Saab900

Problem with A5 is thought by some to be the control arm bushings- which would make sense.

OldSchoolDropout

My first guess is wheel out of balance as well. I'm several hours from dealer. Next time I'm going to be in the area, I'll make appt. to have them check it out.

rishi a4

im facing the same vibration at 60 mph ... any solution ..thanx

scottacus

Have you hit a pothole lately? I have had this type of vibration (speed-dependent, usually at 50-60 mph) when I have hit a pothole and my wheels have gone out of alignment or my rim has been bent.

snagitseven

I hit a bad pothole and blew out a tire. Replaced it and felt bad vibrations in wheel and seat @ 65-75. Balanced twice and discovered tire dealer balancing machine had not been properly calibrated. Discovered tire treads had worn unevenly as a result of possible poor alignment and balance.

Took to Audi dealer to check for any physical damage (none found), rebalanced and it improved considerably. Had them check alignment and one wheel was out of spec. After alignment, further improvement was felt with only some rear hopping still noticeable.

After about 200 miles, the tires wore the uneven tread back down to smooth surfaces and now 95+% smooth ride again - almost like new; no shimmy or excessive hop.

I learned that tire treads can get worn unevenly very quickly if not properly balanced or all wheels aligned. All Quattro Audis I've owned have been very sensitive to shimmy and shake from poor tire tread wear, slightly bent wheels or poor alignment. Never caused by any bad mechanical components.

TB1000

I've had the car since the beginning of September, just hit 6,000 miles on the odometer, and today just noticed the steering wheel vibrating as I was entering the freeway. My passenger seat usually shakes when I'm around 80 but the only time I notice it is on the way to work so I just chalk it up to a rough patch on the freeway. Unfortunately, the steering wheel vibration doesn't make as much sense because I haven't hit any potholes or curbs lately and just had my 5,000 mile service.

Mobilehavoc

I'm at 4200 miles right now and I don't have any steering wheel vibration at high speed. When it vibrates, what happens if you let go of the steering wheel? Does it turn because of the vibrations or just stay in place?

I just drove about 200+ miles this past weekend, mainly on highway at 80-85mph. No vibrations whatsoever. I had 3 other passengers in the car with me and noboby felt any vibrations, noises, etc. Maybe I should count myself lucky, the car is dead silent at 80+ with the windows/sunroof closed and the music off. I can hear the front passenger breathing (not heavily either).

BMWBig6

I have 5700 miles, and my steering wheel VISIBLY shakes at 60-65 MPH. It's obviously more pronounced in Dynamic mode, but is perceptible even in Comfort mode. It reminds me of the BMW "shimmy" that was caused by worn thrust arm bushings in the E32 7-series and E34 5-series cars. I plan to mention it to the dealer soon. This problem didn't exist when the car was new and only seemed to appear in the past thousand miles (perhaps following the tire rotation at the 5,000 mile service).

lhsa

ahhh. let me tell y'all a story.

at 3K miles, i bought and installed a set of sport edition 17" rims. soon after, i started experiencing a shimmy between 50-70 mph. of course my initial thought was the balancing. so began by unbelievable ridiculous adventure in curing the shimmy, which included:

switching tires from cheap yokohamas to expensive potenzas
balancing 4 different times at my installer
alignment
road force balancing at the audi dealer

each of these efforts failed to cure the shimmy. the road force balance was a final step to confirm if the wheels were the problem. the tests all came back clean and the next step was to push for measures which appeared to help a5 owners (new control arms/bushings).

as a final, last step, i ordered a quality set of enkei's from tirerack. guess what? problem solved. it was those da** cheap chinese rims that could balance, but ultimately caused the shimmy. the ride was glass smooth, just like the original 18" OEM sport rims. so after all the wasted time and money, i learned don't buy cheap rims.

so what's the pearl of wisdom for all you folks with the shimmy? not quite sure, but try a different set of rims (or have the dealer put on another set) before going crazy.

OLight:TNG

Different problem, may warrant a different thread, but we'll start here. Parking lot maneuvers, wheel at full lock in one direction or another - say I was finished backing out of a parking space. Shift to D, add a little accelerator, and I get a strong shake through the steering wheel until I begin straightening out.

Anybody?