FYI, Tire balance and allignment worked for me. as stated I have a rim w/ a small bend on the back so I still get a very small bit of vibration. but nothing as bad as it used to be. also check to see if your mini is mushroomed this could be screwing w/ how the wheels are hitting the concrete. I can get the car up to 70 and it does just fine. I am thinking once I flatten my very very slight mushrooming and add strut savers, get a new set of rims, Miles will be running stupid smooth.

 

My car had 12 km when I took delivery last March, and been doing it since day 1. I doubt it is mushroomed!!

 

sorry to hear about the shimmy/shake. fyi my '08 cabrio has had no such issue up to speeds 120+ @ thunderbolt/lightning. i can be obsessive, and put on strut tower plates as soon as i brought the mini home from the dealer. i don't know that low milage rules out mushrooming. my point is that if it's not the tires, alignment would be my next bet. you might also want to try a non-dealer (like helix, or perhaps madness - not sure which is closer to you) to look at the problem, they have different priorities....and in some cases a lot more experience. good luck!

 

Listen to this man. I rotated my tires and got the shimmy at 55 mph. Went to my tire shop thinking one of the wheels was bent. Turned out all 4 were out of balance with only 2k on them (driving hard removes a lot of rubber). Once balanced the shimmy is gone. I am now working on unbalancing them again.

 

All tires were replaced. No alignment done (that they mentioned to me) the 'shudder' is gone, but there is still something there in the back at that speed. My thought is there is something causing the tires to become misshappen and that the shudder will be back before long?? I suspect what I am feeling is what the person who posted about having a bent rim is feeling. I bet it's not the bent rim.

 

My car is stored for the winter, so i'll look into it next March. I'll be getting new non-runflat tires, and wheel alignment at the same time, hope it will fix it.

 

Just wanted to let you all know the latest on my issues with shimmy. I have an appointment to bring the car in on December 30th. I spoke to the general manager about the problem the fact that he has another customer with the same issues. I asked if he could arrange for a regional tech to be there for my appointment. Based on all the steps taken to correct the problem on the other car that have been unsuccessful I am planning on writing a letter to Mini and begin the process to have them buy the car back under lemon law. Will keep you posted.

 

I have the same issue with my 2008 convertible (6000 miles). At 70 mph (+/- 5mph) my car shakes. I'll have to see about getting the wheels/tires balanced but my closest dealer is 100 miles away.

 

Had to put my 2 cents worth in. Have driven an 06 MCCSa (17" Goodyear RFT) for a year and a half, 16K miles, 3900 mi. summer road trip. I've had absolutely no vib problem. Asked about it amonst local Mini club, other Cabs same as mine. Suspect more isolated than wide-spread issue. BTW, who wouldn't drive a Cab, perfect for open motoring that is is.

 

Lots of them seems to be from some '07 and mostly '08 models........

 

I recovered my Mini last week from the dealer after they replaced two tires and roadforce balanced all four tires. While the shimmy is much improved, it is still there. After test drives with both the service manager and the tech who did the work they did agree but said this slight shimmy was inherent in the design of the car. They took me for a ride in another '08 that had 16" wheels (all they had available). It too had a slight shimmy between 65 and 75 mph. Some of you have reported that your cars are completely free of this phenomenon. I'm not sure what to do next. HELP????

 

Mine is a 08 and has a slight shimmy also. I thought it was normal. Now I'm a bit concerned. Is it OK to leave as is? I rarely run on the freeway. When I do, 70 is too slow.

 

I have an 08 S cabrio and IMO no shimmy is normal and I would not accept this as a normal condition. If you read through this thread you will see that not all have this problem. The dealer saying ‘all do this’ is just trying to avoid their responsibilities and fix this.

Steve

 

I have a 2006 factory JCW MCS Cabrio with 8200 miles running JCW 18" wheels with Dunlop RFT and have never experienced any shimmy whatsoever. It's my daily driver and I typically average about 35 miles of both freeway and surface streets each day and I've never had a problem

 

I am wondering if anyone out there that does not have this problem lives anywhere close to Annapolis. If so, would love to have you meet me at the dealer and help me prove this is not a normal condition....Thanks in advance

 

no shimmy in mine, I drive over 115mph at least every week here in germany. w/ 17in run flats

 

Here a sidewalk '08 from the Netherlands, also has the shimmy at 70 M an hour. I also now that they now it by Mini. My dealer told me that it were the 17 inch sidewalk wheels, so i put my 18 inch works wheels. But the shimmy is still there. Also have a strutbrace on it from day 1.
I also notice that when the car is warm, the shimmy go's away.

 

Well...I sent my letter off to BMW requesting they take my car back under provisions of our states Lemon Law. Tired of dealer telling me that everything is normal. Will keep you posted

 

Well...I had an appointment with the regional Mini rep last week. He test drove the car and agreed there was a problem. They started by trying to re balance the tires, two of which were replace on the last visit. Then they told me those tires were so bad they couldn't get them to balance properly and offered four new Continental tires. After they were installed and balanced I took the car on a test drive and found no change. They then agreed to check the alignment. They returned the car after a four wheel alignment and some other checks. I drove the car home.....it was actually worse than before. Now Mini is telling me the car is normal. I have to make one more service visit in order to file under the Lemon Law. Also considering filing with the NHTSA (these are the guys who govern recalls) as vehicle defect. Will keep you posted

 

Ok, got new tires(toyo proxes4, non-runflat), wheel alignment, and the shake is ALL gone

OMG, what a difference, now I really like the way the car drives, no more rattle and shake

 

My 08 with stock 16" alloys and non-run flats shakes as well. I have not really determined at what speed it occurs. My passenger headrest shakes as a result which is quite annoying.

 

Yep, pretty annoying. In my case, i'm pretty sure the Pirelli Euphoria RunFlat was the culprit of all the shaking.

 

I did engage a lawyer to file a Lemon Law Claim against BMW. The initial request for repurchase has been denied. Unfortunately I live in Maryland. The attorney advised me that judges are not consumer friendly and take the case to court has low probability of winning. She has filed a case through the Better Business Bureau Auto Line. Still waiting on that outcome. In the mean time, I have filed a safety complaint with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. I would appreciate support from anyone else who has experienced this problem to file one as well. The web site is: www.nhtsa.org

The form takes less than five minutes to complete. Thanks in advance

 

Sorry for the late post but after many visits to my dealership (almost 2 hours away) and much unhappiness, I forced the dealership to replace my tires (Pirelli) that came on the car to Goodyear Eagle. They didn't like having to do it but gosh, shimmy was gone. Come to find out, they had to do the same with 3 other cars that came in on the same truck. Defective Pirelli tires is what they said.
I drive an 08 MCS.