Yet another vibration - Lots of sleuthing done

[MJ535]

Greetings:

I have a 2010 550xi GT which I have had for a little over a year. It developed a vibration and I feel like I have read every forum thread on F01/07/10 vibrations that there is from both sides of the pond. Love the car but this is driving a little batty. It's beyond any warranty coverage. CCP was done on the motor and I have no complaints there. To set the stage this is my 5th 5 series and I do all my own work so I should be past the tech newbie stage. My last car was an E39 530i manual Sport which I miss regularly. This F07 is like a whole other planet. It has 90k miles.

I began to chase down my rhythmic vibration which at the beginning I thought was a driveshaft issue because it seemed like the rate of the vibration was faster than the wheel spin and it has a repeating pattern.

Changed the front driveshaft
Road force balanced the wheels and had them checked for roundness and straightness
Changed the guibos and center bearing on the rear driveshaft (the ones that came out looked fine)
Changed the transfer case fluid
Transfer case mount
Motor mounts (sure, why not?)
Both front bearings
Checked axle shafts (seemed solid)
Changed front diff fluid

Tires are 1 year old continentals, not staggered. No differential tread wear from front to back.

What I got was a car that drives better, is tight and tracks perfectly. Better than when I got it. However, the main vibration is still there. It shows up at about 50 or 60. Recently I can feel it getting stronger when accelerating. Previously it seemed less reactive and more consistent. I have always felt it in the steering. I now know that I can feel it in the center of the car if I put my hand on the console.

This pointed me toward the transfer case which I suspected from the beginning but I don't get clicking and pushing it in a tight turn either way in a parking lot is totally smooth which doesn't match other transfer case symptoms I have read.

To rule out the front diff (changing the fluid made no difference) I took off the front driveshaft and drove it. Still There. I also noticed that the vibration increased under acceleration with the driveshaft out so it had to from the case back and tied to the front enough to transmit the vibration to the steering wheel.

Seems like the possibilities are:

Transfer case - even though it seems to be working fine and the vibration doesn't fit the profile - maybe I should rebuild it
bad u-joint in the rear driveshaft - seemed tight when I had it apart - would this transmit to the steering wheel?
Something in the transmission
Am I missing a mount somewhere?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

[MJ535]

Forgot to mention that the thrust arms and lower control arms where replaced as potential vibration candidates.

Mark

Greetings:

I have a 2010 550xi GT which I have had for a little over a year. It developed a vibration and I feel like I have read every forum thread on F01/07/10 vibrations that there is from both sides of the pond. Love the car but this is driving a little batty. It's beyond any warranty coverage. CCP was done on the motor and I have no complaints there. To set the stage this is my 5th 5 series and I do all my own work so I should be past the tech newbie stage. My last car was an E39 530i manual Sport which I miss regularly. This F07 is like a whole other planet. It has 90k miles.

I began to chase down my rhythmic vibration which at the beginning I thought was a driveshaft issue because it seemed like the rate of the vibration was faster than the wheel spin and it has a repeating pattern.

Changed the front driveshaft
Road force balanced the wheels and had them checked for roundness and straightness
Changed the guibos and center bearing on the rear driveshaft (the ones that came out looked fine)
Changed the transfer case fluid
Transfer case mount
Motor mounts (sure, why not?)
Both front bearings
Checked axle shafts (seemed solid)
Changed front diff fluid

Tires are 1 year old continentals, not staggered. No differential tread wear from front to back.

What I got was a car that drives better, is tight and tracks perfectly. Better than when I got it. However, the main vibration is still there. It shows up at about 50 or 60. Recently I can feel it getting stronger when accelerating. Previously it seemed less reactive and more consistent. I have always felt it in the steering. I now know that I can feel it in the center of the car if I put my hand on the console.

This pointed me toward the transfer case which I suspected from the beginning but I don't get clicking and pushing it in a tight turn either way in a parking lot is totally smooth which doesn't match other transfer case symptoms I have read.

To rule out the front diff (changing the fluid made no difference) I took off the front driveshaft and drove it. Still There. I also noticed that the vibration increased under acceleration with the driveshaft out so it had to from the case back and tied to the front enough to transmit the vibration to the steering wheel.

Seems like the possibilities are:

Transfer case - even though it seems to be working fine and the vibration doesn't fit the profile - maybe I should rebuild it
bad u-joint in the rear driveshaft - seemed tight when I had it apart - would this transmit to the steering wheel?
Something in the transmission
Am I missing a mount somewhere?

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

[jclausen]

At this point it would have a good independent bmw should look at it

[MJ535]

Let's dive a little deeper if we can. I am curious about the "damper rings". They go inside the female end of the driveshaft. The service information in the driveshaft says "replace if necessary". The ones in my driveshaft were not missing teeth and looked great. Wouldn't know how to change them, especially the inside one. My driveshaft also had a plastic extension on the end of the spline (see picture) that doesn't show up in any literature I could find. Anyone have experience with this?

20201231_172500_resized.jpg

Thanks,

Mark


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