[kkratochvil]

Originally Posted by viperdoc

Well, no luck with dealer #1. Said they couldn't hear anything abnormal. Had my wife drive it...she says..."that noise is giving me a headache!" So I have a service appointment with a different dealer next week. I also downloaded a decibel meter Onto my phone. From 58mph to 63 mph there's a 5dB increase, particularly at the lower frequencies. No way is that Is normal. This dealer here sucks anyway.

Did they do the 4-wheel alignment?

I'm not a lot of help on the humming noise (I've never noticed it in my X6...), but I would never get new tires without an alignment. I've found (through experience) that it's money well spent and it's best to just include it with new tires. (I shortened the life of some front tires on my wife's Honda Pilot once and even ignored her comments when she said it was "dancing a bit" after putting on new tires. Ooops! )

However, alignment could certainly be part of the problem. If the camber is off a bit, that's going to cause the weight to ride a bit differently. If the toe-in is off, yet a different impact. Although vehicles don't go out of alignment as easily as they used to,the potholes tend to get bigger and they can certainly cause an issue.

While there's no guarantees, it's simply a good thing to do with new tires and considering your chasing a different problem, a good piece of troubleshooting.

[viperdoc]

Originally Posted by kkratochvil

Did they do the 4-wheel alignment?

I'm not a lot of help on the humming noise (I've never noticed it in my X6...), but I would never get new tires without an alignment. I've found (through experience) that it's money well spent and it's best to just include it with new tires. (I shortened the life of some front tires on my wife's Honda Pilot once and even ignored her comments when she said it was "dancing a bit" after putting on new tires. Ooops! )

However, alignment could certainly be part of the problem. If the camber is off a bit, that's going to cause the weight to ride a bit differently. If the toe-in is off, yet a different impact. Although vehicles don't go out of alignment as easily as they used to,the potholes tend to get bigger and they can certainly cause an issue.

While there's no guarantees, it's simply a good thing to do with new tires and considering your chasing a different problem, a good piece of troubleshooting.

Thanks for the insight. I didn’t have an alignment done last week when I got the tires replaced but think you’re right. The original local dealer that put on the tires is fixing the rear brakes this Thursday. I think I’ll have them do it then and see if it fixes the issue

[viperdoc]

Just in the event that anyone is following along with my saga... independent shop specializing in BMW and MB adjusted the rear alignment, which was significantly out of whack. So that’s fixed....but the noise and vibration continues!

[kkratochvil]

Originally Posted by viperdoc

Just in the event that anyone is following along with my saga... independent shop specializing in BMW and MB adjusted the rear alignment, which was significantly out of whack. So that’s fixed....but the noise and vibration continues!

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear the alignment didn't resolve the noise/vibration. I guess on the positive side, you'll get much more even tire wear!

[viperdoc]

REDEMPTION!!!

New dealer an hour away had their shop foreman drive it after my long winded story about the noise and my decibel meter and vibration, etc. etc. (I swear even I thought I was turning into a crazy person.). They called me an hour later and said...” needs a new driveshaft”

While I am thrilled that they actually verified that I am not crazy, I really wonder how that part actually came to needing replacement. I don’t track this car, or even really accelerate aggressively very often. I have a long commute and am usually worried about stretching my gallons of gas instead. No accidents or major pothole encounters either. But I’ve decided not to think about this for now and simply look forward to my car being fixed and getting back to normal.

[Victor1984]

Following Your story as i have the same problem. Please report back if you have it resolved! That would mean i can go to my dealer with evidence.

[Victor1984]

Can You also please ask them how did they diagnose it? It could end my 4 moth saga as well with my x6 m50i! By drive shaft do you mean one of the shafts which goes to the wheels or the shaft which connect the front and rear differentials together?

[Victor1984]

Viperdoc, as you suggested i have searched the internet for driveshaft vibration, now i am even more sure that is my problem too... Can you ask the workshop whether the suggest to change the driveshaft because of vibration? Sorry to ask you so many questions but this is a 100k problem for me as it was for you...

[TestnDoc]

Driveshaft. I had this issue on a 760 several years ago. Replaced under warranty.

[Victor1984]

Originally Posted by TestnDoc

Driveshaft. I had this issue on a 760 several years ago. Replaced under warranty.

Did it sound like mine on the video?

[viperdoc]

Victor...yes that sound you have is very similar to the one I have. Mine was also accompanied by a very fine, but noticeable, vibration. I will have to wait and see if a new drive shaft actually fixes the issue, but it does make sense. The vibration and noise does peak at around 64mph but never completely goes away. On the highway I did a few things to see where it was coming from. It made sense it was something rotational since the sound would get very bad at mid speeds then get a bit better the faster you went. I had just had new tires and an alignment done so I figured it wasn’t the tires or wheels. Also while at around 68mph I shifted the car into neutral and coasted. The noise never changed, so I figured it was something in the drive train separate from the engine. I suppose it could be an axle as well, but the the shop foreman felt pretty sure it was the drive shaft. I certainly am no expert when it comes to the drive train setup but it made sense to me that the drive shaft would keep spinning even when in neutral, ruling out an engine issue.

[viperdoc]

I’ll try to upload a video of the sound in my car tomorrow

[Victor1984]

Originally Posted by viperdoc

I’ll try to upload a video of the sound in my car tomorrow

That would be a huge help, thank You. If your car gets repaired and the hum goes away, then i will have evidence that yours did the sam noise before the repair. Dealer blames it all on the tyres, but it is doing the same with summer 22” s and winter 20”s...

[viperdoc]

Here is the YouTube link to the video I made on my phone. If you can play it, do it from your car speakers. Right at 61-62 mph you will hear a very loud rumble. Hope this helps.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by viperdoc

REDEMPTION!!!

New dealer an hour away had their shop foreman drive it after my long winded story about the noise and my decibel meter and vibration, etc. etc. (I swear even I thought I was turning into a crazy person.). They called me an hour later and said...” needs a new driveshaft”

While I am thrilled that they actually verified that I am not crazy, I really wonder how that part actually came to needing replacement. I don’t track this car, or even really accelerate aggressively very often. I have a long commute and am usually worried about stretching my gallons of gas instead. No accidents or major pothole encounters either. But I’ve decided not to think about this for now and simply look forward to my car being fixed and getting back to normal.

Drive shafts are weighted just like rims, which is one reason people point to rims/tires rebalance and alignment first. Many things could have caused this issue, weight shifting or simple car settling in (think break in). That foreman however is awesome for catching it, a shaft vibration is very hard to diagnose and can be very elusive. Glad to see light at the end of the tunnel on this one.

[viperdoc]

Definitely a very bright light....if I can’t fix this issue this car will be traded in and I would lose a ton of money. So I am very hopeful. And I don’t know what I would do! I love this car. The best I’ve ever had until this problem

[Victor1984]

Thank You,

when does your car get the replacement? I am really hoping that you get it resolved.

[viperdoc]

Hey victor...hopefully next week. When the dealer contacted BMW for the approval BMW did have me go back to the dealer to swap new wheels from a lot vehicle. The tech said he didn’t notice a difference after the swap so they resubmitted the request for replacement. I am hoping that BMW will approve it today or tomorrow and they will order the part. The tech who drove it, the shop foreman and even the regional BMW rep who was there and listened to my car all thought it was the drive shaft

[Victor1984]

Any news about the repair Viperdoc?

[viperdoc]

Originally Posted by Victor1984

Any news about the repair Viperdoc?

It goes back to the dealer in Pensacola tomorrow. BMW wants them to disconnect the transfer care (or something like that), I suppose to try to locate where the vibration is coming from. I'll keep you updated once they find what the cause is....hopefully

[Victor1984]

Mine went to the dealer as well, interestingly they are going to do the same next week, disconnect the transfer case to find out if it is coming from the front or rear. I will keep you posted...

[viperdoc]

Originally Posted by Victor1984

Mine went to the dealer as well, interestingly they are going to do the same next week, disconnect the transfer case to find out if it is coming from the front or rear. I will keep you posted...

That's awesome. Dealer still has my car, but they disconnected the transfer case and then drove it....noise and vibration still there. BMW now asking for photos of the exposed drive train, not sure why. Dealer said after that hopefully they will approve the drive shaft replacement and then we will see if the noise is fixed. At least the dealer is saying they can obviously feel/hear it now regularly