Humming/Howling noise around 70-75mph

[jvanase]

Hi everyone,
I'm fighting with an issue on a 2018 S3 that I bought used (off-lease) earlier this year. It's been making an obnoxious howling noise around 70mph, basically right where I'd like to set cruise control on the highway. It's very distinguishable from the normal road noise. It starts at around 67 mph, drives me crazy by 70, and then it goes away around 78-80mph.

Brought it to the dealership and they replaced the front driver side wheel bearing (under warranty), which didn't help. Then they told me it was the tires, so I bought a new set of tires. No luck. Then they tell me the wheels are bent (2 of them) and that's causing it. New set of wheels are going on this morning, but I'm pretty skeptical that it's going to help at all. Dealership is claiming that this is normal and they don't hear anything unexpected for this car - I call bullshit.

It's pretty hard to hear on this video, but if you listen with headphones you can tell that as I'm coasting down from 80+ it starts to howl.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_SHRp-lreU

Any ideas?

Cheers

[jvanase]

Oh ya, I should have mentioned that. I did have an alignment done, and I've also rotated both sets of tires to see if that helped. No dice.

The first set were the EOM Conti ProContacts, and the new ones are Conti ExtremeContact DWS06 (same size).

It's really hard to tell, but if I had to guess I'd say it's coming from the front driver side. Of course, that's where I'm sitting so could just be a factor of placement.

[facasi]

Are you feeling vibrations in the car with the sound described ?

[jvanase]

Not from the steeling wheel, but it's uncomfortable to put my head against the headrest because it is shaking. Another thing I should have mentioned!

[itsjru]

I had a similar feeling and it ended up being my wheel bearing. Not sure if it’s the same for you but sounds really similar to my experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[hpclayto]

Sounds like a wheel bearing. Stop going to the dealership and blindly throwing money at it. Take it to a reputable Indy shop.

[Rare Ara S3]

Still sounds like a wheel bearing. The place that did the tires should be able to confirm any wheel damage. Any chance you can swap wheels ? At least that eliminates one variable. Swapping with my wife’s mk7 wheels helped me find a bent wheel issue.
It could be an axle, driveshaft or diff problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[bakedcorn]

I agree with getting an Indy shop to look at it.

When I had a bad wheel bearing on my older vehicle it was very pronounced when making a left turn. Does this occur in your ride? Another way of checking is to jack all four corners if possible and look for more than usual play at the wheel for example try to move the wheel in and out at both the 12/6 and 3/9 positions. Also rotate the wheel for odd sounds.

Fingers crossed you get this sorted out without throwing anymore funds at it.






Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[jvanase]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I've got the new wheels and tires on and it's definitely still making the noise. At least the new wheels look good!

I did bring it to an independent shop and they said the wheel bearing is bad. So I guess I'm off to fight with the dealership about replacing that under warranty. I say fight because they are telling me that this is "normal" road noise, and it is most definitely not.

Now I'm having an issue with the passenger airbag sensor as well. Another warranty claim...