Hi everyone,

I had posed a question in an older thread that went unanswered, so let me try again in a new dedicated thread: About a month ago I got a new 2010 G37S MT and immediately after leaving the dealership and getting on the freeway I noticed vibration so I called them and took the car in, and here's a summary of events since:

- The dealership road forced balanced the wheels - problem not resolved
- Since that dealership was too far, I took it to another one for a second trip and they also road force balanced the wheels, and while problem got better, issue was still there
- Took it back again, and to the dealer's credit, they took a new set of wheels from a new car on the lot and put it on mine - problem still there

To be clear, I start feeling the vibration around 55-60 mph and it peaks around 70-75 mph. I just called to make another appointment... not really what I had in mind when picking up a brand new car. So here are the questions:

1. Any insights as to what could be causing this? Since the magnitude and location of vibration seems to change after each visit, I am inclined to believe that tires/wheels are the culprit, but I would appreciate other suggestions
2. Has this happened to others? I am trying to determine whether or not there are any known issues with the tires/wheels (or other part of the car altogether).

Thanks!

i did read your post before and i checked my G its a 2010 G37xS and i had no vibration and when i checked it was at 3am so no1 was on the highway coming home from work but from 45 to 80 had nothing really smooth i had her up to 145 at 1 point and no vibration oh does anyone know what this thing is gov. at cause she was still pulling hard

155

At this point they should start looking at something other than the rims and tires.

audtatious wrote:At this point they should start looking at something other than the rims and tires.

Agree, and hence the question: what else could it be?

Something in the drive line, perhaps a drive shaft. Though unlikely, might also relate to one of the rotors.

Well, lets think about this a bit....

Do you feel the vibration through the steering wheel, in that the steering wheel moves back and forth? If so, then that is usually a tire/rim issue with the front tires. If it were a back tire you would feel the vibration but not as much through the steering.

So, if it's not wheel/tire then what is it? If it seems to come from the back it can be axles or diff issues. If it still seems to be wheel/tire related, maybe bearings or really screwed up brake rotor balance (would probably notice that more when braking). Additionally, you have the driveshaft, transmission or maybe even a motor mount?

Just have to keep digging at it at this point to determine what the real issue is.

It sucks that the dealership is too far...but here's what I recommend. Take the car to the dealership and have one of their techs or service manager ride along with you or even have them confirm the vibration by driving the car with you. Once they agree that there is indeed a problem, tell the service manager that you'll pick up the car once the vibration is gone. They'll give you a loaner in the meantime.

Yes, that's what I am in the process of doing... Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Here's an update for those who are interested:

- I took the car back, and the dealer used an instrument to identify the vibration frequency to help narrow down the source of the vibration. The frequency of vibration was 17Hz, which brought the problem back to the wheels and tires. They also did other tests while driving that confirmed the same thing
- They changed one of the tires, and roadforce balanced the others and told me the issue was resolved (they had the car for a few days)
- Immediately upon entering the freeway after I picked it up I noticed nothing had changed, so returned the next day and this time drove with another mechanic. The mechanic acknowledged the vibration and menioned the culprit was probably the tires. He suggested we drive a new vehicle off the lot to see that one was better, which to my surprise it was worse and the mechnic admitted it. He came back to his recommendation that it was probably the type of tires used. He mentiond if you had a set of Michelins you wouldn't have this problem
- The dealer then called Infiniti, which told them they could not do anything about it. The reason they stated was if another new vehicle does it then it was characteristic of the vehicle. I did not accept this answer so the dealer gave me the number of Infiniti's customer service to pursue
- In a discussion with the Infiniti rep, they basically told me that they acknowledge the issue but they could not do anything about it. I put it in different words just to be certain I understood correctly, and the rep confirmed that was the case. She also offered to give me the phone number of BBB in the event I wanted to pursue this matter

Quite a strange turn of events, not at all what I had expected. I could just buy a set of new tires and move on, but somehow I find it difficult to spend this money on a brand new car. I have contacted BBB and opened a file, we'll see how it goes.

For those who are looking at buying a new G37 (apparently the issue exists on the ones with the Sport option): test drive it at highway speeds first. You may be lucky and yours will be fine, if not, my advice is walk away.

Does not necessarily surprise me. I've not been a fan of Bridgestone tires but it can easily happen to any performance brand.

Good luck with the BBB

How bad is this vibration exactly? On a scale of 1 to 10 in all of your driving experience.

I notice that my '11 G37x has some vibration at highway speeds, but it is nothing compared to the '09 Accord I had previously. Also, the tires on the G37's in general are from Tier 1 suppliers, so I doubt that is the tires themselves. I am leaning towards balancing and the fact that the car has TPMS sensors which cause the tires to be almost impossible to balance 100% perfectly. This is just my educated opinion.

Picked up my Limited Edition Sedan a couple days ago, and had a long drive home (400 miles.....bought it out of state for a good deal).

I had this exact issue on the way home. Around 55 to 65 mph and then 75 to 80 mph.

Do you have the Dunlop tires or the Bridgestones? I have the Dunlops, and I believe they are the source of most issues. They also transmit a LOT of road feel back into the car (via steering wheel and brake pedal). If you read the Tire Rack reviews on the same tire, they all echo the same issues. My guess is if it were something else (diff, driveshaft, etc) related it would happen ALL of the time, just in varying extremes.

Its ashame Infiniti decided to switch (I believe at one point they were sourcing Bridgestones which may not have handled as well, but at least they werent "rough" like the Dunlops seem to be). I will be calling a local dealer to check the car out and if it turns out its the tires I will be calling Infiniti Corporate (in fact if I heard the mechanic tell me I wouldnt have this issue if I had a set of Michelins, I woulda been all over everyone at the service department.........its not like we chose to have inferior tires put on a brand new car from the factory!)

I thought all sports only came with bridgestone potenza re050 summer tires? I personally love these tires. They have lackluster tread life and are a little noisy but they are pretty sticky for road tires. Past two cars with these tires didn't have any issues like this.

This should never be the case for any car, especially at such a typical freeway speed. You should have the dealer get you new tires. Not even generic tires should cause any kind of vibration. That's just ridiculous.

Btw my 2011 g37 sedan has the bridgestones. As did my 07 g35 coupe.

I have the Bridgestones. Quite frankly, I got tired of the run around so I gave up. Infiniti told me while they recognized the issue they "had no solution for it" and that the case was closed. I went to BBB and later got a call from Infiniti saying that they wanted a factory engineer to take a look at the car, which I agreed. The dealer called me at noon one day and asked me if I could be there that afternoon since the engineer was there that day. Quite frankly, even though I could have asked them to be more reasonable and reschedule with more advance notice, I decided that 5-6 visits to the dealer for (what I hope is only) a tire problem was enough, so I told them no and moved on.

The vibration is still there, and I will be buying new tires some time soon, hopefully that will resolve the issue. All I can say is the service I have received has been sub-par for this type of brand, and this will be the last Infiniti for me.

Not quite sure what else the dealer checked (if anything) but my car acted similarly and I just picked it up after they fixed it. Turns out it was the driveshaft.

First thing they did was an RSV balance (Im assuming its basically a road force balance) of all 4 tires. That didnt fix it so they started looking at the drivetrain.

The service tech called the Fix line (Nissans tech support, I guess) and they walked him thru a procedure to check the driveshaft and it failed. The tech said there was 1/16" of play in the u-joint. Ordered a whole new driveshaft (since the car only had 500 miles on it he figured "repairing" parts doesnt do the car any justice), installed and tested fine. I had the car at all sorts of highway speeds and the vibration was gone. There was an actual wheel balance vibration as well (the driveshaft vibration transferred to the steering wheel but only as a very high frequency vibration........the wheel balance vibration is more of a slow frequency shake back and forth) before I brought it in and thats gone too.

Do you have another dealer nearby you can try?

The vibration on my 2009 G37 was similar and it was the drive shaft. Seems like mechanics can't bring themselves to believe it could be something other than tires and wheels. The mechanic that change my earlier 2003 G35 motor, put the driveshaft back in, in the unbalanced position, a 50/50 shot, only bolts up two ways. Vibration was constant but worse at higher speeds. When we rotated the shaft to the balanced position, no vibration. Seems all G35/37 shafts are balanced, and have varying degree of vibration depending on how out of balance they are.

This is good information regarding the balanced drive shaft. I realize that the car is so tight, it doesnt take much to generate a vibration. Is there any reason the drive shaft vibration should appear, if it was not there previously? In other words, can it "become" unbalanced?
I put a set of Michelins on my 09 G37x S when I bought it and I have been very happy (over 40,000 miles of the tires). I am just starting to feel a tiny shutter. New tires soon.
One more question: is it really governed at 155mph?

Different cars seem to go different speeds. The 7AT seems to govern at around 147 and the 5AT possibly around 140-ish? The 6mt is in 155-158 range. I've been 138 in mine with it still pulling so I've not hit it.

The vibration persisted in my case and given the unwillingness of the dealer to help me solve the problem I got rid of the car a while ago. That was my first and last Infiniti - unfortunate given that I would have likely enjoyed it a lot had it not had the nuisance vibration...

Sorry to hear. The only time I've had issues with vibrations on either of mine were due to tire/rim issues or alignment.

Good luck and enjoy your current ride.