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Vibration during accelleration

5K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  cnotesdip 
#1 ·
I have a 2001 330i w/5 speed automatic tranny. When accellerating at 50%+ throttle, I get a rumble-strip like vibration, usually between 2500 - 4500 rpm, in 1st & 2nd gear. At first, I thought left rear tire was flat, but no, OK, fully inflated. 112,000 miles on tranny, could this be a problem with clutches; or could this be a problem with the differential? Any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Hey have recently noticed the identical symptoms. 1st and 2nd gear under somewhat hard acceleration it chatters. It feels like something is just gonna snap so I have been babying it. Doesnt seems to slow it down at all. Let me know if you have found a solution? 2003 325I 140k miles
 
#5 ·
Potential, but that depends on your skill and experience. Also, although it sounds like it could be the flex disk coupling or center support bracket and bearing...not sure we know enough yet to conclude that.

If you search, I think you'll find diagnostics of what speed bad guibo (flex disk) or csb seems to become a problem at.

Although the work is straightforward, there's a lot of little details that make a big difference given that the driveshaft is a hunk of metal, is factory balanced and spins very fast. You need to remove exhaust and heat shield to get to csb...think some might've slipped guibo in without doing that. You can see guibo and prolly see if it shows signs of age...

Vibrations of that sort could be many other things too...sorry. Also, as happened to me in hunting a vibration for over a year...everything I did made it better, but it wasn't until I discovered my inside rims were flatspotted on 3 of 4 wheels that I got the last of vibration out of my car...still have those bad wheels in back, but they're balanced and not transmitting much beyond a slight vibe to them...will get to them eventually.

Anyway, don't be surprised if what you're feeling is composed of a number of things...and it was just one thing that put it over the edge enough for you to care about doing something about it. Do some test driving and see if you can make it better or worse...see if different in turns...as in, bad bearings and bad CA/CABs seems like you'd feel them more under the greater load of initial acceleration...that's if both are issues. Bearing alone doesn't sound like your issue though.

I'll stop guessing now...but suggest you test drive enough to make sure the symptoms you describe are consistent. Read up on guibo/csb issues and see if that seems like what's going on.

It's real easy and real expensive to start throwing parts at car...and I've read of many spending thousands going from one possibility to another...so just want to make sure you don't invest based on a guess from the Internet!

Not that the poster who suggested these things is wrong...just that it seems to me that you should invest time in learning about that and confirming...that's all.

Doug
 
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