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I purchased a used 2018 Macan S last night and on the way home, I felt a vibration come from the bottom of the car (not through the steering wheel) when going 70-80 MPH. No shakes or vibrations at lower speeds however. I’ve searched the boards here and other forums and although other people are experiencing the same issue, there’s no explanation of it nor a solution posted. I’m going back to the dealership I bought the car from hoping they will address the issue. Any feedback here will be welcomed but either way, I’ll post an update once I know more.
Did you recently mount tires or something?
Generally speaking, this happens when tire balances are off during mounting.
Agreed. Or, flat-spotting from sitting.
I had a Honda Pilot with a transfer case issue and it would violently shudder the whole car under torque load (like going up a steep hill) irregardless of speed. Never was a problem at constant speed.
I ended up dropping the car off at a Porsche dealership that is under the same parent company, Lithia, the car was purchased at a BMW dealership. They examined the car today and found that the tires were 1. Worn down to 4/32 2. Tires are 6 years old 3. One of the wheels were missing balancing weights. At this point, they are saying these are the reasons for the shaking and cannot find anything else that would cause the vibrations. I'm usually pretty good at examining these types of things when I buy a used car but for some reason I didn't pay too much attention to the tires, maybe because I was buying from a BMW dealership? I really don't know. I've started a discussion with the BMW sales manager but their response was that "the car is fine and there was nothing wrong with the car yesterday. All dealerships try to upsell items to make extra money but your tires are fine." In response, I sent him the link of the video the Porsche tech explaining the tire situation and everything else that needed to be addressed. At this point, he's not wrong but I feel like they should have addressed these items before placing the car for sale. I will follow up again with what the BMW dealership decides to do...stay tuned!
I ended up dropping the car off at a Porsche dealership that is under the same parent company, Lithia, the car was purchased at a BMW dealership. They examined the car today and found that the tires were 1. Worn down to 4/32 2. Tires are 6 years old 3. One of the wheels were missing balancing weights. At this point, they are saying these are the reasons for the shaking and cannot find anything else that would cause the vibrations. I'm usually pretty good at examining these types of things when I buy a used car but for some reason I didn't pay too much attention to the tires, maybe because I was buying from a BMW dealership? I really don't know. I've started a discussion with the BMW sales manager but their response was that "the car is fine and there was nothing wrong with the car yesterday. All dealerships try to upsell items to make extra money but your tires are fine." In response, I sent him the link of the video the Porsche tech explaining the tire situation and everything else that needed to be addressed. At this point, he's not wrong but I feel like they should have addressed these items before placing the car for sale. I will follow up again with what the BMW dealership decides to do...stay tuned!
This sounds a lot like my experience buying my daughter's first car (a 2016 Nissan Sentra with 48k miles). I wouldn't buy a ball point pen from that dealership now. With her car, it turned out all four steel wheels were out of round. Car drove just fine but would vibrate every once in a while (I guess when all of the wheels 'synched up'). Dealership we bought it from ended up buying four new wheels.
It’s amazing how unbalanced tires can affect a car. I picked up a little cruiser HHR SS a couple weeks ago near Chicago. It had brand new tires that had been installed by a large midwest tire store. Once you hit 60 mph the steering will shuttered and it sounded like something was banging in the steering column. I took it to a different tire store and had them remove all the weights and start from scratch. The result was no more shutter or steering column noise.
I ended up dropping the car off at a Porsche dealership that is under the same parent company, Lithia, the car was purchased at a BMW dealership. They examined the car today and found that the tires were 1. Worn down to 4/32 2. Tires are 6 years old 3. One of the wheels were missing balancing weights. At this point, they are saying these are the reasons for the shaking and cannot find anything else that would cause the vibrations. I'm usually pretty good at examining these types of things when I buy a used car but for some reason I didn't pay too much attention to the tires, maybe because I was buying from a BMW dealership? I really don't know. I've started a discussion with the BMW sales manager but their response was that "the car is fine and there was nothing wrong with the car yesterday. All dealerships try to upsell items to make extra money but your tires are fine." In response, I sent him the link of the video the Porsche tech explaining the tire situation and everything else that needed to be addressed. At this point, he's not wrong but I feel like they should have addressed these items before placing the car for sale. I will follow up again with what the BMW dealership decides to do...stay tuned!
I just purchased my 2023 GTS at a BMW dealership and they have replaced 3 out of 4 tires, they balanced them and checked the alignment.
I drove it up to 100mph on a few occasions and it is very smooth.
I question your due diligence. I would suggest a PPI for that kind of money and the reality is that you looked at the car and bought it. Tires are a fairly obvious check point to determine their suitability and can even indicate alignment or previous owner's driving habits. Good luck
I question your due diligence. I would suggest a PPI for that kind of money and the reality is that you looked at the car and bought it. Tires are a fairly obvious check point to determine their suitability and can even indicate alignment or previous owner's driving habits. Good luck
Comments and responses like yours give Porsche owners a bad name. Maybe your social skills needs a little questioning. I'm sure you'll respond to my comment so here's mine to yours. Yes, I could have gotten a PPI done but large dealerships usually don't allow any type of inspections other than visuals. Tires are typically obvious if they are beyond a point of wear. I visually checked the tires and all seemed to have a bit of wear but I didn't bring my tire tread depth gauge to measure exactly what depth the tread actually was. I did not check the dates on the tires because honestly, I never would assume that a BMW dealership would allow for this to happen. Lastly, the issue only presents itself at speeds above 70mph and on our test drive route, we didn't have an opportunity to drive up to those speeds. I do welcome comments and even criticism but work on your delivery. Good luck!
04-05-2024, 11:47 AM
Vibration at high speeds 70+ MPH
