Donnymac

Vibration can be felt in seat and steering wheel. Vib is fast short cycle. Does not get worse with speed increase. Much more noticible when off the gas at 70. Vib diminishes when on the throttle.

What are symptoms of motor/trans mounts?

Feels like a worn out u-joint.

Have not tried force balance or wheel check.

I searched the threads. Lots of info but didn't find anything on target.

All comments welcome.

alx

Roadforce balance wheels. Cheapest but if vibration is present in steering wheel and seat it is not it or you have bad tires front and back.

Check engine/ tranny mount. As you go 70 toss tranny in neutral. Vibration gone? Mounts.

Still there? Check driveshaft rubber cakes. Still present?

Check driveshaft balancing weights for missing ones

Donnymac

alx thanks. I will start your process mañana.

Donnymac

Alx all I could do today was road test the car. On smooth blacktop with tpsi f/r: 37/38. At 75 with vib, dropped to N and coasted till vib stopped at 60. Vib was max at 68-70. Gone at 60.
Ran that cycle multiple times.

Most definitely not motor rpm related. No vib from 800 to 4000rpm.

Will investigate more when I get home this week.

Thanks for the help.

alx

my gut feeling is that you just have a bunch of out of balance tires...

Donnymac

Setting up road force balance mañana.

Thanks.

Donnymac

Alx - Finally had the road force balance done. Bottom line, both front wheels are visually not true. Never have I bent wheels before.
Just how soft are OEM wheels?

alx

Oem are the strongest wheels in my experience...

The Thomas J

Possibly a bent wheel.

The Thomas J

Not on the E class.

xpl0sive

both of my stock 19" AMG wheels are bent on my S550 too. I was surprised, never bent a stock wheel before

Donnymac

Time to do a little shopping. Alx thanks.

Any OEM wheel options to consider?

boltonblue

Depending on how badly it is out of round, you can get the wheel trued and brought back into spec.
I've done it a few times with good results.

egalt

Yeah, I just went through the same issue. Looked like a piece of snow....was a rock. Had wheels straightened...problem solved. Avoid road hazards, or you may have to do this frequently

Donnymac

For now, that is the plan.

The Thomas J

I have had that done several times over the years with the first two sets of OME rims I ha don my E class. They can only be heated and bent back round once maybe twice. More than that the wheels aren't safe. I threw in the towel and went down to 17's and a nice set of General Altima tires. The car rides MUCH nicer now. I miss the look of my chrome wheels. They really made the car pop.

Incidentally since I am in the market for an S class I did ask my wheel guy if the S class and it's 19" wheels are subject to the same issues as the E class. He said no, not as much. In his experience The E classes and BMW 5 series suffer the most damage to their wheels due to the off set and the very low profile tire. The S class has a bigger tire suited for city use.

The NYC/NJ roads are terrible.

Donnymac

For the first time we have a pot hole explosion in hwys all due to record rainfall and unprecedented ballooning oil field heavy traffic. Normally our roads are great. Now it's 2+ years of remaining road repairs. Typically we drive ducking deer and coyotes. Now pot holes are on the list.

Once I get a 5th wheel/tire, I will start the wheel repairs. My concern is after the repair, what is wheel integrity like. Compromised or not?

jahquan3

^My E has the same problem and the tire can be safe if only repaired once for sure. Anything after that can get a lil suspect.

alx

Blah. I have yet to see tire fail where it was repaired as long as not on the sidewall. Your mileage obviously may vary.

The Thomas J

Not so much tire failure, but the wheel can and will become bent again because the repair does weaken the wheel a bit. Bent wheels can lead to side wall tire bubbles that can cause tire failure.

alx

Ah you are talking about rims. Agreed. Once bent it will bent again.

Btw, I have the 20" Amg package on my 221. I have bent all four oem wheels. Finally I said f it and went with 19. Soooo much better ride and zero bent wheels.

Donnymac

If you bend 20s and not 19s and I bend 19s, I Would never survive with 20s which was my plan to switch to. That ends that.

What is your psi after tires are warmed up?

egalt

Ok, I give....how is it that you don't bend 19s?