Redshed...your experience seems a little different. I would suspect if your vibration doesn't go away after driving for awhile, it may be the rear driveshafts that are a little bit off. (assuming the wheels and tires are balanced well, not out of round, and mounted on the hub correctly). Should be covered under warranty, no?

For those guys with the vibration that goes away after warming up, that is probably a tire issue but can't imagine that the out of round could happen after sitting overnight...that it odd. I can understand that happening if a car is not a daily driver and sits for a week or 2...

 

I saw a few postings on Audi A5 and S5 vibration issues. I just purchased a 2009 Audi A5 and I was told the vibration issues with the 2008's was resolved. My 2009 starts to vibrate as soon as I get on the highway...65 to 80. This is after the car sits all day at work. The vibration is almost gone in about 10 minutes, but I can still feel it a little all the way home (about a 20 minute ride). Almost seems like the tires need to warm up, although I just sold a car with 19 inch wheels and low profile tires, and I never had any tire warm up issues with it. My A5 is riding on Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT tires and the 19 inch Y style wheels.

Has anyone tried a different tire? Any solution from a dealer? I really like this car......just want to know how to fix the problem. Seems crazy to spend over $40K on a car that vibrates on the highway. Any feedback appreciated. Email is nord14341@aol.com if it's easier to write me direct.

 

I bought a 2009 A5 with Y style wheels and Dunlop tires and I have your exact same issue. Dealer balanced the wheels again and it really did not help. My salesman said it was a known issue with the 2008's and it could be fixed or at least improved with different tires and a minor suspension fix. He also said there was no 100% fix......Audi has not yet perfected the A5/S5 wheel/tire/suspension combination. This is very disappointing given the car is so nice in every other way.

 

Hello All,

I also have an Audi that vibrates as your A5/S5's do. It is a new, 2009 A4 S-Line with 19" wheels and Dunlop Sport Maxx tires. After multiple attempts to rebalance the wheels, with one tire being replaced too, my car still shimmies in the steering wheel and shakes a little from the back end (empty passenger seat rocks back and forth). I am pretty sure the A4 and A5 are the same car suspension wise. The control arms are the exact same part number.

My vibration starts at 60MPH and is felt until 80MPH. Because I feel my dealer is inept at troubleshooting, and because I have my own tire balancer, I decided to check the wheels and tires myself. Well it looks like at least one of my wheels is bent, and was delivered that way. The wheel runs out as it spins on the balancer. Further, my tires are always out of balance, even after my dealer "attempts" to balance them. I have a pretty fancy balancer with all of the correct adapter plates for this Audi so I am confident my balancer is accurate.

I asked my dealer to pull my wheels off and install a set of wheels/tires from a new A5 on the lot. They agreed and we ran my A4 for about 10 miles.

My steering wheel shimmy was gone! Still felt a little something from the back but my guess is that it is a tire out of balance. I could have lived with this solution.

So I asked the dealer to leaver the tires/wheels on the car and we can call the problem fixed. They would not agree to this. So they reinstalled my wobblers, sent me on my way, and then called 4 days later to tell me audi wants to replace my control arms. Seems like a total waste of money and resources, especially after the other set of wheels/tires cured the problem.

I am not driving my car in the meantime. It is too uncomfortable and I think the shake is hard on the suspension. Lucky for me I have a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup that has 50K miles on it and has absolutely no shimmy or shake to it. Seems Chrysler can make a car that rides without oscillation.

So... I don't know what to do except to let them replace the control arms and have them experience that the problem still persists after this procedure.

So I recommend that everyone check the trueness of there wheels, and the tires mounted to them first. If anyone wants to speak with me, please respond to this posting with your contact info.

I have purchased 7 VW products in my lifetime, including 3 Audi A4's. This WILL BE my last.

 

High performance low profile tires do tend to flat spot as they sit over night, but don't let anyone convince you that vibration and steering wheel shimmy once the tires are warmed up is normal. That is a flat out lie.

The steering wheel shimmy that never goes away is due to a tire balance issue, a wheel problem, or something else in the front of the car.

 

I have been battling with audi to fix the vibration in the front end of a 2008 A5 for a year. It also experienced pulls left and right. Have had two sets of Pirellis, multiple alignments and balancing at two different dealers. Finally they said that new control arms with larger bushings would fix the problem. After the install including another alignment, the pull right is gone and so is the steering wheel vibration. Some vibration still felt in passenge seat. Are the bigger bushings just masking a design problem? Has anyone sought compensation from Audi for a bad design? If so what are they giving. How about taking the car back under lemon laws? Too bad since it is otherwise a very nice car.

 

I just purchased an A5 two weeks ago and have had it home for only 4 days. The vibration happens between 60-70 mph. Audi NA and Germany are now involved stating they are aware of this problem. They want to change out right and left control arms which will not be available in the US until August. Today they have suggested changing out the PZero's for other brands. Not sure what is going on but will post update as soon as available.

 

My '09 A4 Avant with the 18" prestige rims, stock Pirelli tires has steering wheel vibration from about 60 - 80. It does seem to go away after a while, but it is damn annoying. Am going to bring it up when I get to my first service interval. It's not a daily driver, it sits for stretches of 2-3 days. Wonder if it is just flat spotting of the tire.

 

Dealer changed out two tires saying that although they balanced within Audi parameters they did balance with each other.....meaning......A 27 and under is required by Audi, my tires were at 1, 7, 14 and 19. The two at 14 and 19 were changed out with two new tires balancing at 10 and 12. Vibration has diminished significantly although still apparent and quite annoying. Car is back at dealership today. Will post with update when available.

 

Kinda bumming as I read this thread, but I guess I'm glad I'm not alone... I have a 2009 A5 with stock tires and have not had this issue until about the 10K miles mark. I took delivery of the car in Oct, 2008 so this spring is the first time I have been driving during warmer weather - not sure if this has ANYTHING to do with the issue, but full disclosure is necessary in these circumstances. It's just strange that this has only come up recently...

My current commute includes some highway travel after non highway travel of about 30 miles, so my tires are quite warm by the time I get on the highway.

At about 64-66mph, I was getting a considerable amount of steering wheel vibration. It started to go away at about 72-75mph.

I brought the car to the dealer and they went through the tire balancing process at the end of last week. I picked up the car on Thursday and on my way to the office on Friday, I noticed that the steering wheel issue had decreased, but still had a vibration that I would definitely consider unacceptable. Furthermore, when I would get to 70-73mph, the rest (rear) of the car would shake. The zippers on my computer bag sitting on the passenger seat were literally flopping around. I did not feel safe at all.

I have a second appt with the dealer to take another try at fixing this, but after reading the posts on this site and on others, I'm not holding my breath.

Even prior to the vibration issue, I've been somewhat disappointed in this vehicle. Small things that happen are adding up to buyer's remorse... In my opinion
- the transmission is very rough between gears
- the brakes are not very driver responsive
- the Bank & Olf stereo is loud, yes, but not great sounding
- passenger window makes a 'click' noise as it finishes closing, as if it didn't know when to stop
- acceleration is slow in lower 2 gears and then is almost uncontrollable in 3rd/4th gears. i.e. the steering becomes very sway
- closing the doors with the windows down sounds like the windows may break in the door, as if they are not secured within the door
- the rain sensor wipers have a mind of their own - will sometimes change to super-fast mode when it is barely raining, then after a 5-6 swipes go back to normal speed
- I could go on if I thought about it longer...

My previous car was a 2000 BMW328Ci and I loved the car!!

Buying the A5 was the result of a great looking car and saving a few bucks compared to the BMW 5 series model that I almost purchased.

I can't help but think that I made a mistake.

(Sorry for the long post...)

- Matt

 

I have owned my car since May 16th and it has been at the dealership for vibration issues for 22 days. I have filed for the lemon law. Audi engineers are arriving today to my local dealership to evaluate my vehicle. I will post the outcome.

 

Very interesting. I am close to pulling the trigger on an S5 and this thread is making me reconsider. Please continue to post updates as you can.

 

Any updates?

 

Same here.

 

Anything?