On my first drive I noticed some vibration coming through the steering wheel mostly at high speeds - over 65 mph. Not enough to judder the car but could defiantly feel it. Took the M3 out for another drive and can again really feel the vibration and some juddering now. I have a mobile appointment for USB retrofit on the 30th Dec however as soon as I add this to my job the next MK service appointment is close to 4 weeks time. I’m planning a fair amount of travelling over Christmas and if the balancing is off - which is shocking for a out of the factory new car - I need to get it sorted asap I’m tempted to take the M3 to the nearest tyre place and get the tyres balanced for £20. Are there any other options to get this sorted quicker. I was also thinking of calling MK service centre and ask them who they use for tyres. Doubt they do that in house? Also I assume any tyre shop can balance Tesla tyres. There isn’t some sort of restriction. Thanks for the advice. Not a great start to a 3 year lease.
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Balancing issue - Steering wheel Vibration
- Thread starter nunp
- Start date
Only issue re tyre balancing is the need to jack the car - so needs a garage with either experience of Teslas or sensible enough to let you supervise +/- pucks. bits of wood, low profile jacks and a torque wrench for the right range (which every garage should have). Lots of articles about flok with badly balanced tesla tyre and weird tyre weights used. I go local to the village garage - sane and sensible and put it on the big hoist, a chance to look underneath and a cup of tea and bullshit session while they've sorted punctures etc.
Yeah spoke with Tesla SC and they will see if they can get me in earlier but doubt it. MK are all booked up. SC said I can take to my local tyre place and I have ordered some pucks which should arrive tomorrow. Confirmed There is no issue for me to do this from a warranty point of view. SC said they may reimburse me the cost so will do this and nope it’s the issue. Local tyre place said they can help but don’t have the pucks to jack up the car which tells me they are not cowboys and know what they need to do with jacking Teslas correctly.
Just got a response from MK SC and they are saying only they can balance the tyres as they have a special machine that does this for teslas that is not available at tyre places. Is this right? Surely you can go to any tyre shop, change tyres and they will balance the tyres?? I think they may have said this as I asked for them to reimburse me the cost of the balancing as I’m not prepared to wait 6 weeks for them to have a look at the problem. I have the jacking pucks now and ready to go to my local tyre place. What should i do ? Need this sorted before my Christmas travels.
Given this a warranty issue they will want to do it themselves. Yes, any tyre place can balance the wheels ... however, occasionally some will do it more successfully than others (on any car) ... and Tesla need to know for sure that it's been done properly. If you report back that you still have the vibration after a tyre shop balances them then they will still need to do it themselves just to be sure. I would keep it with Tesla given this is an issue from new. You don't want them blaming someone else for bad work.
Two conflictng responses: you can/cannot go to a tyre place.
For peace of mind I'd get it done locally - can always let Tesla do it again if problems persist and they feel it necessary to rule out their own balancing before looking further. Tyre balancing at my local garage is cheap enough and would spare tyre wear as well as driver comfort. Also worth going for a drive and checking wheel hub temps by hand in case you have some brake binding issues (distorted disc on a prevoous ICE car caused me problems).
For peace of mind I'd get it done locally - can always let Tesla do it again if problems persist and they feel it necessary to rule out their own balancing before looking further. Tyre balancing at my local garage is cheap enough and would spare tyre wear as well as driver comfort. Also worth going for a drive and checking wheel hub temps by hand in case you have some brake binding issues (distorted disc on a prevoous ICE car caused me problems).
So went to the local tyre place this afternoon and decided to get them to have a look at the balancing - front wheels only. My jack pads arrived just in time from Amazon. They checked the balancing and suggested they were ever so slightly out but to be fair upon driving the car it has made next to no difference. I then reduced the tyres pressures to 40psi as suggested by others facing similar issues but again no difference. Appointment with SC is booked for the 29th though I’m at a loss of what is causing the vibration - I doubt it’s the balancing. It feels like the vibration is caused by the uneven / small bumps from the tarmac but curiously it’s worse when I’m taking a high speed corner and then settles momentarily on a straight line. The bumpier the surface the more vibration is transmitted.
Am I being too sensitive - the M3 has firm suspension so is the vibration simply due to uneven surfaces and suspension vibration. If it is I’ve never owned a car that has kicked up this much steering vibration. Also i don’t recall feeling this during the test drive - I noticed this straightaway when I drove it at higher speeds. To be fair I feel the vibration to a lesser extent at speeds between 30-65.
i hope they get to the bottom of this - I’m starting to regret the car now despite how much I really enjoy driving it and tech.
Am I being too sensitive - the M3 has firm suspension so is the vibration simply due to uneven surfaces and suspension vibration. If it is I’ve never owned a car that has kicked up this much steering vibration. Also i don’t recall feeling this during the test drive - I noticed this straightaway when I drove it at higher speeds. To be fair I feel the vibration to a lesser extent at speeds between 30-65.
i hope they get to the bottom of this - I’m starting to regret the car now despite how much I really enjoy driving it and tech.
If not tyres/discs then the implication is in the steering or suspension having play? I assume loose acoustic foam would show up on balancing attempts? If worse dependent on road surface, then suspension slop? It comes down to how bad and how worried the driver is. If they can't fit you in the option is to demand a loaner on safety grounds on a new car. You never know whether it got dropped, potholed etc during delivery. That has to be a driver decision, but significant steering wheel vibration is tiring on distance driving.
MrBadger
Badger out
Bit of a long shot….. Could it be a slight flat spot on one or more of the tyres, from the car sitting on the boat? If so, it should recover with use, but may take longer in these winter temperatures.
Thanks folks. Yeah switched this off but the vibration is felt constantly almost transmitting all the road surface imperfections. Even on smooth tarmac which isn’t smooth in the UK. Flat spots is a real possibility - I thought this maybe the possible case. I’m taking the M3 on a couple of long runs over the Xmas period so will rack up some miles and hope it improves and also get to try the car on other surfaces. I really like the car and don’t find the wipers that annoying and High beam assist is ok. Just gutted this is impacting the experience and starting to worry it will be cited as they all do this sir. Similar to others that have had the same issue.
I know that will be your fear but they really don't all do this sir! The lack of vibration is a feature of the Model 3 and of EVs generally (due to no internal combustion engine of course). The isolation of steering movement is such that you can drive through a deep puddle at the side of the road and barely feel any tug through the steering ... unlike any other car I've owned. Hopefully the SC will check the car and agree with you.
M1tch
2021 M3P with EAP
I had exactly the same thing on my M3P, picked up days before you created this thread. It was in with the SC 2 days ago where they checked the tracking, balancing, all of the sensors and some other bits. They said it was a normal quirk of the car. It was the first time I’d driven one so didn’t expect it but I’d come from a high end Audi where everything was very refined. Guess it’s just something to get used to.
They also did before and after test drives and found no fault either time.
They also did before and after test drives and found no fault either time.
Spot on - my other car is a X5 and as I have honed in on the steering vibration on the M3 I notice some very very subtle vibration through the steering on imperfect surfaces And that is on air suspension. So you feel more of the road with the M3 and I can feel the subtle vibration at all speeds but is surface dependant. To be fair, I notice it but accept it and almost forget about it. Just a characteristic of the car. SC checked everything over - I got my balancing done too and they advised it was no different to any other M3.
I would want to be given the opportunity to drive a couple of other Model 3s. It’s easy for them to do.
Garages and manufacturers frequently insist that there’s no problem with a vehicle and are subsequently challenged successfully. If every Model 3 was as you describe, this forum, and the motoring press, would be full of it.
I also came from a BMW to the M3 and still have an X3 G01 sat next to it. Wondered the same when I drove it back along the M4 from Bristol after collection; I.e. a very slight and barely perceptible vibration feeling through the wheel at motorway speeds. Quickly got used to it and don’t think it is anything to do with wheel balance like you say.
It is so minor I’m putting it down to coming from a very squishy and thick M sport steering wheel to the much more firm Tesla wheel. Could be the same in your case?
It is so minor I’m putting it down to coming from a very squishy and thick M sport steering wheel to the much more firm Tesla wheel. Could be the same in your case?
Yep I think you are right. I’m used to the very subtly vibration and only really went the tarmac is a little bumpy. Just A M3 characteristic.
