E46 Fanatics Forum banner

Vibration while stopped in gear.

8K views 30 replies 14 participants last post by  EmFiftyFour 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice. Car is a 04 330xi, 104K.

Having an issue with vibration while the car is in gear, stopped, with the brakes on. If I'm sitting at a stoplight, or the driveway, whatever, if the car is in gear, it has a pretty decent dull vibration that goes away the second you touch the gas, or if you out in in N or P.

CCV system has been rebuilt. Front axles have been replaced (just finished drivers side last weekend). Transfer case mount is brand new.

Any ideas here? Before the recent repairs, it had a bit of vibration that was noticeable enough to warrant me inspecting the transfer case mount and finding that it needed to be replaced, now with the new mount, it's only worsened.

:facepalm:
 
#6 ·
A visual inspection may tell you if it's really shot, but it's common for them (I'm talking all cars in general, not just the E46) to look brand new but need to be replaced. Usually it's just the vibration that tells you all you need to know.

And do NOT cheap out on mounts - cheap off brand mounts will work for a couple thousand miles then you'll get your vibrations back. Some really cheap ones will not isolate the vibrations very well, leading some to think the problem wasn't the mount in the first place.
 
#7 ·
I see ECS has Genuine BMW stuff available, but what had me wondering was one of them said something about 'upgraded' in the description. I've read about guys going to M3 mounts, and I'm not interested in any of that, as this is the wife's car and I don't need to put harder mounts in.
 
#10 ·
Could it be a factory defect ?

ok, I have the vibration in both cars, 04 & 05 xi:hmm: Changed the mounts in the one (all) motor / transfer case - what a :ben:! Still have a slight vibration that can be felt at a stop sign or light. Then with alittle gas it goes away? A few posts up "clean the ICV" sorry, don't recognize that one?

I hate to say this, what about the Torx Convertor? :eek: Could it be an issue? How would one know? :confused: Can it be tested somehow?
 
#11 ·
Hello

I don't know what is ICV or CCV, but Motor mounts are driven by depression with a vacuum pomp. If the vacuum is not good, motor mounts will not do their work.
Here are french documents that may help. I let you translate them :
 

Attachments

#12 ·
Bad front axles will also contribute to what appear to be engine vibration when the car is stopped. Do not ask me how or why but many XI owners have replaced front axles after motor and trans mount have not resolved the vibration at idle and this has solved many of the problems.
 
#14 ·
I agree, however IF the joint is loose, in grease, the vibration could maybe be made. My vote would be casted to be the torx converter. Or if you want to think
ugly? drive-shaft yuk!
Both of the 330xi are doing it, so the axle post has merit - the 323 with 100k more miles doesn't. (rear wheel drive)
 
#15 ·
Just search this forum and others, plenty of vibration issues while stopped that turned out to be axle shaft problems.
 
#17 ·
In order of probability: 1. Motor mounts 2. CV Axles 3. Front Driveshaft u-joints 4. Transfer Case output shaft bearing

For some reason the AT xi's do not have the Guibo on the front driveshaft, so all the vibration produced by the slop in the TC, driveshaft, front diff, goes directly into the steering column with no dampening.
 
#18 ·
I have the same issue right now :(

Gonna look into replacing the motor mounts first later this spring. The PO had the front axles replaced at 162,000km (24k ago) so i'm pretty sure its the motor mounts, but if the axles are the reason, ill be kinda surprised and upset at the same time lol.
 
#21 ·
I had the same issue. I was overhauling the entire suspension at the time, here's the list of replacements: Motor mounts, GKN front CV axles, front wheel bearings, front struts with top strut mounts, tie rod assemblies, both steering joints, rebuilt brake calipers, new rotors, guibo, center support bearing, rear diff bushing. The vibration was still present after all these changes. I found cheap Transfer Case in good condition which I swapped in the car and front end vibration is now gone. The old TC had significant gear slop and output shaft bearing play.
 
#22 ·
Who has the "CHECK" list????? Would really like to see the scoring. What fix did it, what were the miles.
1- Motor Mounts Fixed the problem ____
2- Transmission Mount Fixed the problem ____
3- CV axles Fixed the problem ____
4- Torx converter (my personal favorite worry) Fixed the problem ____
5- Fixed the problem ____
6- Fixed the problem ____
7- Fixed the problem ____
How many can there be?
And this is JUST FOR a sitting at a light, stop sign, driveway, vibration. Once you touch the gas (lightly), it goes away.
 
#23 ·
For me, it was 100% motor mounts. Left was cracked and almost separated, right was sunken a good deal and had lost a lot of the oil, extremely loose as well.

However, my symptoms included awful vibrations that accompanying engine load, but as soon as you lift off the throttle it went away, also shifting in the neutral killed it. And I mean awful as in as speed increased the entire car would begin shaking. Knowing now what I was driving on I'm not surprised; I was shocked when I saw how worn they actually were.

Ant any rate, the motor mounts (for now) have me vibration-free.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top