[CnSky]

Yes drive two others are they felt much more planted and no vibrations. Only difference is they were on 19s abs had no VDC suspension.


QUOTE=beerman80;27813452]Sorry if this has been asked/answered, have you had a chance to drive another similar 530e to rule out that is just how the car is? Would be such a pity for you to stick all this money, time, and effort into something that can't be fixed.[/QUOTE]

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by CnSky

Yes drive two others are they felt much more planted and no vibrations. Only difference is they were on 19s abs had no VDC suspension.


QUOTE=beerman80;27813452]Sorry if this has been asked/answered, have you had a chance to drive another similar 530e to rule out that is just how the car is? Would be such a pity for you to stick all this money, time, and effort into something that can't be fixed.

[/QUOTE]

I have the dynamic dampers and mine is absolutely planted on 19s.

[CnSky]

Thanks Steve yes this is why I'm convinced there is more to this than just wheels tyres and balance/alignment:

Car seems bouncy and unstable at low speed which reduced 99% on the motorway but then I get vibrations. Also sometime feels like the drive to the rear stutters for a millisecond and that's inducing the instability.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the half shaft and or hub so trying them as last option.

I see many people post and on some car care sites note that symptoms of a bad half shaft can be shaking which increases with speed, clicking and a bouncy feeling. I don't have clicking but I guess that more to do with front half shafts as the rears are not turning. I have plenty of speed related vibrations and bouncy feeling.

Every tyre place I go to now is telling me it's not the tyres or wheels when I tell them what I did.





QUOTE=SteveinArizona;27813712]

Originally Posted by CnSky

Yes drive two others are they felt much more planted and no vibrations. Only difference is they were on 19s abs had no VDC suspension.


QUOTE=beerman80;27813452]Sorry if this has been asked/answered, have you had a chance to drive another similar 530e to rule out that is just how the car is? Would be such a pity for you to stick all this money, time, and effort into something that can't be fixed.

[/QUOTE]

I have the dynamic dampers and mine is absolutely planted on 19s.[/QUOTE]

[CnSky]

For anyone interested I ran an NVH program to check the vibrations clearly speed related from rear tyres but that doesn't mean it's actually from the tyres just the area.

[Chuckyarla]

I have an lci 530e and the rear is firm but it’s not too bad. I had a 730d G11 and there was a constant vibration from the rear despite new wheels and tyres. There’s a place in Carrickfergus near Belfast that’s supposed to be the dog’s bollocks for wheel alignment.

[CnSky]

Thanks Chuck will research that and see if I can locate them.



QUOTE=Chuckyarla;27814354]I have an lci 530e and the rear is firm but it's not too bad. I had a 730d G11 and there was a constant vibration from the rear despite new wheels and tyres. There's a place in Carrickfergus near Belfast that's supposed to be the dog's bollocks for wheel alignment.[/QUOTE]

[steve090619]

3 months after having "warning intelligence system not working " fixed its back. Car is out of warranty. This car has been electrical nightmare from open shutters malfunction, passenger seat belt warning, poor ac performance.

What's a good non bmw replacement?

[Chuckyarla]

Here they are:

http://www.ivankerrtyres.com/

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by steve090619

3 months after having "warning intelligence system not working " fixed its back. Car is out of warranty. This car has been electrical nightmare from open shutters malfunction, passenger seat belt warning, poor ac performance.

What's a good non bmw replacement?

Honda Accord or Toyota Camry if you want bulletproof reliability. Any other German car is the same as BMW.

[akuwes710]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Honda Accord or Toyota Camry if you want bulletproof reliability. Any other German car is the same as BMW.

Or lexus IS 500. All that naturally aspirated goodness and reliability….
Have heard that all euro cars run along the same line for reliability. I keep hearing skoda makes good cara, but thy dont come to USA.

[CnSky]

Skoda are reliable because they tend to use technology that's one phase behind the latest and has been tried and tested.

The Octavia VRS is a large version of a Golf GTI great car.





QUOTE=akuwes710;27816592]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Honda Accord or Toyota Camry if you want bulletproof reliability. Any other German car is the same as BMW.

Or lexus IS 500. All that naturally aspirated goodness and reliability….
Have heard that all euro cars run along the same line for reliability. I keep hearing skoda makes good cara, but thy dont come to USA.[/QUOTE]

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by steve090619

...
What's a good non bmw replacement?

A friend is on his 2nd Genesis. He had a 2010 (1st year) 4.6L sedan that lasted 11 years and 180K miles before the ZF trans started acting up. He just replaced it with a G70. It's a very nice car and quite a few steps above the basic Hyundai.

[CnSky]

So because I hate giving up I'm going to make one final push and I'm ignoring BMW and doing what my gut tells me since day one.

Installing new engine mounts/csb /guibo/rear left hub and rear left drive shaft.

Having a good local Indy do it for me who I know since high school days and will report back once parts are fitted.

Gonna do the mounts first and see as I'm convinced it's the engine mounts all along since day one causing the entire drive train to vibrate.

Parts are all in the post already.

See below video of me driving on electric only the movement seems excessive to me and I always feel that any shake at the front of the g30 530e is felt more at the rear. If you want to experience this yourself Rev your engine up and down in park, it feels like the shake is more pronounce in the rear yet it's caused by engine shake at the front.

[CnSky]

Really starting to suspect all the vibrations are down to the VDC system controller or a body level or yaw sensor sending erroneous signals. I'm using an NVH app and it's brilliant. Or it could be engine and drive shaft vibrations being amplified on the wheels as the shocks are moving.

See below graph both front and rear wheels are vibrating at same frequency etc (both T1 and FT1 are overlayed in the graph) and engine and gearbox are following suit( e3/d2 also both overlayed).

So it's either the VDC causing the vibrations on all 4 corners or it's the engine and drive system vibrating and it's amplified on each wheel but that makes little sense on a rear wheel drive car only unless the drive abs engine is causing the entire body to shake as I have suspected.

Also I get sane issue in electric only when drive is much less powerful and less vibrations as engine is off.

Going to unplug all of my VDC shocks and see what happens when they get no signal over the weekend, if that makes no difference then i have all new engine and gearbox mounts and CSB guibo to install kits ordered..I swear I'd it's the mounts I'm going back to scream at BMW as it's what I asked them to check first day way back in February.

[CnSky]

Can anyone advise do the VDC shocks constantly adjust or are they static in each setting? As in sport is setting 100 and comfort is setting 75 and they don't change.

I thought they were static.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by CnSky

Can anyone advise do the VDC shocks constantly adjust or are they static in each setting? As in sport is setting 100 and comfort is setting 75 and they don't change.

I thought they were static.

Constantly adjusting, and different damping characteristic maps for Comfort and Sport. Front and rear can be running different rates as you drive according to the surfaces you drive over. The rear (even single wheel) can respond to what the front wheel(s) encounter.

Reading your last post, if NVH from the damping is the cause, (assuming the damping is working correctly), you should be getting different readings in Comfort and Sport. I'd also expect you to feel the difference.

[CnSky]

Thanks Pete I can definitely feel it more in sport mode so will do an NVH today where I switch to sport half way through.

I'm also off to get a RFB today to count the tyres and alignment out 100%.

Tonight or tomorrow I will unplug the VDC and see does it go away as what I understand the shocks will default to hard mode if unplugged.

Would be simpler if anyone knows the fuse location for the VDC controller or the location of the controller so I could disconnect just one wire.

Any one know either or above?

Another interesting piece is I know my auxiliary battery is suffering low voltage and that it is what controls the VDC so wondering could it be the root cause. BimmerLink is showing a low voltage fault every time I check.

[CnSky]

RFB done I'm below 11lbs on each wheel with the lowest two down at 8lbs so it's definitely not alignment or balance.

Car is still shaking.

I spoken to the manufacturers of the NVH app and they said it's not all 4 wheels or the drive train it's a single wheel zone but as the wheels are all so close in diameter it can't differentiate front or back so running a new check and moving the phone to each corner while watching for an increase in vibration will ID the corner.

They are convinced it's either brake discs/hub/a bushing/drive shaft or rear diff.

You guys should check out the app it was 500 Euro now only 100 Euro www.vibratesoftware.com, amazing app in my opinion.

I have discounted the brakes and bushings as they are new and checked by BMW.

So that leaves hub/drive shaft/diff.

Have a hub and half shaft here so will see what happens.

If it's the diff it usually a chipped tooth so that will get expensive.

[CnSky]

OK think i finally figured out whats wrong with the damn car and need some help from forum members. If im corret then I may have found out why so many cars with VDC are have shaking issues and the solution.

Can someone with Adaptive Dampers and ISTA hook up, do the following please and let me know what the results are so I can compare my car

Enter VDP and call up ECU functions
Diagnose scan
Damper Valves
Current damper valves
Read state
I belive they should all read zero at standstill

I plugged in ISTA and had a few faults most of which are the usual random glitches like camera and PDC etc and only minor but on the VDP (Vehicle Dynamic Platform) module which controls all stability but also the VDC dampers and electronic stering. It had a fault of low Aux Battery voltage.

I have had this fault on and off since the day my car hit a lift at a BMW grarage damaging the front left alloy (and looks like the damper also see below). BMW told me its no big deal that the battery is low its not important but BMW ireland rarely see VDC equipped cars and clearly hava no F'ing idea what the Auxilalry battery powers.

Now why is the battery low?

Well I checked the Dampers and bingo I believe the front left is faulty the unit has 6mA running across the controller constantly so its likely a short and not adjusting properly or at all (6ma is about what the idrive head unit pulls for power so it's a lot).

This will lead to to the system fighting itself constantly as the other dampers try compensate and the car attempts to stablise. It will also run the auxiliary battery down as this current leak seems to be constantly happening (will check tomorrow with a current clamp).

It is probably the cause of not only my low speed instability but also the shaking on the motorway as that damper is not applying enough damping force or constantly changing damping force to keep the wheel planted.

Will change the damper cable first the the damper and then the batetry and see what happens.

And finally I asked you guys a few times if the stering change between sport and Comfort were even noticeable. Thansk fo rthe reponses and I was advsied that it not very strong but you can feel teh change. Well i coudnt feel a thing and now I suspect ite because the steering effects are controlled by the VDP but it wasnt working due the low aux battery volatge so this all starts to tie in.

Id be intersted to see if anyone with VDC would like to disconnect the Aux battery and go for a drive to see if that car is a nightmare stability wise like my own.

[HighlandPete]

Looks like you are onto the issue.

Is something damaged due to the incident on the lift? I'm not normally into coincidences.

[CnSky]

Pete I'm the same I told them the car was shaking after the lift incident but they said it want hard enough to cause damage but the mark in the alloy said differently.

I can never prove it so I'm just never going back there again.

Now if anyone can help me and check their car on ISTA I can be sure it the shock and get a new one.

[CnSky]

SO I disconnected the offending Variable damper today and not a single difference to the cars handling apart from a fault code "chassis control keep driving".

So im now convinved the cars dynamic platform isnt working and never had worked at all due to the bad damper. Could explain why the car doesnt feel like a BMW to me at all.

What I dont get is how a bad damper and bad aux battery isnt a CEL fault if it causes so much havoc on the car.

I also researched ISTA on the dampers and a few interesting facts.

1 VDC controls axle balance and improved braking , mine isnt great.
2 VDC adjust physical vibration characteristics
3 VDC minimises wheel loading and fluctuations
4 VDC controlls body roll.
5 VDC insludes judder dampening in each strut and overall

Failure of voltage or current (or shoprt circuit i guess like myself) results in the strut going to full soft mode which can exlain why my car feels wallowy but only in one direction and why vibration etc. are worse when taking a long curve in one direction.

Relly think I have cracked this so ordering a good second hand strut and going to do it myself as the fronts are relatively easy to swap out (unlike the rears that requrie the rear seat and shelf removed).

See a few attachments from ISTA.

Did BMW damage the strut probably but apart from suing them I will never get any satifaction from them.

Any why is it that 3 times I paid for them to test the vehicle for unstable ride and even a strut rebound test yet they never found thie internal fault.