance. One would assume it's a balance issue or an out of round tire but the shop says no.

The strange part is that its not consistent. I can be driving at 75 down the freeway and the car will be driving beautifully, then out of nowhere the vibration comes...then it'll fade away again. Sometimes it'll go away for days then come back..sometimes it'll come and go multiple times in the same day. I've driven from school to home one day and it'll be flawless, then the next day I'll drive the exact same route and there will be vibration. It's so bizarre. I thought maybe it was weather related but I've noticed the vibration in 80 degree weather and 50 degree weather. It does seem more prevalent in cooler temps but that could be a fluke. Basically the vibration occurs about 50% of the time I drive my car.

I have no idea what the heck could possibly be causing this. I've spent hours upon hours researching online and can't figure it out. The only possible thing I can think of is maybe I need hub-centric rings. I mentioned this to the guy at the tire shop and he said no since all Mercedes models are hub-centric and my wheels are MB wheels. I explained they're just replicas and not designed specifically for the W204 but he said all MB models would be the same. I'm still not convinced of this. Maybe it IS the balance that's still off..but if that were the case I'd think the vibration would be constant.

I'm ready to just bring the car to the MB dealer and say "keep it till its fixed" since I don't know what else to do. I'm not sure the dealer is the right place for the job though.

If anyone has even the slightest idea of what might be causing this I'd be grateful.

Doanster

Those reps you have from OE Wheels *should* be the correct center bore size of 66.56mm. I called for info on a diff set and that's what size they confirmed for me.
First thing you should do is swap your stock wheels/tires back on and see if you still get the vibration. My guess is no, but if you do, you now know it's a problem with the suspension like a loose control arm perhaps. If the problem goes away, then it could be a bent/non-true wheel. Did one wheel need an unusual amt of sticky weights applied?
I forgot whether your setup is staggered or not. If not, you could rotate front to back as another data point.
All in all, you need to do some experimenting... good luck!

Carsy

Are the new tyres the same brand as the originals?.
Some cheaper tyres are difficult to balance & can be only done by shaving the sidewall.
Maybe try an on car balance.

C300Kid

Well I didn't have any vibrations with the stock wheels and the problem started as soon as i got the new wheels, i have to assume that's the problem.

One wheel does have a strip of like 10 weights on it, which is a lot more than the other three..but the guy at the tire shop said nothing was out of round. Maybe they just missed it?

If that was the case though wouldn't the car always drive like crap rather than driving flawlessly sometimes and like crap other times?

C300Kid

No. They're hankook ventus v12s which ARE a cheaper tire but after the glowing reviews and a second place finish in Car&Driver I decided to give them a try. I love the tires, aside from this problem.

Again though, if the issue is balance, why does the car drive perfect 50% of the time.

Carsy

If you need 10 weights on a wheel to balance it then you have a large problem. Two to 3 weights should be sufficient. Obviously the wheel is difficult to balance with that amount of lead on it. I would suggest revisiting the wheel retailer & asking for my money back or a better brand wheel.

Peabody

I would replace the rim, the guy is telling you everything is round but that much weight displacement seems too much for tire irregularity. It sounds like there might be a lateral warping in the metal of the rim causing your problem.

Sportstick

That vibration of a balance issue can also vary depending on the road surface....concrete, asphalt, etc. I agree with the comments that the wheel is the primary suspect.....if it needed ten weights, I wouldn't even let them mount it on the car.

JARJOZ

I have the same tires and got in to the same problem.
Reading your thread got me thinking that the problem is in the tire
not in the rim..

After initial installation they told me that the rims balanced OK.
After first highway drive I felt vibration and came back after couple of days for checkup.
They checked my wheels and they all balanced 2.5-off on the same side.
This time they balanced it to 0.0 and it looks like it works.
Somehow I still think it is not 100% smooth – it just not the same, I think I can still
fill some vibration.

Strange thing was that when they balanced one of the wheels I could see the tire
spinning in the balancer and I think the thread lines in the tire waved sideways but the wheel balanced OK.

I will be replacing my TPMS sensors soon and I have to
take tires off rims and rebalance them again ---- I will check the balancing process much closer now and see if I can find something.

C300Kid

Hmm..so looks like it could be either the wheel or tire..we still don't know. I'm still contemplating what to do next.

kickR

Did you have them do a road force test?

kickR

And do have spacers?
Flying over the posts I saw you mentioning it, but can't recall if you have some.

JARJOZ

How about balancing the rims without tires and make sure that the rims are OK.
Then balance again with tires. That will give you solid answer.

C300Kid

First shop did not, second shop I specifically asked if they had the Hunter machine and they said "yes, we have the best balancing equipment money can buy" who knows though..people can say anything.

C300Kid

This is probably whats going to happen.

The question is..do I take it back to tire shop #2, or do I just bring it to the MBZ dealer and have them do it. The car has had that stupid W204 alignment issue since day 1 that needs to be corrected, I just havent bothered..as well as a mirror turn signal filled with water that needs to be replaced. I figure I might as well just have them do the wheels too. Of course, I've already had 3 balances and paid two different shops to do the same thing and my problem is still unresolved. Now the dealer will prob charge a ton on top of that. Frustrating..

C300Kid

no spacers..no. the wheels already have a "more aggressive than stock" offset so no spacers necessary.

kickR

PM'd

JARJOZ

Good luck !!!!!! ------- let us know .

C300Kid

Will do. I feel like it's the wheels just because of the amount of weights needed.

I just went out to my garage and looked..

front drivers side: 10 weights
front passengers side: 14 weights
rear drivers side: 6 weights
rear passengers side: 2 weights

wtf!!? (of course, it looks like the second shop just added more weights to correct the problem rather than taking all the weights off and starting over.. still, the weight is excessive)

C300Kid

Its not gonna be as smooth as stock since the hankooks are high-performance tires. I expected them to feel a bit harsher. My problem is different though..its not just increased harshness..it just feels..off.

It almost feels like the wheels are loose on my car or something..disconnected. It's bizarre.

Derspeed

It sounds like it is the tires (or tire) due to the inconsistency of the problem. They may react differently to different temps and road surfaces. You might try placing your stock wheel in place of the 10-weight wheel to see if the vibration stops. If it doesn't, proceed to the next wheel. At least you will be able to pinpoint the problem.

Next, have a shop air out the tire and hold the wheel in one position while rotating the tire 180 degrees. Then they can rebalance it. If the 10 weights need to be moved the same amount of distance the tire was just moved, then you know the tire is heavy on one side.

My step-dad has been working with wheels and tires for over 20 years and the above is the first thing he does when a tire seems to be way out of balance.

C300Kid

I just went and looked again..each weight is only 1/4oz..meaning one front wheel has 2.4oz of weight and the other has 3.5oz..not as much as I had previously thought.

Back to square one..

Illusive

Are you finding that this vibration occurs at certain speeds? My only other thought that might cause this erratic behaviour is that you are hitting the natural frequency of the wheel. If a disc or cylinder such as a wheel is off balance by even a few grams, there are two natural frequencies (one low and one high) that could cause excessive vibration. In most cases, it is not noticeable as you don't generally hold that exact wheel RPM for more than a split second at a time, but in extreme cases, a small variance from the natural frequency can also yield large vibrations.

Carsy

This is the best advice you have received.

Go back to the tyre dealer & have them do it at no cost.

muloke

I accept with information:
I just went out to my garage and looked..

front drivers side: 10 weights
front passengers side: 14 weights
rear drivers side: 6 weights
rear passengers side: 2 weights