Audi S5 or A5 Owners. Do you have any Vibration Issues?

[MattDrives]

Just a follow-up post from 6/15/09... After my dealer's second attempt to correct the issue, I think we are on the right track! They did the tire balancing routine again and determined that two of my tires just weren't balancing good enough to meet the specs necessary to avoid the vibration issue. The replaced two of the tires and put the 'best' two of the four tires in the rear. I've had little to no problem with vibration ever since. I say little to none because I will still have a little bit of sway in the steering wheel at certain speeds while in slight turns, etc. The good thing is that the mechanic at the dealer also noticed this slight sway during his road tests and he has received permission from Audi to order new bushings (per service bulletin 2017475) Considering how close this is to being fixed right now, I feel pretty good that the bushings will get me back to 100% on this issue. I guess I'll just have to get over the other points I made in my last post. Mind over matter...(Didn't notice how many people are also not happy about the B/O audio system until surfing other threads before making this update!) - Matt

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[denakno]

I've found this thread through a5oc and wanted to share my story.
I've got a 2009 S5 (with 3G MMI = a late 09 model).

I had my car for about 4000 miles without any issues until the dealer installing KW V1 coilovers. That's when the vibration/steering wheel shimmy problem occured (between 50-70 mph). Before that I didn't notice any problems, neither with 20" BBS with Michelin PS2s or stock setup 18" continental.

First I thought it might have to do with the tires on the 20" rims, so did the dealer. So today we decided to put on the 18" stock setup. The problem is still there, in a smaller scale, but definately still noticeable and annoying.

My gut feeling told me it had something to do with the coilovers... but after have read a couple of threads I'm not sure anymore. Besides if it would have to do with that, shouldn't we feel a vibration in the car itself instead of the steering wheel. My dealer tells me it has to be some kind of unbalance somewhere, otherwhise we wouldn't have felt it in the steering wheel? And it doesn't matter if the car/tires are warm or cold. I have this vibration issue all the time between 50-70 mph.

I'm not sure if replacing the control arms and such would help? Since I have a late 09 model. But I'll ask them and see what they'll say.


Those of you who have replaced the control arms, how's everything now?


MattDrives, did you replace the bushings (and what are bushings)?

[Blake P]

denakno: Did the dealer re-align the car after installing the coilovers?

[denakno]

Originally Posted by Blake P

denakno: Did the dealer re-align the car after installing the coilovers?

Yes they did a wheel alignment and I've balanced the wheels twice afterwards.

[todd1010]

Well, I've got a little update and bad news for myself. I just installed some H&R wheel spacers [20mm front, 25mm rear] and I now have my steering wheel vibration back. It happens just like it did before the dealership fix it by balancing my tires.

I am going to remove the spacers and take it for a drive to see if is still happening on my stock setup. I haven't had the car at highway speeds lately to be able to notice.

Since this did come back, I'm wondering what the spacers could be doing to make the vibration noticeable, if indeed it's came back with the stock setup. Like I said it wasn't vibrating before but I do need to confirm this by removing the spacers and taking it for a spin.

I'm actually going to check the tire pressure to make sure they are at the correct recommendation. The I'm going to raise the tire pressure in all tires by 2lbs and check to see if the vibration is still happening. If it does happen with the above test, I'll then move one tire [on the drivers side] from the back to the front and test drive. If it still does it I'll move the passenger side rear up to the front to see if it's still vibrating. If all of this fails I will then remove the wheel spacers altogether and see if it's still there. If its still vibrating with the stock setup, I'll make an appointment with the dealer while my car is Dallas for the week.

[denakno]

todd1010,

Sorry to hear that...

My (and the dealers) theory is that the spacers increases the vibrations. They're not the root of the problem. You could experience the vibrations for another reason like unbalanced wheels, variations in road force or flawed control arms, without noticing it when running stock. Then when you put the spacers on they increase the vibrations and voilà they're noticeable.

Hope that helps.
But please keep us posted on your progress.

I've talked to my dealer and they're going to order new control arms. We just need the partnumbers for the new and improved control arms.

Good luck all

[GotBoost?]

That doesn't sound good. I am in the process of installing spacers and H&R coilovers and I hope that my car doesn't run into the same problem.

[todd1010]

Originally Posted by GotBoost?

That doesn't sound good. I am in the process of installing spacers and H&R coilovers and I hope that my car doesn't run into the same problem.

I hope not either! I felt really lucky [after reading many problems] that people were having and mine was fixed with the balancing. I just bought this car about a month ago and finally decided on spacer size and now this vibration is back.

[todd1010]

Originally Posted by denakno

todd1010,

Sorry to hear that...

My (and the dealers) theory is that the spacers increases the vibrations. They're not the root of the problem. You could experience the vibrations for another reason like unbalanced wheels, variations in road force or flawed control arms, without noticing it when running stock. Then when you put the spacers on they increase the vibrations and voilà they're noticeable.

Hope that helps.
But please keep us posted on your progress.

I've talked to my dealer and they're going to order new control arms. We just need the partnumbers for the new and improved control arms.

Good luck all

I'm going to remove the spacers tonight and take it for a spin to see if it vibrates. I actually hope it does so I can get on with getting the problem resolved and put on my $300 spacers, right now they're no good and I can't take the car to the dealer with the spacers because they'll blame the vibration on the spacers. But we all know damn well that they are not the cause of the vibration. The dealer I originally took it in for the vibration at the beginning told me that it was vibrating because I had one of my tires patched at Discount Tire. I completely disagreed with him because every car I've owned has had patches in it and NEVER has any of them vibrated because of the patches. I've even had some tires with 4-5 patches in one tire without a problem.

[todd1010]

Well, I took the spacers off and there was no vibration at all not even a hint. I put them back on and I'll see if it still does it. I believe I'm going to leave the spacers on when I take it into the dealer on next Monday. So, adding the spacers is no difference than me buying another set of wheels with more offset, correct? So let's say that I only experience the vibration with more positive offset, that means that I could NEVER buy another set of aftermarket wheels. I can't live with that!

[Blake P]

Originally Posted by todd1010

Well, I took the spacers off and there was no vibration at all not even a hint. I put them back on and I'll see if it still does it. I believe I'm going to leave the spacers on when I take it into the dealer on next Monday. So, adding the spacers is no difference than me buying another set of wheels with more offset, correct? So let's say that I only experience the vibration with more positive offset, that means that I could NEVER buy another set of aftermarket wheels. I can't live with that!

The dealer will likely blame the spacers for the vibration. The same way they would blame aftermarket wheels if the vibration occured with them on and not the stock wheels. It could be something as simple as a small piece of dirt on one of the spacers or one of them not being machined 100% flat and/or round. Any inconsistency will cause minor vibrations, so be prepared for the dealer to not take responsibility for the issue.

[todd1010]

I know they will try and blame it on the spacers, just like when I took it in originally they tried blaming it on the patched wheel from a nail. I guess I have to leave them on if I want them to experience the vibration but I'm going in with the article from Edmunds where Audi sent them new control arms and some more information about other owners vibration.

[denakno]

Originally Posted by todd1010

Well, I took the spacers off and there was no vibration at all not even a hint. I put them back on and I'll see if it still does it. I believe I'm going to leave the spacers on when I take it into the dealer on next Monday. So, adding the spacers is no difference than me buying another set of wheels with more offset, correct? So let's say that I only experience the vibration with more positive offset, that means that I could NEVER buy another set of aftermarket wheels. I can't live with that!

This is how my wheel experts and my dealers are explaining the problem and it might help to answer your question.
The problem isn't the offset itself... With spacers we increase the amount of "play" that could occur on the contact surfaces and we increase the amount of contact surfaces. There could be play between the wheel and the spacer, then between the spacer and the hub. This causes a small vibration to become a big vibration, the spacer works like a multiplier.

But if you just have a wheel with another offset, you still keep the contact surfaces to a minimum allowing for less play.

Sorry if my english is a little rough, but it's late here in Sweden and I'm tired

In other words, the best thing to do is to buy wheels (rims) with the correct (prefered) offset.

[denakno]

Originally Posted by todd1010

I know they will try and blame it on the spacers, just like when I took it in originally they tried blaming it on the patched wheel from a nail. I guess I have to leave them on if I want them to experience the vibration but I'm going in with the article from Edmunds where Audi sent them new control arms and some more information about other owners vibration.

Yes, like you both stated they will probably blame the spacers. One because they can't figure out the root of the problem and two it's the spacers that make the vibrations noticeable/unbearable.

But a good technician would understand this and not blame the spacers (of course if there's nothing wrong with the actual spacer) and understand that the root of the problem is something else.

I'm really glad I've got a very helpful dealer, like I stated above the dealer understands the problems but they haven't found a solution yet. We are still going to try to change the control arms....

[todd1010]

Thanks, keep up updated!