Model 3 Shaking/Vibration

[chickey92]

Hi there, I have a 3 week old M3 RWD that I've had at the SC today for two issues. One of them is that I felt the ride quality was really poor in that there was a lot of vibration through the steering wheel and drivers seat. The SC looked at the balancing and that seems to have sorted the steering wheel vibration but the seat remains the same.

The only way I can describe it is that even on smooth roads, I feel like I have shaky legs and that the drivers seat is shaking in reaction to the road. I haven't owned a Tesla before so maybe this is just how it drives but it's very irritiating and doesn't feel 'Normal'

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[tm1v2]

Ask someone you know with a Model 3, preferably a newish one from 2021+, if they could give you a ride for comparison.

Or schedule a test drive with Tesla.

I don't think I've felt what you're describing, but this sort of thing is difficult to judge based on written descriptions.

 

[EM CARS]

Vibrations are typically caused by wheel balancing (most common), bent rims, and high spots on brake disc (often referred to as warped rotors).
If you feel the vibration in the steering wheel, it’s repeated to the front wheels. If you feel it in the seats, especially if you see the unoccupied passenger seat vibrating at highway speeds, it’s related to the rear wheels.

 

[angelman]

I suddenly started to get quite strong vibration in both seat, body and steering wheel. Initial6i noticed at freeway speeds and thought it was just bad la.road surgac8 but then also I noticed it at very low speeds on smooth roads. Tesla SC quoted $680 unless it's covered by warranty. If it's just alignment I should be able to get that done much cheaper.. but if it's something more serious Tesla needs to attend to it.. Not sure whether to go to sc or try a wheel alignment place first.

 

[XPsionic]

I suddenly started to get quite strong vibration in both seat, body and steering wheel. Initial6i noticed at freeway speeds and thought it was just bad la.road surgac8 but then also I noticed it at very low speeds on smooth roads. Tesla SC quoted $680 unless it's covered by warranty. If it's just alignment I should be able to get that done much cheaper.. but if it's something more serious Tesla needs to attend to it.. Not sure whether to go to sc or try a wheel alignment place first.

Vibrations are not caused by alignment. Bad alignment will cause accelerated tire wear. Vibrations at higher speeds are almost always caused by out of balanced wheels. Vibrations can also be caused damaged tires or rims, or even unsecured wheels that's about to fall off. Can also be damaged/loose suspension components but those typically will make loud knocking or groaning noises.

If you can feel it at very low speed and smooth roads, but no knocking noises, I'd guess it's damaged tires/rims as the most likely culprit.

 

[kpex76]

More than likely it's probably the acoustic foam that separated from one or more tires. I had the same vibration at freeway speeds and had a tire shop look at all four wheels. It turned out two wheels had the issue where the foam had separated and caused heavy vibration on freeway speeds. Had the shop remove the foam and problem solved. If your car is new take it back to Teals service center and have them check the tire/wheel balance. If any of them require a lot of weights to balance them, chances are the foam had separated in the tire. It's a pain in the a** but it happens more often than not.

 

[But_Why]

Hi there, I have a 3 week old M3 RWD that I've had at the SC today for two issues. One of them is that I felt the ride quality was really poor in that there was a lot of vibration through the steering wheel and drivers seat. The SC looked at the balancing and that seems to have sorted the steering wheel vibration but the seat remains the same.

The only way I can describe it is that even on smooth roads, I feel like I have shaky legs and that the drivers seat is shaking in reaction to the road. I haven't owned a Tesla before so maybe this is just how it drives but it's very irritiating and doesn't feel 'Normal'

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have the same exact issue in my Model y. Service center told me wheels/ tires first three times in and kept balancing them and finally told me I needed to replace a wheel - not covered under warranty. So after researching the issue with tire foam I decided to get 4 custom wheel and brand new, no foam tires, well problem persisted. Thought tough and na

Hi there, I have a 3 week old M3 RWD that I've had at the SC today for two issues. One of them is that I felt the ride quality was really poor in that there was a lot of vibration through the steering wheel and drivers seat. The SC looked at the balancing and that seems to have sorted the steering wheel vibration but the seat remains the same.

The only way I can describe it is that even on smooth roads, I feel like I have shaky legs and that the drivers seat is shaking in reaction to the road. I haven't owned a Tesla before so maybe this is just how it drives but it's very irritiating and doesn't feel 'Normal'

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Hi there, I have a 3 week old M3 RWD that I've had at the SC today for two issues. One of them is that I felt the ride quality was really poor in that there was a lot of vibration through the steering wheel and drivers seat. The SC looked at the balancing and that seems to have sorted the steering wheel vibration but the seat remains the same.

The only way I can describe it is that even on smooth roads, I feel like I have shaky legs and that the drivers seat is shaking in reaction to the road. I haven't owned a Tesla before so maybe this is just how it drives but it's very irritiating and doesn't feel 'Normal'

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have the same exact issue in my Model Y. This is my second Model Y and I can tell you it's not normal. Had it in service center multiple times and was told wheels/tires over and over and finally was told I needed to replace a wheel - not covered under warranty. So after researching the foam issues I decided to go custom wheels and brand new tires... well the issue is still here 8 service visits later fighting tooth and nail to get it resolved with no solution from service center. They are now saying that it is normal...

Spoke with some car guys and they recommended suspension so my next move is to install Mountainpass Performance suspension and go from there...

Did you happen to get the issue resolved on your end?

 

[felixculpas]

I'm also trying to sort out something similar in a new M3 LR. Since I was getting winter tires (Nokian R5's) soon, I figured I'd see if that made a difference. On Saturday, driving home from tire shop (a variety of speeds including highway), I thought, oh this is way better so perhaps it was a balancing issue. However on my drive to work yesterday and today, there's still something going on I think but will see if it sorts itself out or not. Perhaps I was just spoiled with RWD and Road Force balanced PS4's on my previous M3. It also doesn't seem to steer anywhere near as nicely as before on highways. Lane changes seem to result in it being difficult to center again. Perhaps I'll change the steering mode and see if that makes a difference. If not, I'll be making a service appointment. You shouldn't have to change the suspension on your own dime to resolve these issues.

My R5's were put on the same stock 18" Tesla wheels so haven't had an opportunity to weed that out of the equation. Could also be multiple issues, of which balancing was only 1 which is perhaps why it seems more subtle now with the new winter tires mounted on the same wheels and re-balanced. Will continue monitoring for a few days.

BTW, the R5's also have foam in them as did the stock tires. I haven't looked at the take-offs but will take them out of their bags this weekend and check.

 

[felixculpas]

The R5's only introduced more issues as they are too grippy in the warmer weather but overall, nothing has changed. Tesla will have me come back to check it again but that sounds like a bit of a revolving door unless I can get someone to buy into what I'm experiencing. So I haven't bothered with that yet. Will wait for cooler weather so the R5's settle down. I think at least part of the problem is that my previous M3 RWD was just a joy to drive with road force balanced 19" PS4's and the dual motor is just very lacking in it's additional weight and poorly matched suspension. Though I still think something's not right, getting someone to buy into that and actually check in more detail will likely be challenging. 98% of my driving is highway so I acquired a very good understanding of how it felt moving from the single to dual motor. If Tesla won't do anything, I might look at aftermarket solutions but don't want to get too spendy.

 

[SourJellybeans]

More than likely it's probably the acoustic foam that separated from one or more tires. I had the same vibration at freeway speeds and had a tire shop look at all four wheels. It turned out two wheels had the issue where the foam had separated and caused heavy vibration on freeway speeds. Had the shop remove the foam and problem solved. If your car is new take it back to Teals service center and have them check the tire/wheel balance. If any of them require a lot of weights to balance them, chances are the foam had separated in the tire. It's a pain in the a** but it happens more often than not.

This was exactly my issue, thanks for posting this!

I had my wheels rebalanced 3 times by 2 different shops, and the issue was still there. I did some research here and came across your post and these 2 other threads:

Faint vibration at speed - tire foam separation?

Steering wheel vibration / shudder at 70 mph - not lane departure system

So I took it back to the last shop and explained the theory - that I think the foam has detached and is causing it to be unbalanced, despite having been rebalanced several times. They took the tires off and found 2 had become dislodged and 1 had bunched up and was throwing it off balance. I had them pull the foam out entirely and it's fixed. Unfortunately, it cost $300 for their labor, but I'm not sure if Tesla would have covered this under warranty since it's a tire issue (even though it was factory tires).

 

[kpex76]

This was exactly my issue, thanks for posting this!

I had my wheels rebalanced 3 times by 2 different shops, and the issue was still there. I did some research here and came across your post and these 2 other threads:

Faint vibration at speed - tire foam separation?

Steering wheel vibration / shudder at 70 mph - not lane departure system

So I took it back to the last shop and explained the theory - that I think the foam has detached and is causing it to be unbalanced, despite having been rebalanced several times. They took the tires off and found 2 had become dislodged and 1 had bunched up and was throwing it off balance. I had them pull the foam out entirely and it's fixed. Unfortunately, it cost $300 for their labor, but I'm not sure if Tesla would have covered this under warranty since it's a tire issue (even though it was factory tires).

Glad this helped.

 

[Amateur7]

So what about the car of the topicstarter?

I now have a late '22 M3 RWD and after some weeks of ownership and driving on various streets and roads I must say that it's a shakey-vibrating-tingling car to me. My girlfriend notices "wobbling" (like playing a little bit the go-pedal) around 40-60 km/h. But to other excessive noise and vibration she is not.
That Wobble might very well be drivetrain issues (motor/inverter based) just like people wrote about many years ago on the Model S. When it's happening try to hold your head against the headrest without any force and then you would feel your head bounce softly back and forth into the headrest. Even more so, If you have any belly fat - it will move like pudding. Also : drive let's say 50km/h let go of the go-pedal and the car will not go to zero fluently - It will make you jiggle a bit.

I have the car on 18inch + 235/45 hankook ventus prime 4 tires. (Looked at and balanced twice) And up to 80-85 km/h I think the car is not that great but with some lower tire-pressure (2.2bar or so) I can cope with the car. But highway speeds 100 and up .. Terrible. If you let go of the steering wheel, you won't really see it move but as soon as you touch it slightly with fingertips it's like a heavy duty sextoy. It goes like crazy. But not how you would have it with an too much out of balaned wheel/tire. There is no twitchy turning movement in the steeringwheel, coffee would not jump out of the cupholders but something makes my brain go crazy. After a 30 minute drive i'm happy to get out of the damn car.

And then theres that kind of helicopter sound at those higher speeds. Like you're driving a really bad car with beat up tires. But they're not, they're expensive, new a looked at twice. I hear that terrible helicopter noise, ofcourse my gf doesn't really understand what i'm talking about.

After hours and hours of testing i'm still not sure whether the sound/feeling gets let with lower tire pressure of if it's wishful thinking.

I'm willing to fight, spend time and some money to make it better for myself cause I like everything else about the car. But for now, I'm anxious about my upcomming 3000km round trip. How the hell am I gonna do that without just undoing my seatbelt and jump out at 200km/h !?!

When I tested the car (before buying) it was sitting on 19". Unkown tires and 2.4bar. Back then I thought it was 2.4bar just cause of standing still for a while. Now I think the previous owner dropped it also for a tiny bit more comfort.


Owned a Zoe and Ampera-E before this one. I'm into EV since 2014. Those cars had, except for the seats and climatecontrol, better comfort.