[juice3]

The dealer is trying to work on diagnosing a shake during acceleration and deceleration as well as during braking.

So far they have replaced almost 3k in parts and the "re-balanced" the wheels. This is the end result of the balance.. it's disgusting to look at and the shakes are still present. I'm thinking 3 of the 4 wheels are not in spec at this point in time.

 

[Iand112]

What the hell...when did the shakes start? I did not notice them during the test drive...

What exactly did they replace?

 

[juice3]

What the hell...when did the shakes start? I did not notice them during the test drive...

What exactly did they replace?

It started the first time I took the car up to Toll Road speeds, something you'd never notice till you hit about 75mph and then the braking was noticed at anything over 50mph with hard braking it would pull so hard to the left I almost hit the Jersey Wall one time avoiding one of those random left lane comes to a complete stop on 495 for no reason.

It's worse than that. I need to track down all the old owners. At some point someone paid to gut the cats.. all of them. 14 miles into ownership I got the increased emissions and BMW of Sterling determined last week the cats would not be covered under the 80k warranty due to modification. I'm in sort of uphill fight with them to prove I didn't do it myself.... And the price to "fix" it is almost half what I paid for the car. So right now were trying to determine if I'm keeping it or not. They are bringing two cars in as "potential" replacements at no cost to me.

They have put on new pads, rotors, fluid, radius arms, bushings, balance, and 4 wheel alignment x2.

Car also has "High Battery Drain" they spent a week on that trying to figure it out.

 

[1hotm5]

That much weight on one side of the wheel screams bent rim.....

 

[juice3]

So... Your post made me go take another look.

Now I'm really mad. This is just the left front:



They are all like this.

 

[Iand112]

It started the first time I took the car up to Toll Road speeds, something you'd never notice till you hit about 75mph and then the braking was noticed at anything over 50mph with hard braking it would pull so hard to the left I almost hit the Jersey Wall one time avoiding one of those random left lane comes to a complete stop on 495 for no reason.

It's worse than that. I need to track down all the old owners. At some point someone paid to gut the cats.. all of them. 14 miles into ownership I got the increased emissions and BMW of Sterling determined last week the cats would not be covered under the 80k warranty due to modification. I'm in sort of uphill fight with them to prove I didn't do it myself.... And the price to "fix" it is almost half what I paid for the car. So right now were trying to determine if I'm keeping it or not. They are bringing two cars in as "potential" replacements at no cost to me.

They have put on new pads, rotors, fluid, radius arms, bushings, balance, and 4 wheel alignment x2.

Car also has "High Battery Drain" they spent a week on that trying to figure it out.

wow, i should have mentioned or asked if it was during higher speeds. because i didnt go above 60mph. But just the mere mentioning of potential replacements at no cost screams red flag to me

 

[C.James.B]

The only need for that much weight is if the wheel is out of round. Probably the only way to get rid of the shake is to get new wheels.. Its just weird so many of your wheels would be out of round. :dunno:

 

[1hotm5]

BMW and Mercedes wheels are pretty soft, plus all rims that have low profile tires are subject to damage/out of round problems due to the minimal tire side wall. To avoid the expense of new rims do a search for a local company that can repair bent or damaged wheel.
I have used a company call Wheels America in the past with great results. My wifes CLK 550 had some out of round rims and they straighten them and all was fine.

If the dealer is using a road force balance unit they should be able to tell you if the rims are out of round.

Good luck. The other thing to consider would be lower control arm bushings. Worn bushing can cause high speed vibration as well.

 

[juice3]

LCA's were replaced already. I'm not paying for it no mater what, it's all under warranty. The price of repair is reaching the point where they may not actually repair the car.

 

[Revo]

LCA's were replaced already. I'm not paying for it no mater what, it's all under warranty. The price of repair is reaching the point where they may not actually repair the car.

Push for a new set of wheels - or maybe ask them to try a different set of wheels off another car. If the vibration still exists, you know it's not the wheels, if the vibration goes away, then you know what the problem was.

 

[ACG]

I think that is the most weights I have ever seen on any car ?????? I can't believe they have not swapped rims yet as I had this issue on another car and that is the first thing they did. It also fixed the issue, turns out I had one bent rim which could not be seen by just looking at them.

 

[VGM6]

It started the first time I took the car up to Toll Road speeds, something you'd never notice till you hit about 75mph and then the braking was noticed at anything over 50mph with hard braking it would pull so hard to the left I almost hit the Jersey Wall one time avoiding one of those random left lane comes to a complete stop on 495 for no reason.

It's worse than that. I need to track down all the old owners. At some point someone paid to gut the cats.. all of them. 14 miles into ownership I got the increased emissions and BMW of Sterling determined last week the cats would not be covered under the 80k warranty due to modification. I'm in sort of uphill fight with them to prove I didn't do it myself.... And the price to "fix" it is almost half what I paid for the car. So right now were trying to determine if I'm keeping it or not. They are bringing two cars in as "potential" replacements at no cost to me.

They have put on new pads, rotors, fluid, radius arms, bushings, balance, and 4 wheel alignment x2.

Car also has "High Battery Drain" they spent a week on that trying to figure it out.

Sorry to hear the problems your having but if it was me i would replace it right away. If your having these problems now just imagine whats going to happen in the future. good luck

 

[juice3]

Hopefully I hear some good news today. None of the cars have arrived yet, one of them was coming from Nevada. Generally takes about 2 weeks.

CarMax Corporate are really nice to work with and this isn't my first car from them.. it's the 8th. I've known the service manager for over 5 years and he's doing everything in his power but some of the corporate BS is getting in the way.

 

[Iand112]

Hopefully I hear some good news today. None of the cars have arrived yet, one of them was coming from Nevada. Generally takes about 2 weeks.

CarMax Corporate are really nice to work with and this isn't my first car from them.. it's the 8th. I've known the service manager for over 5 years and he's doing everything in his power but some of the corporate BS is getting in the way.

well, thats good to hear.

Do you think they are able to swap cars easily due to them being all being priced similarly/competitively?

keep us updated

 

[juice3]

Will do.

 

[VOVE]

If Carmax can't get your wheels corrected, take your car to RRT in Dulles and they will get your bent wheels repaired by one of the shop they work with. I just had them repair my right front wheel.

 

[juice3]

I'm not going to pay money to fix the factory wheels.. I'd just replace them with something better. It's just a small issue.

RRT has received mix reviews from various folks depending on the type of service they went in for. It all comes down to communication with customers and understanding expectations.

 

[VGM6]

Good luck. Ive heard great things from Carmax and i hope they never let you down.

 

[juice3]

I've had nothing but great experiences from them. They have made mistakes, but they actually come through in the end, I have to be patient and try to keep my cool many times.

 

[335xi]

My wheel guy says anything over 20 ounces is way too much. Think about it, it's over 1 pound.