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

 

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)?

 

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,

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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....

 

I second this motion. I check back very regularly for updates on this issue. Thank you to all members chiming in on this issue.

 

Ok. Here is my update. The BBS wheels are on and the H&R coilovers are installed. No vibration or shimmy yet. The spacers go on this week. I'll post the update.

 

Forget the vibration... let's see some pics!

 

The car just got done today. I'll get some pics and post soon.

 

OK. Here is my update with the vibration issues.

Got the H&R coilovers installed and had the alignment done last week. Did not notice any vibrations. I went to order the new control arms at my dealer (just being proactive)and found out that my production date already had the new control arms on them.

Today the spacers and exhasut system got installed. H&R 20mm DRA in the front and 25mm DRA in the rear. Did a road test once the spacers got put on and the vibration at 60-65 mph was very noticeable.

Came back and road forced the wheels and tires (with the spacers attached to the wheels) down to 11 lbs and less. Fronts had 11lbs and 7 lbs. The rears had 10lbs each side. Went back on a road test and the vibration was still there, but a little better than before.

Came back and took off the wheels and realized that the wheel bolts supplied by BBS was a tad bit long and was making an indentation in the spacers themselves. Just to be sure, the wheels bolt ends were ground down and re-installed.

Looked at the possibility that maybe the vibration still exists because the road force of the front 2 tires were different. 11 lbs on the right and 7 lbs on the left. We took the rear wheels that had 10lbs road force each and put them in the front.

This time we torqued the wheels at 85 lbs instead of the previous 90lbs. We took the car back on a road test. The vibration/shimmy is almost completely gone. There is a hint of it at about 60mph, but totally acceptable in my book.

This has been my journey with this issue and I am glad to say that I am satisfied with the end result. Hope this helps some others with this issue.

 

My Cayman has the same issue. Once its warm the vibration goes away. Porsche says its normal. I hope the new S5 wont vibrate.