I have a 2003 BMW 325xi wagon that developed a vibration, but it only manifests itself during acceleration. Once pressure on the gas pedal is lifted, the vibration goes away. I feel the vibration in the seat and feet, not in the wheel. At one time it shook the car so hard I could see the hood shaking, but typically it rarely is stronger than driving on a rub strip. The local BMW dealer replaced bushings and the front drive shaft, but no luck. Before I drop another dime on this car I’d like to see if anyone else has any solutions or recommendations.
This issue was common too non AWD cars for quite a while. It almost always was the center support for the driveshaft, I have never seen the problem on an AWD car. You have had the car examined and I am sure that these guys know about this problem so, checking TSB’s (Service Information in BMW speak)
I would hope this car has been checked for the rear axel support problem (this is usualy just noise). It is very hard to second guess the techs that have worked on the car. Is the “local BMW Dealer” throwing up his hands and quitting or does he offer you a plan?
Thank you for the quick response!
The master technician at the BMW dealership has given up. He ruled out the tires, he ruled out the transmission, he ruled out the rear driveshaft. But he did identify the front driveshaft showed major wear and breakdown, so that was fixed but didn’t resolve the problem.
The only other thought he has after asking his other BMW gurus is the ignition coils - the car has a coil for each plug. Since the problem is seen during acceleration this is his last hope. But it’s a guess, and I have trouble believing a misfiring cylinder can cause this deep of a vibration.
BMW did have a lot of problems with coils on the 2003s, but those all failed when the cars were only a couple of years old. I would be surprised if you had bad coils but they lasted 7 years before failing. Hope springs eternal though. Bad coils do show up on acceleration and coils are easy to replace.
Typically we were not allowed to “give up” on a car. What should happen next is when the Factory Rep. comes around (usually once every 3 weeks) he dives your car. BMW will do this even for cars out of warranty.