Just picked up my new B7 last week and am new to this board. I notice a steering wheel vibration at highway speeds that gets worse as speed increases. The whole car begins to shake at speeds greater than 65mph. I already searched past threads and others have experienced similar symptoms. The problem was ascribed to poor balancing vs slick silicone based goop used when tires are mounted at the factory that allows the tires to move around the wheel. Has anyone had this issue resolved? Do you guys think Audi will give me a hassle when I bring the car back for an unscheduled service; ie. I have to pay for the balancing? There are 250 miles on the car; 2.0T quattro with premium package and I already checked that tire pressure is equal all around.

Thanks for your help.

I had a similar deal with my 05.5 2.0T
I brought it to the dealer and they balanced the wheels, no questions asked. All were out of balance by some degree. That was a couple months back, but the shaking at 55mph never really went away so I'm headed back to the dealer on Monday.

My new A4 had the shakes from day one. I had different tires put on at 250 miles and the problem still existed so I took it in to the dealer. They said nothing was wrong except that the tire dealer had not dynamically balanced the tires. Back to the tire dealer I went but lost confidence after I saw the person doing the work. It was better for a short time afterwards. I took my car to a different dealer for it's first oil change and mentioned the shaking, they said they would look into it. As far as I know all they did was rotate the tires and let some air out. PSI went from 31 to 27 and the car did shake less but it still shows up from time to time. I traded in an 04 which had NO issues for a car that shakes. Drives me crazy! I personally think it's the huge rotors causing the stress on the front end.

Can't say it's the same problem as with your car, but FWIW... I have huge aftermarket brakes on the car, even bigger than the S4 brakes. My wheels were shaking a little bit, so I took it to Custom Alignment here in Mountain View. They have so far solved every problem with my cars, regardless how miniscule it was. They match-mounted all tires, meaning they removed the tires and mounted them back on, taking into account variations in the rim and tire, in a way that they will cancel out as much as possible. Then they placed them on the car in a way that would minimize pull - again, all part of tire variation.

Things got much better (seeing that machine is pretty amazing). But not perfect. Turns out that the rotors are a slightly warped; it's so faint that you really have to look for it. The easiest way to look for it is by slowing down very gently, with very slight brake pressure, at a low speed to a stop. That's when you can feel it best. Alternatively, tapping the brakes super gently at highway speed - a different feeling.

I have been in this position before; my 2-piece rotors usually take a thousand miles to be truly settled, and so even though they were perfect at install time they get a slight twitch later on; then if you shave them they are good for good. At least that has been my experience with the past 5 sets of 2-piece rotors, and I can imagine that the same would apply to stock rotors as well.

If the balancing at the dealer doesn't work out, give it a shot with re-surfacing, preferably at a good shop rather than the freebie at the dealer. But you should definitely try to get the dealer to fix it for free first.

I have had balance issues before, but often it is a bit more complicated. The wheel and tire can sometimes be out of round with each other and a "Road Force Balancing" can be miraculous. I have had it done on several cars and highly recommend it. Hopefully your dealer has one of the Hunter machines, if not try and see about getting it done. My local dealer has one, so hopefully it will fix the issue...

The reason they sometimes balk is that requires each wheel and tire to dismounted and remounted...<ul><li><a href="http://www.gsp9700.com/">http://www.gsp9700.com/</a</li></ul>

On a brand new car you should have no trouble getting a wheel balance.

When wheel balancing is not part of the warranty program, you might have better results complaining about vibration than requesting a balance job. Note the distinction: Audi may refuse claims for wheel balancing while accepting claims for fixing vibrations -- even when the ultimate vibration remedy turns out to be wheel balancing.

As for dynamic balancing, the process is commonly misunderstood. Good low profile tires don't benefit from it.

This sounds exactly like my experience. I had a vibration from day one and as I drove the car it became less but never went away completely. I put new wheels and tires(Tirerack) and had the same vibration. Mentioned it at my first service. They rotated the tires and made it better but it still has a small vibration between 55 and 60. Goes away just above 60. Never an issue with my 2000 S4 or my 2002 TT. I am beginning to believe it isn't completely tire balance.

as you bring your cars in. I have an appointment scheduled and will update you guys with what they find. I'll be honest, I'm not sure that simple balancing will be the answer as many have tried balancing with no luck. I'm suspicious that the problem lies with the oversized brakes or potentially, the servotronic steering having some sort of reaction to a very slight misalignment.

The comraderie on this board is great. Thanks again.

I had the same issue many have had at 55-60 mph. My dealer did a four wheel alignment and balanced the tires, all for free, and the car was better. But when the problem didn't go away, I started paying closer attention, and it was most noticeable in sixth (manual tranny) at 55-60. The motor seems to be rocking on its mounts quite a bit at that engine speed, making its diesel-like grunting, and it may be causing the wheel vibration. If that's true, then fixing the problem could be tough.