Annnnnnd 1st potential issue with the E46 - Rumbling / Vibration over 55mph?

"sefeing, actually bought an E46" (sefeing90) 01/05/2019 at 15:27 • Filed to: e46, Problems

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That was fast.

It’s not that bad, but I figure I’d catch it early. Description of issue as follows. I’m sure one of you will have a decent insight.

Getting it out on the highway today, I noticed something that I didn’t notice right after I bought it last week - everything is super smooth until about 55mph, where I start to hear (and sort of feel) a rumbling in the car. It seems to be worst at 60ish MPH. Nothing completely unbearable, but definitely something that shouldn’t be there.

Any ideas? I’m thinking center support bearing / flex disc? Could it have something to do with the rear diff? It’s hard to pinpoint where it’s coming from, but it definitely doesn’t feel like a tire or unbalanced wheel.

The problem is persistent no matter if I’m accelerating, decelerating, or coasting - it’s 100% speed dependent. I even tried putting the car into neutral at that speed, and the issue was still there.

Any/all suggestions are welcome :)

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > sefeing, actually bought an E46 01/05/2019 at 15:39

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Wheel weights missing?

Edit: NVM, I didn't read the poat properly . Although it’s pretty fast amd cheap to check wheel balance.

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability 01/05/2019 at 15:41

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It’s possible, but if I had to guess probably not, feels more full-car than specific to one side / wheel.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > sefeing, actually bought an E46 01/05/2019 at 15:44

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I felt vibration on the left side of the car but I had lost my right side wheel weights, so there is that.

Have you checked the wheel bearings, tie rod ends and ball joints? I assume the E46 has inner and outer ball joints like me.

facw > sefeing, actually bought an E46 01/05/2019 at 15:48

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As others have said, I’d start with wheel balance, just because that’s easy. I may also lean that way because I had some wheel damage on my car that caused vibration at highway speeds.

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability 01/05/2019 at 15:58

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I have not, bringing it in Monday to a local dude, who I’m hoping will become my new favorite mechanic :) 

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > facw 01/05/2019 at 15:58

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gotcha, gotcha. fair point

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > sefeing, actually bought an E46 01/05/2019 at 17:11

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haha nice! They do tend to charge a lot of monies tho...

NYankee1927 > sefeing, actually bought an E46 01/05/2019 at 21:32

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If you put the car into N and it is still there it is probs not the diff. Diff stuff tends to be load dependent. So if it gets better/worse/stay the same between accel/decel/neutral you should start your search somewhere else.

When was the driveshaft guibo last changed? These must be maintained or the will cause viberation at best, at worst total failure and your driveshaft starts whipping around. 

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > NYankee1927 01/05/2019 at 23:51

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As far as I know, never. The Guibo and center support bearing are my top 2 suspects here, but a lot of people are saying wheel balance. It’s possiblw, but doesn’t feel like wheel balance issue. 

NYankee1927 > sefeing, actually bought an E46 01/06/2019 at 13:11

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IIRC you can see the guibo without dropping all of the crap needed to see the driveshaft

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > NYankee1927 01/09/2019 at 10:38

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yeah, gonna try and take a look when I get back from my trip