[jeff_sc]

I have been experiencing a very, very subtle vibration, I think at appx 2500 RPM to appx 3200 RPM. It is not the tires/wheels. Those came from TireRack out of balance and I had them rebalanced last week. I also feel the vibration more in the steering wheel and gearshift lever than in the seat, which leads me to believe it is not tire/wheel. But the vibration is extraordinarily slight, almost like an enhanced resonation from the exhaust. I do not really notice it unless I am accelerating though. (Yet another reason why I do not believe it is tires/wheels.) I'm going to see if I can isolate it better and determine if it is limited to a paarticular speed or RPM range and if once it starts it gets worse with additional speed. I haven't had a chance to fully shake this issue out yet because I knew the tires/wheels needed rebalancing and just had that done last week and haven't had time to do much driving since, but was very focused on the feel tonight and definitely believe the vibration is still there.

I know others have posted about similar issues before, has anyone else experienced this problem or solved it or have any ideas about what it is?

 

[Ianhp1]

Interesting... if in your experience and judgement this is not wheels/tyres, then we need to follow the drive-train as it is engine speed related...

1) Snagging disc brake (would not be more noticeable with acceleration)
2) Drive shaft balance (would PROBABLY not be worse with acceleration)
2) Faulty/tight CV joint/bearing (WOULD be more noticeable with acceleration)
3) G/Box (unlikely as this, in my experience would be audible too)
4) Engine (would not feel through steering)

...one other thought is the disk wiping function?

..It could however be a wheel tyre balance issue still... as it is not uncommon for tyres to have a faulty wall or lining, making them difficult to balance precisely. The easy way to tell is to swap your wheels front to back to see if one of the fronts is a problem.

Anything else... it's a dealer/warranty issue!

Hope this helps, Ian.

 

[Need4S5]

I've got the same issue it comes and goes. I've noticed it going 78 mph
in 6th gear. Then back off a little then back up to 78 again it's gone.
It seems to happen when I've been drivng for say 8 or 9 miles. I'm very picky
when it comes to vibrations and or squeaks of any kind. I don't think it's my
tires & wheels but I 'll have mine rebalanced as well.

 

[jeff_sc]

I had some drive time and clear road today to try to put more flesh on the bones here. As I said before, it is very subtle in any event and difficult to pin down. It comes and goes. The only constant seems to be that it seems to be there only at a particular exhaust note -- doesn't seem to matter speed or RPM or gear, accelerating or not, rather it seems to seems to appear when the exhaust note sounds a particular way, I know that seems crazy. So, crazy as it is, I think that maybe it is some kind of reverb issue with the exhaust, where when the exhaust note hits a particular sound it causes the vibration. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Is it possible do you think?

 

[Ianhp1]

Are you guys sure it's not the disc wiping function, that gently applies the brakes with abs periodically?

 

[jeff_sc]

Are you guys sure it's not the disc wiping function, that gently applies the brakes with abs periodically?

This vibration does not occur on braking. (At least I haven't noticed it then.)

 

[Ianhp1]

This vibration does not occur on braking. (At least I haven't noticed it then.)

As I understand it, the disk wiping function works periodically when the brake is not being pressed, to keep it dry and clean ready for use... Not having experienced this, and having only recently learned (from this forum) that this function is fitted to these cars That's about all I can tell you.

 

[doc7string]

As I understand it, the disk wiping function works periodically when the brake is not being pressed, to keep it dry and clean ready for use... Not having experienced this, and having only recently learned (from this forum) that this function is fitted to these cars That's about all I can tell you.

Got to agree with Ian on this one. I have a similar function on my MB E 500 (which I can't wait to get rid of- the car not the break wiping) I have an odd vibration which seems random that has been ascribed to this as well. It drove me crazy for quite a while until I finally gave up worrying about it.

 

[young-nyc]

well in my experience. even though your tire's might be balanced your rim could be bent. make sure all your rims are fine...in some cases you won't even know where the bent is especially if it's on the inside of the rim.
hope that helps...
good luck jeff.

 

[dlr218]

My car has 3000 miles on it... Have had the Vibration issue since the day I purchased the car.. I brought it back to the dealer the same day I purchased the car and left it with them for 3 days... The Demo car on the lot had the same issue... The delaer replaced the set of tires with a new set, and this too did not fix te problem. My vibration starts at 62 and goes until 70. It is very prevalent when the car is cold or has been sitting, and after approximately 10 miles dissaptes, but really never goes away... I have been talking with Audi USA, and I am planning on bringing the car to Champion motors to try and rectify. Will keep you posted.

 

[Need4S5]

I've got winter tire&wheels had them on a Roadforce machine last week they
all balanced out within .25 of a oz. which is pretty much balanced. I still have the vibration issue.

 

[young-nyc]

oh man that really sucks guys...
u think it could be maybe the MLP design and layout of the engine?

 

[wrx_xb9r]

well in my experience. even though your tire's might be balanced your rim could be bent. make sure all your rims are fine...in some cases you won't even know where the bent is especially if it's on the inside of the rim.
hope that helps...
good luck jeff.

I had a wheel on my last car that I did that to. It balanced fine. But when you spun it on the balancer you could see it moving down where it was bent on the inside. It had a similar problem as described here. About 60mph it would start to vibrate. About 70 it was worst by 80 it was gone again. Replaced wheel and it went away.

Now if it rpm related only as also mentioned drive to a speed where the rpm have the vibration and push the clutch in. Then vary the rpms with the throttle while the clutch pushed in. This will help eliminate the tranny and driveline as the culprit. It may be just down to the harmonics of the engine.

 

[jeff_sc]

I had a wheel on my last car that I did that to. It balanced fine. But when you spun it on the balancer you could see it moving down where it was bent on the inside. It had a similar problem as described here. About 60mph it would start to vibrate. About 70 it was worst by 80 it was gone again. Replaced wheel and it went away.

Now if it rpm related only as also mentioned drive to a speed where the rpm have the vibration and push the clutch in. Then vary the rpms with the throttle while the clutch pushed in. This will help eliminate the tranny and driveline as the culprit. It may be just down to the harmonics of the engine.

I've shown the dealer's service tech the vibration so they've experienced itr themselves, and decided that because I will be putting the stock tires and wheels back on the car at the end of March and because the vibration is extremely subtle, I'll live with it until we change tires/wheels. When we do that, we will learn a lot because the vibration will either disappear, in which case we know it's tires/wheels, or it won't, in which case we know it's not. Either way, we'll save a lot of time chasing our tails trying to find the cause by eliminating one of the usual suspects.

 

[young-nyc]

and thank goodness it's all covered under warranty..that's the best part,
only downside is the time away from our cars

 

[jeff_sc]

and thank goodness it's all covered under warranty..that's the best part,
only downside is the time away from our cars

Well, if it is anything other than tires/wheels it is covered. If it is tires/wheels, the ones I have on my car right now are the 18" winter Dunlop 3Ds I bought from TireRack. While TireRack is good and gave me up to $20/wheel for remounting and balancing, they will not pay what my dealer will charge to do that if it turns out that is all that's needed. So, in March, when I change back to the stock 19"ers, if the vibration goes away I will get back in touch with TireRack, which I am giving a heads up about the problem now and which has already paid for one remount and rebalance, and tell them there is something wrong with what they sent to me and they will have to deal with it.

 

[AntRS6]

The only other item I can think of is the flywheel being properly balanced. I don't know the spec of the flywheel on this V8 engine.

 

[young-nyc]

nicely said jeff...
we'll all have to wait till march now...
patience patience..

 

[blackjack76]

I know this is an S5 thread, but I am getting the same vibration on my A5. Between 120kph and 130kph the seat vibrates very noticably. The steering wheel does not vibrate. I changed to winter tyres 2 weeks after getting the car and as I don't remember the issue on the original tyres I am presuming it is due to the winter tyres. I have had them back to the dealer twice to re-balance the tyres. The situation got slightly better after the second attempt to re-balance but the vibration is still noticable.

 

[vencappk]

its good to see that others share in the same misery. i posted else where similar..it still beats meeting @ shiva house