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Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 2:31 pm
by marinaman
Hi all
Having a problem with E53 19" front wheels cant get them balanced.
Bought them few months ago from a seller on this forum, They are the same size as original wheels but the later E70 design. local garage balanced them 3 times, to no avail, they fitted entire front joint set 1000 miles ago so they sure there is nothing there causing it.
The wobble wasnt there when old wheels were on. so must be a wheel or tyre problem
Took to Kwik fit to try a different set up and still same. they said the other garages balance was 18grams out who knows not i.
still exactly same problem round 55 to 60, quite a wobble mainly on overrun, if you accelerate fast you dont notice it until you ease of to 60ish,
Have read a lot about wheel cracks, could this be a cause but then need to start looking for a crack, any tips on that ?
Thanks
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:41 pm
by marti
Spray slightly diluted washing up liquid over the wheel bit at a time and look for bubbles...
Is the hub the same size on the e70 or do you need some spigot rings??
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Spigot-Rings ... Swwo1XenWb
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:45 pm
by marinaman
not sure on hub size, chap said he had them on his E53 while refurbing his old wheels said they were ok but he had not had them balanced so very odd they wobble on my car
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 4:07 pm
by X5Sport
E53 hub sizes are different to E70 hubs. You need concentric spigot rings on at least one axle to keep the wheels centralised.
Centre bore in the E70 is 74.1 whereas E53 is 72.6 so you will indeed need spigot rings all round.
Check the wheel centre bores and match as above. If you don’t use them then the wheel may not be perfectly centralised and will cause vibration.
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 4:43 pm
by marinaman
Hi all
Well i think its the E70 wheel i attach a photo if you can advise if i need to buy rings., its slightly different to the original wheels it came with.
Odd though the seller used them while getting his refurbed and said nothing about it.
How come the wheels then are secure to the hub and why are they not correct if the bolts line up ?
so the link on Ebay for the rings i need to buy those and do they just fit inside the wheel, sorry to appear thick but never used rings before :'(

Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:47 pm
by X5Sport
There is always a little play in the bolt holes even though they are the same distance apart. It’s the gap between the ridge on the hub and the wheel itself. The wheel should just fit over a ridge on the brake hub which holds it centred and then the bolts clamp it up in that position.
It’s only about a millimetre difference but it is enough to cause trouble. The previous owner may not have cared.
You’ll need to measure the hub bores as there is more than one version of that wheel - one for the X6 (E71) and one for the X5 (E70). They have different bores as the rear axles are different. You can’t put X6 wheels in an X5 without machining the bore out. You can put E70 wheels on an E53 as long as you use spigot rings, the same with X6 wheels on an E53.
Have a search on here for ‘spigot rings’.

Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:46 pm
by marinaman
Many thanks again for info
these spigots on Ebay this is on the listing
Note: This product is for aftermarket wheels with over bored centre only. Original wheels do not require spigot rings as will be direct bored.
Will fit all models of car in the compatibility list, if unsure please email and we can confirm fitment.
does this mean they are the wrong ones.
not understanding , i have fitted oe BWM wheels not aftermarket so are there other types of spigots for oe wheels ?
Have just been on You tube and have it now got it right ?
The wheels i have are from early E70 and the hole bore is 74.1 the hubs ring on my car is 72.6 so i need to reduce it down, so i do need to buy these ebay spigot rigns even though it says they are for aftermarket wheels
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:36 pm
by X5Sport
BMW don’t sell spigot rings so I am assuming the ‘after market’ catches all.
OE wheels are correctly bored but ONLY when used with the car they were designed for. You have E70 wheels which are not part of the OE fitments offered for the E53, hence the opportunity you now have.
Several folks on here have very successfully used spigots.
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:51 pm
by henrym3
I had to use spigot rings on the golf. They fit into the wheel, you need to make sure the wheel bore is perfectly clean and the hub on the vehicle is equally clean and be extremely careful when fitting that you don’t partially crush the spigot ring. I very lightly copper slipped the hub and bore. You will always get some form of vibration if hub and bore are different sizes if you don’t use spigot rings.
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:08 pm
by marinaman
thanks chaps
will report when fitted
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2018 7:04 am
by Digidick
If they still wobble after all of the above and you want the wheels and tyres checking for roundness and the tyres for any imperfections in their construction I’d recommend getting them Road Force Balanced.
See my issues here...
Road Force Balancing is brilliant!!
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_ ... are_type=t
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 7:54 pm
by marinaman
Well chaps
You have again brought success
I doubted a thin ring of plastic would cure the massive wobble.
Next day delivery by the chap on the Ebay link by DPD that must have cost more than the £4.99 for the rings.
Fitted and tested
Not a wobble in sight.
I thank you. :alkashi:
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:00 pm
by X5Sport
As soon as you said E70 wheels, I remembered the centre bore being different. Glad we could help.
Re: Wheel wobble
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:48 pm
by marti
Great stuff...another easy fix
