Vibration at highway speed (2014 S5)

[jwallace0988]

Hi guys/girls, I just posted my first welcome post a few minutes ago but wanted some specific attention to my one concern on my today purchased 2014 S5.

I feel there is an unnatural vibration above 60 mph... I'm not sure how to pin point it but I'll give it a shot.
You can feel it in the steering wheel, floor boards and shifter. It's not very audible - but almost sounds mechanical in nature if I had to take a stab (like a low hum), It is NOT a violent vibration - but definitely noticeable once you get into the 60 - 70 mph range - like it takes over at that point. As I am new to Audis specifically and the Stronic transmission, is this normal? I plan on contacting the dealer first thing tomorrow as its a fresh purchase to me.

Dealer put 4 new tires on and did alignment when they acquired the car before sale.
Clean carfax, 22k miles, no obvious rim damage, Stronic, w/ sports diff.

Thank you! Any feedback/input is appreciated!



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[Audiforumuser]

Do you know if the dealer "road force balanced" the wheels? Small imperfections in balance will cause what you're experiencing. Hopefully it's that.


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[jwallace0988]

Do you know if the dealer "road force balanced" the wheels? Small imperfections in balance will cause what you're experiencing. Hopefully it's that.


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I'm not sure about the road force balance, would an Audi dealership have that in there shop? Or a speciality shop


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[doug97gxe]

vibration above 60 mph is usually balancing of the wheel issue... vibration at all speeds is usually suspension related

[jwallace0988]

Visited the dealer today and had a tech ride with me - I drove first, then he drove. During both turns he was able to see what I was talking about and replicate the vibration. He narrowed it down to between 60ish to 75ish when the vibration occurs but after 80 it disappears. We set an appointment up for tomorrow to rebalance the tires and put it on the alignment machine. During the test drive we tried putting it in neutral with it not affecting the vibration at those mentioned speeds. He also tried low speed higher rpm and saw no vibration - making sure it wasn't something engine or transmission related. Since the tires are brand new, hopefully tomorrows visit corrects the issue, I will follow up then!


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[doug97gxe]

no vibration at speed with the car in neutral not a good sign.. that would rule out wheel balancing

[Audiforumuser]

I'm not sure about the road force balance, would an Audi dealership have that in there shop? Or a speciality shop


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I think most do now. My dealership has one and the tech always walks me through the electronic print-outs. Pretty cool actually. The machine simulates road forces on the wheel as though it's on the car so can pick out small imperfections that a typical manual machine won't detect.

Were the tires put on the car when you purchased it or when the Dealer took the car for resale? It's possible that sitting for a prolonged period of time may have flat-spotted the tires enough that you'll feel slight vibration at speed. Typically the tech can balance this out on a Road Force machine to the point that it minimizes or completely eliminates what you're experiencing.

[jwallace0988]

no vibration at speed with the car in neutral not a good sign.. that would rule out wheel balancing

Oops I meant it had no effect on the vibration. Aka it continued the vibration* thanks for the catch!


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[doug97gxe]

Oops I meant it had no effect on the vibration. Aka it continued the vibration* thanks for the catch!


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Ok then that should be a balancing thing not mechanical


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[jwallace0988]

Ok then that should be a balancing thing not mechanical


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Yeah definitely hope not, the car was serviced at the correct intervals. Hopefully tomorrows visit clears up the issue!


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[sly9]

I have the same problem and sent a post a few days ago. I am finding the road force balance service these days..

[jwallace0988]

Not quite the update I was expecting to give. What I believed was going to be a superb purchase has now turned into a really really bad time. Thanks for the comments and posts - hopefully I return with another Audi as this one turned out to be WAY more problems then it was worth. Their was about 4K worth of paint issues from previous repairs that they didn't share with me, and they never found the source off the vibration since I pulled the plug once the paint discovery dropped a bomb on my excitement.


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[Audiforumuser]

Shitty man. At least you discovered this early on and got out of the car. Good luck in your search for another one.

The paint damage is likely related to the shimmy you were experiencing. Probably damaged suspension components from whatever ruined the paint work. You made the right decision.


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