Been struggling with the shudder for months I change the transfer case bush - engine mounts - transfer case fluid - differential fluid change front and rear nothing could get rid …. and the problem was just that I had 295/35/21 instead of 285/35/21 on the front on my BMW X5 2015 - great help thank you for sharing.
Thank you very much for making this informative and in-debth video about the lesser known, sometimes not so small details that can make all the difference. 👍
Hi , I have same problem on my X5 x drive I recently change both rear tyres same size 315/35/20 I replaced them with mid range and car start shaking straight after it’s driving me crazy because as I been to few garages they tell me different things like front is out of balance or you have to change all 4 tyres whenever you change tyres because it’s X drive etc etc after watching your video I believe it could be the hight of the tyres that’s what makes it shake and vibrates Thanks for sharing this .
If it started shaking straight after a tyre change then this is it for sure. There are a few videos explaining it all. Each video has a link to the playlist at the end of it. Buying a tyre with the same numbers isn’t enough brands vary hugely in their actual height. MRT
BMW states the difference in ratio must be 1% or less. With a BMW with staggered tires and xDrive DO NOT play with wheels and tire size other than the ones that are that note on the driver side door stickers or the transfer case will break! If you have rear wheel drive, the tire sizing doesn't matter as much asn xDrive car
It really does not matter 18” or 19”. What matters is side wall height. If you going to use staggered wheels you have to know sidewall height. For example 245/45 r 19 and 275/45 r 19 are not compatible. But 275/35 r19 might be compatible with 245/45 r19. Even installing new tires on one axle could give you a problem. On all wheel drive vehicles you have to replace all 4 tires with new ones.
Same driving me nuts. Went to see a transmission specialist and he said it was my uneven tyres causing my 420d to knock from transfer box. Will find out in a few days if this is the case.
Dear Mark, your video is really Helpful, at 1:50 the noise u made was the same problem for me, still can’t believe that tires is the problem here…. So I have the same issue but my tires is the size as the drivers side door stickers say, but it still does it, maybe the tires are worn?
Good morning. There are three videos in this series, watch them all to get the whole picture. The issue arises when the tyres are different actual diameter sizes on the front and back. Sadly what the manufacturers write on the side wall varies greatly from reality. Watch the three videos
Hi Mark, me again after doing some research i find out that my tires are aren’t even the same size the rear has 285/45/19 and front has 255/50/19…….. i will get 4 same size tires and i hope it will fix it
@@tamaslimin2957 It sounds like you have what is called a staggered set up on your car that is the rear tyres are wider than the fronts. This is not only the tyres but also the rims. So putting all the same sized tyres isn’t your answer as the rims will be different widths. I will upload a tyre placard for you from my x4. If you have X3 or X4. This will show you the right tyres for your rims.
Ok so the picture wouldn’t upload but. For X3 or X4 19 inch rims. 245 45 19 And 275 40 19. It is ALL about the tyre diameter. X5 has different specs. If you are replacing all four make sure the brand and style are the same. MRT
same on my 2012 740D x-drive. Staggered wheels can be a headache on X drive if you dont use original OEM (*) tires. i had slippage & jerky shifting with original 20' staggered wheels and non-BMW OEM (*) tires, All problems dissapeared with 18' original non-staggered wheels. have not tried OEM tires on the 20' originals yet, but i guess that should also work fine.
i have just had two brand new Goodyear F1 asymmetric 5 fitted to the rear of my f30. size 255/35/19. As soon as I drove off I got the judder - felt like the gearbox had shredded itself. Tomorrow evening I'll be fitting a pair of 225/40/19 same brand/model tyres to the front to replace the bridgestone part worns that are on there now. Will let you know how it goes.... Both sizes are factory standard for 19" wheels.
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Still not right. Having a replacement transfer case and propshaft fitted later this week. Got a LCI transfer case so needed the propshaft as the guibo PCD for the bolt holes is smaller on the LCI models (95mm vs 105mm I believe). Could have swapped the output flage but didn't want to mess with the low mileage LCI transfer box I've got hold of.
Hello mate, I 2 have a f30 and funny enough was about to buy 2 Goodyear eagle F1’s today when I stumbled across your comment! Can I ask do you think it was the tyres that was the issue or the fact your transfer box was fucked?
@@jamesashpole7105 Just to finish this off... It was the transfer case. Now for the full story.... 2014 F30 330d xDrive. 120k miles. Bought it only a few weeks prior with a mix of different branded budget runflats with different tread depths. It was largely fine on these but I did notice the occasional stutter under heavy load which I couldn't put down to shit tyres losing grip. One day I was driving 70mph on motorway (40C outside temperature but probably not relevant) and got tyre pressure warning - car had pressure display - and cruise control turned off automatically. Pulled over, rear driver's tyre completely devoid of air, with lump of metal stuck in it but still maintaned shape due to being a runflat. Pulled away from hard shoulder and had quite severe judder under light load, to the extent I didn't want to go over 40mph. Got the car home, then starts the first message I posted where I got a pair of brand new F1 asymmetric 5's fitted to the rear. Car was better but still worse than it was before the blowout. Shortly after got 2 brand new front F1 asymmetric 5's fitted. Not much more improvement, still way worse than it was before the blowout when it was on a mix of random brands/tread depths. To cut a long story short, I got a decent used transfer case fitted (on the 3rd attempt!) and the problem went away completely. My theory is that you will only have problems with different tread depths if your transfer case is already well on the way to being dead. The blowout definitely made things much worse and probably pushed a nearly dead transfer case over the edge. I had no error messages/stored codes at all.
Does look like too much variance across the front and rear axle, wonder if the front and rear are geared differently to compensate. A small variance happens with the obvious tyre wear but it will generally only be small.
One question, i bought a X3 and i’m experiencing this shudder, noticed the tires are 235/45/18 instead of the 245/45/18 as it should. Even thogh all the tires are equal, could this be causing the shudder? Sometimes when i’m on a dirt road the car shows the abs lights for a short while. And also, i couldnt find anywhere if i can have the same tires on all 4 wheels or if in the back it has to be wider
It won’t matter if they are all the same height/size. It is the difference in height front to back that causes the problem. Try swapping your wheels and tyres front to back. There is better tolerance in one direction than the other. MRT
Let me just add some comments to help anybody watching this video experiencing similar issues. If you are feeling jerking or pulling when you drive the car, specifically when accelerating slowly or coasting, it is likely the transfer case. From my research the issue is usually one of two things. 1. Your tyre size or tyre wear is not matched from the front to the back. 2. You need to do a transfer case fluid flush and re-calibration or both. Rarely do I see the issue to be the transfer case requiring replacement (unless abused or the driver has been driving the car with the transfer case bucking and pulling). The X-Drive system is very temperamental and it needs a matching set of tyres in the correct size both front and back. They need to be the correct size (check your tyre placard in the door jam) the same brand and also they need less than 1% difference in tyre diameter. If you have worn tyres on the front or the back, you'll likely experience the same bucking and pulling sensation in the car. If you have a mismatch of brands, you'll also likely feel the same when driving the car. If you're using Chinese tyres that are over 1% difference in wheel Diameter, you'll likely have the same issue. For example, if you have 275/40/20 on the front and 315/35/20 on the front but the brands do not match, you could experience the same issue. If you have the same setup but the tyres are worn more on the rear than the front, you'll likely have the same issue. The best way to resolve is first confirm your tyres are good (same brand, correct approved size, similar wear) and then complete a re-calibration of the transfer case. If this doesn't work, complete a transfer case fluid replacement and recalibrate. This will likely fix the issue. There is a very small chance the issue could be caused by the transfer case servo motor, but they do not fail often and you'll get an error in ISTA if this is the case. Lastly, if you want to check if your transfer case is actually causing the issue. You can pull fuse 63 on the F15 BMW X5/X6 (under the steering wheel on RHD cars or under the front dash on LHD cars). Fuse 63 is for the Transfer case and if the issue goes away with the fuse pulled, your issue is related to the transfer case. If not, something else is wrong with your car. You'll get errors on the dash with the fuse pulled but you can still drive the car and test. Hope this helps anybody. I've gone through the same issues with my X5 and a friends X5 so I'm well researched on the topic of X5 & X6 transfer cases. All the best!
As long as you go with the sizes on the door sticker you will be fine. What's happening with a lot of tires these days is supply shortages. So tire shops find the next closest size. That's where you run into issues. If you want to run custom sizes, then you need to make sure the tires are the same height. Or in other words that the rolling circumference (circle) is the same all around. A bigger tire/wheel combo on one corner of the vehicle will want to spin at a different speed than the others. This causes DSC errors, and transfer case problems.
Not really my tyres are the exact size on the door sticker and still have the judder (only with my staggered set though) so I think even though the tyres say its that size, in reality the size can be a little off
Do you think going with 4 x 9J and all same tyres will cause issues? My 4x 8J ran fine, then switched to a staggered OEM setup with correct tyres sizes but no star tyres and had juddering during acceleration. But looking at your video 4 x the same wheel + tyre should not have any issues right ?
What causes issues with AWD cars is having different heights of tyres especially front to rear. If you have all the same there should be NO issues. But I would stick to the sizes on your tire placard for insurance reasons if nothing else. MRT
@@markhelllen Thanks, I also think there should be no issues. But wasn't fully convinced. I had 4x 8J OEM wheels and no issues. Then I bought a winterset, this was a staggered OEM (Style 114) set with correct tyre sizes but not star rated and caused juddering on acceleration. Took the wheels off this weekend to check and the wheels have indeed a 1 - 1.5cm height difference between front and rear. So that looks to be the obvious issue. Instead of buying the star rated tyres for this set found another set (same wheels) and am planning to use the 9J all around so there should be no question about the height as long as I'm using the same 4 tires. I will do a follow up when they're mounted for anyone that would like to know.
@@markhelllen A little late, but I want to confirm that 4 x 9J wheels with the same tyres (not star rated) are working perfect. No issues at all on acceleration!
My wheels are only 1.1% difference but yet I have the shudder when I installed them, should 1.1 be close enough ? /Edit i just checked, and my tyres size are exactly what bmw recommends. I switched from a square set to a staggered set (original bmw wheels though) could it be that the transfer case actuator needs to adapt first ?
I've been having the same issue with by x4, The car was sold to me second hand with rear 275/35RF20 102Y - Zeta and front 245/40R20 99Y Good Year. I got the transfer case oil changed by Melbourne BMW but the problem persists where it shudders upon acceleration and jerks. A notification also comes up with Transmission where it says " Transmission. Do not switch off engine, driving not possible after enginge has been switched off. Please go straight to the nearest BMW Service partner. However, I can still drive the car? when I went to get it checked they said no error codes come up for the transmission. I've been told by BMW to ensure the tyre brand should be the same on all tyres as the mismatched tyres are causing the issue. Would replacing all 4 tyres with Bridestone with the same size 275/35RF20 & 245/40R20 99Y hopefully fix the issue? Would love your insight as I'm very confused by this issue.
Hi Yes mis matched tyres can cause what you are describing. Watch all three videos that I put up about this. The links are at the end of the videos. There is wild difference in actual sizing of the tyre even when the same numbers are on the side of the tyre. When your X4 gives the message you said above there will be a transmission code. MRT
If one was to have this kind of problem and use x-delete, would RWD only (via x-delete) "solve" the problem as in would jolting occur in that case and would permanent x-delete usage be a risk for transfer case?
With this problem. Most times all you need to do is put a new set of tyres on same brand same size. So deleting the all wheel drive seems majorly unnecessary to me MRT
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials The reason I was asking wasn't directly related to your video, but I found your video very informative none the less... The thing is I've found this 435i which has everything I want, right packages, right color combo, right price, everything exactly as I want, except it has x-drive which I don't want/need. So anyway I would use x-delete. Staggered wheel setup is a must and I would also put M4 wheels on it + coilovers. That's why I made this inqury, because I'm not sure if I should "pull the trigger" on buying it...
I own a 2014 bmw 335xi and I’ve been getting this code transfer box protection function no lights on the dash only when I scan it did a fluid change still comes back my tire size is 225/45/r18
Yeah great question. All wheel drive cars cannot tell what brand or width your tires are. But if there is a big difference in the height of the tire and therefore the rotational size then that makes a big difference at the transfer case and it has to compensate. So if you buy 1 tyre and it is the same height. (Actual height not only what is written on the wall) then it will be fine.
Just payed bmw 5000 dollars for a new transfer case just to go back again for the same issue for them to tell me it’s my tire size when they should have spotted it the first time now 1400 plus installed tire fee I tell you, know I’m wondering if the transfer case was bad or not
Wow. That ain’t good. If the problem was exactly the same with the new transfer case and it was a BMW dealership, then I would be looking for a refund for miss diagnosis. MRT
Hi mark I just got the rear tires replaced on my X4 and I’m having the same problem The rear ones are 275/40/19 and the front ones are 245/45/19 They were all Michelin primacy 3 The new rear tires I replaced are Goodyear excellence What should I do now Should I change the front ones to Goodyear or should I change the rear one It’s so confusing!!! Thanks in advance
It sounds like you now have a big difference in the tyre diameters. I would replace the front tyres with the same brand and style as the new rears. Did you see all three videos? I think Goodyear are a smaller tyre. MRT
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Yes I did watch the videos and I wished I watched them earlier lol I’ll get the front ones changed today to the same brand and pattern of the rear ones Thanks a lot for the help mark
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Yea I did watch this video and it was so useful I figured how the numbers work And I did change the front ones today and the car is back to normal Thank you so much for your help You saved me
What the heck are you talking about here? I have never heard of coding either of those. Watch the set of three videos. If the wheels are the same size diameter on all four counters then you are set.
I've heard about this elsewhere and I'm rather concerned so your opinion would be much appreciated. I have a G22 M440i xDrive. It has factory fit 19" wheels on it. It has 225/40/19 tyres front and 255/35/19 rear. They are Pirelli runflats. I'm going to fit new Continental Sport 7s all round in exactly the same sizes as the runflats. Am I likely to experience any xDrive issues? Thanks for your thoughts.
For me this is what the star ⭐️ rating is all about. These ⭐️ tires are saying that they are very similar diameters even though they are different ratios. When you fit your new tires get the new tires side by side in the shop unfitted and look at them and even put a straight edge on them. If they are within 5mm you should be fine. If they are vastly different then don’t fit them. MRT.
hi, I got the same shudder issues esp at slow REV/speed with FRONT 255/40/19 and REAR 275/40/19. I found there is difference in height (side wall) and rev/miles. I am going to change the FRONT type to same brand at 245/45/19 (same height) and rev/miles. Hope it works! any thought?
Hi.. i haave the exact problem on my f15 x5. Im running a 20" rims now. Front 255/40/20 Rear 315/35/20. Do you have any recommendation size and brand for my rim to get rid of this issue? Thank you so much!!
This is in a series of three videos I would watch them all so you get what is going on. There is a tyre placard on the inner door edge. It will give you the tyre combos. Match the brands and style of tyre. The videos will explain. ✔️ MRT
I don't know if it is misleading slightly but on some bmw tyres can't be same as front is 8j and back is 9j where from factory they come 245/35 and rear 275/30 and if you calculate or use calculator for the tyres those are 6.5mm difference which is less than 1% therefore it's allowed. I think personally as long as those are followed by same rule, shouldn't have any problems. Please correct me if i am wrong.
BMW do run a lot of staggered set up wheels. These wheels are wider not taller. The rolling diameter is very similar. It is because of the huge difference in ACTUAL height of the tires between the brands that problems can arise. ie a 275 35 from different companies can be VERY different in actual height and size. Also some transfer cases are very fussy and others not so. MRT
Sorry Mark. Just one more question so if im going to get a new set of tires (total 4) with same brand and same height only width not the same. Should be fine right? Front 255/35/20 Rear 295/35/20 Ok? Thanks you so much😊
Hi my front tyres were 275/40/20 however I only changed my NSF tyre to 275/45/20/. Both rears are 315/35/20.. & I noticed my vehicle judders alot. No abs/4x4 light comes on the dash however it feels like the front diff or transfer case is failing when the vehicle accelerates or comes to a slow speed. Driving on the motorway is perfectly fine. Could this new tyre with a higher sidewall be the issue? Its a BMW x5 e53 2004 3.0i. Thank you
Yes absolutely can be tyre sizes. You can damage your transfer case so I would advise not driving it until you get the tyres all back to the same rolling diameter
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Just to confirm, I have bought new tyres for my vehicle and it has solved the issue. No more transfer case issues. Crazy to think that increasing the side wall by 5mm will cause such damage. It would have been ridiculous to fit a new transfer case or diff and the issue still occur. Thank you for posting this video. Alot of us have saved time and money because of you. Thank you.
I want to put new wheels on my car. I have the rims from an x5 f15(style 449), specs 9j et 48 19”. The tires will be 245/45 front and 275/40 rear. They fit? I need spacer in front?
I dont get it.. tyre have height number ... It means with the vidéo, Pirelli 275/40/19 coule be higher than Michelin 275/40/19?? Now i have Nexen brand new, all nfera su1, 245/45/19 and 275/40/19... Hesitate to buy Michelin as before and lose 1000€ cause the car ils jerking
Tyre brands and styles vary hugely in Actual size. With asymmetric tyres the star rated are saying same rotational size with BMW sizing. Ie 275 & 245. Other brands are making no such claims. So could be ok and could not.
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials checked Yesterday After watch your video. Insane how different they are . 41% in front instead of 45 / 35% rear instead of 40%... Both rears are even different... 35/37%
I had a set of nexen tyres I kind of had the issue if I really put my foot down but it came time to replace and so I replaced them with £1000 worth of mitchelin pilot sport 4s tyres the exact same size tyre. The issue is now massively noticeable
Hello. I have an 2016 320xdrive , I want to buy all seasons because wheather is very mild we have maybe 1 cm of snow per year, my rims are 17 inches with 225/55 all 4, not staggered. Would the transfer box have any problem since the the all season are not star marked!? As I have read and understand from you, should cause a problems since size and wear is the same (new wheeles of course).
I have stock 245/40/19 front and 275/35/19 rears on the car i just bought, the previous owner replaced the fronts and i want to replace just the rears since the fronts are still almost brand new, the issue is i can’t find the same model. Would i be ok just replacing the rears to a different brand or do i really need to replace all four From what i can see here i need to toss these brand new front tyres since brands vary even on the same size
If you end up with a difference in circumference you will get issues. Good year and Winrun are a lot smaller tyre, and yes they all vary. You could replace the two tyres with ones you know you can get again, and then replace the extra two if needed. MRT th-cam.com/video/se8slYmDLbE/w-d-xo.html
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials so having wider rears shouldn’t matter. I have 21” staggered wheels some aftermarket things and I’m getting a slight judder when accelerating I think tyres and alloys must need changing to something OEM
Did you watch all 3 of my videos on this. I cover it in detail. It is the final height of the tyres and their similarity front to back. With a staggered set of you get tyres to match in height you should be fine. Measure your tyres and see if there is a difference
i have f25 x3 , its not rocket science ,our xdrive runs direct to rear , the front is on a ratchet that grips when rear slips ,so as long as front wheels run slower it works normally .
Hi. Recently bought an xdrive. I’ve worked out the rear tyres are 2.0% bigger than the front. Identical brand new tyres. Car drives fine. Will this cause an issue. Or would you recommend changing the rears now. ?
Sounds like you are talking about a quattro style system. xDrive constantly splits torque between front and rear under normal driving conditions, not just when slip is detected.
Great and very informative videos, thanks! Having watched all of the three videos on the topic, I understand that as long as front and rear are the same size, it is ok, right? I replaced both my winter and summer oem RFT tyres with the same size (17' winter, 18' summer, all single size) Nexen tyres (which I liie very much and have had them on all my cars for a while). I really dislike the * rated tyres as they are all RFT which takes away a lot of comfort for me.
Been struggling with the shudder for months I change the transfer case bush - engine mounts - transfer case fluid - differential fluid change front and rear nothing could get rid …. and the problem was just that I had 295/35/21 instead of 285/35/21 on the front on my BMW X5 2015 - great help thank you for sharing.
So Glad it helped..
Wat symptom?
Got sound at transfer case?
It could be
Thank you very much for making this informative and in-debth video about the lesser known, sometimes not so small details that can make all the difference. 👍
Thanks alot!!! My car was juddering felt like the gearbox was gone! Chnaged the rear tyre and the issue was gons! My treads were at 1.6mm lol
Great to hear!
Hi , I have same problem on my X5 x drive I recently change both rear tyres same size 315/35/20 I replaced them with mid range and car start shaking straight after it’s driving me crazy because as I been to few garages they tell me different things like front is out of balance or you have to change all 4 tyres whenever you change tyres because it’s X drive etc etc after watching your video I believe it could be the hight of the tyres that’s what makes it shake and vibrates
Thanks for sharing this .
If it started shaking straight after a tyre change then this is it for sure. There are a few videos explaining it all. Each video has a link to the playlist at the end of it.
Buying a tyre with the same numbers isn’t enough brands vary hugely in their actual height. MRT
Yes the rolling radius must be the same.. only 1 to 2% difference is tolerated
BMW states the difference in ratio must be 1% or less. With a BMW with staggered tires and xDrive DO NOT play with wheels and tire size other than the ones that are that note on the driver side door stickers or the transfer case will break!
If you have rear wheel drive, the tire sizing doesn't matter as much asn xDrive car
It really does not matter 18” or 19”. What matters is side wall height. If you going to use staggered wheels you have to know sidewall height. For example 245/45 r 19 and 275/45 r 19 are not compatible. But 275/35 r19 might be compatible with 245/45 r19. Even installing new tires on one axle could give you a problem. On all wheel drive vehicles you have to replace all 4 tires with new ones.
I have this juddering problem I have two
Michelin on the front
and two 225 45 18
Bridgestone on the back 255 40 18
Stressed me out has this
Same driving me nuts. Went to see a transmission specialist and he said it was my uneven tyres causing my 420d to knock from transfer box. Will find out in a few days if this is the case.
Dear Mark, your video is really
Helpful, at 1:50 the noise u made was the same problem for me, still can’t believe that tires is the problem here…. So I have the same issue but my tires is the size as the drivers side door stickers say, but it still does it, maybe the tires are worn?
Good morning. There are three videos in this series, watch them all to get the whole picture. The issue arises when the tyres are different actual diameter sizes on the front and back. Sadly what the manufacturers write on the side wall varies greatly from reality. Watch the three videos
See the videos here: th-cam.com/play/PLRRErA3V0MY0vvfEq8GeRrakmw9QPLuZ_.html
Hi Mark, me again after doing some research i find out that my tires are aren’t even the same size the rear has 285/45/19 and front has 255/50/19…….. i will get 4 same size tires and i hope it will fix it
@@tamaslimin2957
It sounds like you have what is called a staggered set up on your car that is the rear tyres are wider than the fronts. This is not only the tyres but also the rims.
So putting all the same sized tyres isn’t your answer as the rims will be different widths.
I will upload a tyre placard for you from my x4. If you have X3 or X4. This will show you the right tyres for your rims.
Ok so the picture wouldn’t upload but. For X3 or X4 19 inch rims. 245 45 19
And 275 40 19.
It is ALL about the tyre diameter.
X5 has different specs.
If you are replacing all four make sure the brand and style are the same. MRT
same on my 2012 740D x-drive. Staggered wheels can be a headache on X drive if you dont use original OEM (*) tires. i had slippage & jerky shifting with original 20' staggered wheels and non-BMW OEM (*) tires, All problems dissapeared with 18' original non-staggered wheels. have not tried OEM tires on the 20' originals yet, but i guess that should also work fine.
i have just had two brand new Goodyear F1 asymmetric 5 fitted to the rear of my f30. size 255/35/19. As soon as I drove off I got the judder - felt like the gearbox had shredded itself. Tomorrow evening I'll be fitting a pair of 225/40/19 same brand/model tyres to the front to replace the bridgestone part worns that are on there now. Will let you know how it goes.... Both sizes are factory standard for 19" wheels.
How did it go?
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Still not right. Having a replacement transfer case and propshaft fitted later this week. Got a LCI transfer case so needed the propshaft as the guibo PCD for the bolt holes is smaller on the LCI models (95mm vs 105mm I believe). Could have swapped the output flage but didn't want to mess with the low mileage LCI transfer box I've got hold of.
Hello mate, I 2 have a f30 and funny enough was about to buy 2 Goodyear eagle F1’s today when I stumbled across your comment! Can I ask do you think it was the tyres that was the issue or the fact your transfer box was fucked?
@@jamesashpole7105 Just to finish this off... It was the transfer case. Now for the full story.... 2014 F30 330d xDrive. 120k miles. Bought it only a few weeks prior with a mix of different branded budget runflats with different tread depths. It was largely fine on these but I did notice the occasional stutter under heavy load which I couldn't put down to shit tyres losing grip.
One day I was driving 70mph on motorway (40C outside temperature but probably not relevant) and got tyre pressure warning - car had pressure display - and cruise control turned off automatically. Pulled over, rear driver's tyre completely devoid of air, with lump of metal stuck in it but still maintaned shape due to being a runflat. Pulled away from hard shoulder and had quite severe judder under light load, to the extent I didn't want to go over 40mph.
Got the car home, then starts the first message I posted where I got a pair of brand new F1 asymmetric 5's fitted to the rear. Car was better but still worse than it was before the blowout. Shortly after got 2 brand new front F1 asymmetric 5's fitted. Not much more improvement, still way worse than it was before the blowout when it was on a mix of random brands/tread depths.
To cut a long story short, I got a decent used transfer case fitted (on the 3rd attempt!) and the problem went away completely. My theory is that you will only have problems with different tread depths if your transfer case is already well on the way to being dead. The blowout definitely made things much worse and probably pushed a nearly dead transfer case over the edge. I had no error messages/stored codes at all.
Does look like too much variance across the front and rear axle, wonder if the front and rear are geared differently to compensate. A small variance happens with the obvious tyre wear but it will generally only be small.
One question, i bought a X3 and i’m experiencing this shudder, noticed the tires are 235/45/18 instead of the 245/45/18 as it should. Even thogh all the tires are equal, could this be causing the shudder? Sometimes when i’m on a dirt road the car shows the abs lights for a short while. And also, i couldnt find anywhere if i can have the same tires on all 4 wheels or if in the back it has to be wider
Its an 2014 20i ZF8HP transmition
It won’t matter if they are all the same height/size. It is the difference in height front to back that causes the problem. Try swapping your wheels and tyres front to back. There is better tolerance in one direction than the other. MRT
Let me just add some comments to help anybody watching this video experiencing similar issues. If you are feeling jerking or pulling when you drive the car, specifically when accelerating slowly or coasting, it is likely the transfer case. From my research the issue is usually one of two things. 1. Your tyre size or tyre wear is not matched from the front to the back. 2. You need to do a transfer case fluid flush and re-calibration or both. Rarely do I see the issue to be the transfer case requiring replacement (unless abused or the driver has been driving the car with the transfer case bucking and pulling).
The X-Drive system is very temperamental and it needs a matching set of tyres in the correct size both front and back. They need to be the correct size (check your tyre placard in the door jam) the same brand and also they need less than 1% difference in tyre diameter. If you have worn tyres on the front or the back, you'll likely experience the same bucking and pulling sensation in the car. If you have a mismatch of brands, you'll also likely feel the same when driving the car. If you're using Chinese tyres that are over 1% difference in wheel Diameter, you'll likely have the same issue.
For example, if you have 275/40/20 on the front and 315/35/20 on the front but the brands do not match, you could experience the same issue. If you have the same setup but the tyres are worn more on the rear than the front, you'll likely have the same issue.
The best way to resolve is first confirm your tyres are good (same brand, correct approved size, similar wear) and then complete a re-calibration of the transfer case. If this doesn't work, complete a transfer case fluid replacement and recalibrate. This will likely fix the issue.
There is a very small chance the issue could be caused by the transfer case servo motor, but they do not fail often and you'll get an error in ISTA if this is the case.
Lastly, if you want to check if your transfer case is actually causing the issue. You can pull fuse 63 on the F15 BMW X5/X6 (under the steering wheel on RHD cars or under the front dash on LHD cars). Fuse 63 is for the Transfer case and if the issue goes away with the fuse pulled, your issue is related to the transfer case. If not, something else is wrong with your car. You'll get errors on the dash with the fuse pulled but you can still drive the car and test.
Hope this helps anybody. I've gone through the same issues with my X5 and a friends X5 so I'm well researched on the topic of X5 & X6 transfer cases.
All the best!
As long as you go with the sizes on the door sticker you will be fine. What's happening with a lot of tires these days is supply shortages. So tire shops find the next closest size. That's where you run into issues.
If you want to run custom sizes, then you need to make sure the tires are the same height. Or in other words that the rolling circumference (circle) is the same all around. A bigger tire/wheel combo on one corner of the vehicle will want to spin at a different speed than the others. This causes DSC errors, and transfer case problems.
Not really my tyres are the exact size on the door sticker and still have the judder (only with my staggered set though) so I think even though the tyres say its that size, in reality the size can be a little off
Thanks for sharing
Do you think going with 4 x 9J and all same tyres will cause issues? My 4x 8J ran fine, then switched to a staggered OEM setup with correct tyres sizes but no star tyres and had juddering during acceleration. But looking at your video 4 x the same wheel + tyre should not have any issues right ?
What causes issues with AWD cars is having different heights of tyres especially front to rear. If you have all the same there should be NO issues. But I would stick to the sizes on your tire placard for insurance reasons if nothing else. MRT
@@markhelllen Thanks, I also think there should be no issues. But wasn't fully convinced. I had 4x 8J OEM wheels and no issues. Then I bought a winterset, this was a staggered OEM (Style 114) set with correct tyre sizes but not star rated and caused juddering on acceleration.
Took the wheels off this weekend to check and the wheels have indeed a 1 - 1.5cm height difference between front and rear. So that looks to be the obvious issue.
Instead of buying the star rated tyres for this set found another set (same wheels) and am planning to use the 9J all around so there should be no question about the height as long as I'm using the same 4 tires.
I will do a follow up when they're mounted for anyone that would like to know.
@@markhelllen A little late, but I want to confirm that 4 x 9J wheels with the same tyres (not star rated) are working perfect. No issues at all on acceleration!
Great thanks for the input. 👍
My wheels are only 1.1% difference but yet I have the shudder when I installed them, should 1.1 be close enough ?
/Edit i just checked, and my tyres size are exactly what bmw recommends. I switched from a square set to a staggered set (original bmw wheels though) could it be that the transfer case actuator needs to adapt first ?
If you can switch them front to back. That is sometimes enough. MRT
Its a staggered set, so wouldnt really make sense to put the rears in the front@@Marksreviewsandtutorials
I've been having the same issue with by x4, The car was sold to me second hand with rear 275/35RF20 102Y - Zeta and front 245/40R20 99Y Good Year. I got the transfer case oil changed by Melbourne BMW but the problem persists where it shudders upon acceleration and jerks. A notification also comes up with Transmission where it says " Transmission. Do not switch off engine, driving not possible after enginge has been switched off. Please go straight to the nearest BMW Service partner. However, I can still drive the car? when I went to get it checked they said no error codes come up for the transmission.
I've been told by BMW to ensure the tyre brand should be the same on all tyres as the mismatched tyres are causing the issue. Would replacing all 4 tyres with Bridestone with the same size 275/35RF20 & 245/40R20 99Y hopefully fix the issue?
Would love your insight as I'm very confused by this issue.
Hi Yes mis matched tyres can cause what you are describing. Watch all three videos that I put up about this. The links are at the end of the videos. There is wild difference in actual sizing of the tyre even when the same numbers are on the side of the tyre.
When your X4 gives the message you said above there will be a transmission code. MRT
If one was to have this kind of problem and use x-delete, would RWD only (via x-delete) "solve" the problem as in would jolting occur in that case and would permanent x-delete usage be a risk for transfer case?
With this problem. Most times all you need to do is put a new set of tyres on same brand same size. So deleting the all wheel drive seems majorly unnecessary to me MRT
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials The reason I was asking wasn't directly related to your video, but I found your video very informative none the less... The thing is I've found this 435i which has everything I want, right packages, right color combo, right price, everything exactly as I want, except it has x-drive which I don't want/need. So anyway I would use x-delete. Staggered wheel setup is a must and I would also put M4 wheels on it + coilovers. That's why I made this inqury, because I'm not sure if I should "pull the trigger" on buying it...
I own a 2014 bmw 335xi and I’ve been getting this code transfer box protection function no lights on the dash only when I scan it did a fluid change still comes back my tire size is 225/45/r18
Hi do you need to change all 4 tyres when you need to change one only? I’ve heard that this is a must and am in process of buying xdrive 3 series.
Yeah great question.
All wheel drive cars cannot tell what brand or width your tires are. But if there is a big difference in the height of the tire and therefore the rotational size then that makes a big difference at the transfer case and it has to compensate.
So if you buy 1 tyre and it is the same height. (Actual height not only what is written on the wall) then it will be fine.
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials thank you very much. That’s very well answered.
I got the same issue, my anti spin star flickering on my 335xi when in corners or hitting the gas.
Just payed bmw 5000 dollars for a new transfer case just to go back again for the same issue for them to tell me it’s my tire size when they should have spotted it the first time now 1400 plus installed tire fee I tell you, know I’m wondering if the transfer case was bad or not
Wow. That ain’t good. If the problem was exactly the same with the new transfer case and it was a BMW dealership, then I would be looking for a refund for miss diagnosis. MRT
Hi mark
I just got the rear tires replaced on my X4 and I’m having the same problem
The rear ones are 275/40/19 and the front ones are 245/45/19
They were all Michelin primacy 3
The new rear tires I replaced are Goodyear excellence
What should I do now
Should I change the front ones to Goodyear or should I change the rear one
It’s so confusing!!!
Thanks in advance
It sounds like you now have a big difference in the tyre diameters. I would replace the front tyres with the same brand and style as the new rears.
Did you see all three videos? I think Goodyear are a smaller tyre. MRT
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials
Yes I did watch the videos and I wished I watched them earlier lol
I’ll get the front ones changed today to the same brand and pattern of the rear ones
Thanks a lot for the help mark
@@user-ec4mx6ru8y Watch this video here. I explain that that number is a percentage of the width.
th-cam.com/video/P_vuyNeYOlo/w-d-xo.html
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials
Yea I did watch this video and it was so useful
I figured how the numbers work
And I did change the front ones today and the car is back to normal
Thank you so much for your help
You saved me
@@user-ec4mx6ru8y So glad it helped.
It sure stumped me when it happened to me.
I thought the tyre shop had done something wrong. MRT
And you need to code ride height and wheel size to the vehicle
What the heck are you talking about here?
I have never heard of coding either of those. Watch the set of three videos. If the wheels are the same size diameter on all four counters then you are set.
I've heard about this elsewhere and I'm rather concerned so your opinion would be much appreciated. I have a G22 M440i xDrive. It has factory fit 19" wheels on it. It has 225/40/19 tyres front and 255/35/19 rear. They are Pirelli runflats. I'm going to fit new Continental Sport 7s all round in exactly the same sizes as the runflats. Am I likely to experience any xDrive issues? Thanks for your thoughts.
For me this is what the star ⭐️ rating is all about. These ⭐️ tires are saying that they are very similar diameters even though they are different ratios.
When you fit your new tires get the new tires side by side in the shop unfitted and look at them and even put a straight edge on them. If they are within 5mm you should be fine. If they are vastly different then don’t fit them. MRT.
Can I change all my tyres on 3 series XDrive from run flats to normal tyres?
Yes your car cannot tell if the tyres are runflat or not. Only if there is variance in the rolling diameter. MRT
hi, I got the same shudder issues esp at slow REV/speed with FRONT 255/40/19 and REAR 275/40/19. I found there is difference in height (side wall) and rev/miles. I am going to change the FRONT type to same brand at 245/45/19 (same height) and rev/miles. Hope it works! any thought?
Yes that should work. As long as the tread depths are also similar.
Don’t delay though you don’t want to damage the transfer case
Hi.. i haave the exact problem on my f15 x5. Im running a 20" rims now. Front 255/40/20 Rear 315/35/20. Do you have any recommendation size and brand for my rim to get rid of this issue? Thank you so much!!
This is in a series of three videos I would watch them all so you get what is going on. There is a tyre placard on the inner door edge. It will give you the tyre combos.
Match the brands and style of tyre. The videos will explain. ✔️
MRT
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Thanks Mark!
I don't know if it is misleading slightly but on some bmw tyres can't be same as front is 8j and back is 9j where from factory they come 245/35 and rear 275/30 and if you calculate or use calculator for the tyres those are 6.5mm difference which is less than 1% therefore it's allowed. I think personally as long as those are followed by same rule, shouldn't have any problems. Please correct me if i am wrong.
BMW do run a lot of staggered set up wheels. These wheels are wider not taller. The rolling diameter is very similar. It is because of the huge difference in ACTUAL height of the tires between the brands that problems can arise. ie a 275 35 from different companies can be VERY different in actual height and size. Also some transfer cases are very fussy and others not so. MRT
up to 1 per cent in wheel size difference is tolerant by XDrive drivetrain.
I ran the same size tires 245/45 on my E83 19” staggered rims and the vehicle is not driving well at all and the 4x4 light came on. any advice please
There are three videos in this series. All linked at the end screens at the end of the video. Lots of info in all three
Sorry Mark. Just one more question so if im going to get a new set of tires (total 4) with same brand and same height only width not the same. Should be fine right?
Front 255/35/20
Rear 295/35/20
Ok? Thanks you so much😊
If you stick to the same brand and type (model) you should be fine
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Thanks Mark!
Hi my front tyres were 275/40/20 however I only changed my NSF tyre to 275/45/20/. Both rears are 315/35/20.. & I noticed my vehicle judders alot. No abs/4x4 light comes on the dash however it feels like the front diff or transfer case is failing when the vehicle accelerates or comes to a slow speed. Driving on the motorway is perfectly fine. Could this new tyre with a higher sidewall be the issue? Its a BMW x5 e53 2004 3.0i. Thank you
Yes absolutely can be tyre sizes. You can damage your transfer case so I would advise not driving it until you get the tyres all back to the same rolling diameter
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials Just to confirm, I have bought new tyres for my vehicle and it has solved the issue. No more transfer case issues. Crazy to think that increasing the side wall by 5mm will cause such damage. It would have been ridiculous to fit a new transfer case or diff and the issue still occur. Thank you for posting this video. Alot of us have saved time and money because of you. Thank you.
@@UnleashedPlanetI am so glad it helped you.
Yes and this applies to all brands with AWD.
Hi, I have a 435xd and my car shudders above 40mpb quite noticeable. Is the shuddering you are referring to a consistent shudder or something else?
All wheel drive Transfer Case explained, why wheel size is so important, How to fix Diagnose BMW
th-cam.com/video/JZ3zuwKaQ9w/w-d-xo.html
Hi I have a x3m notice it sways at higher speeds on certain roads. Could that be down to I got ps4s on front 4mm and Hankook 7mm on back?
Hi. Have problem even with same china brand but different sizes front/rear 245/40/20 and 275/35/20...so only this messurement or star marking for Bmw.
I want to put new wheels on my car. I have the rims from an x5 f15(style 449), specs 9j et 48 19”. The tires will be 245/45 front and 275/40 rear. They fit? I need spacer in front?
I dont get it.. tyre have height number ... It means with the vidéo, Pirelli 275/40/19 coule be higher than Michelin 275/40/19?? Now i have Nexen brand new, all nfera su1, 245/45/19 and 275/40/19... Hesitate to buy Michelin as before and lose 1000€ cause the car ils jerking
Tyre brands and styles vary hugely in Actual size. With asymmetric tyres the star rated are saying same rotational size with BMW sizing. Ie 275 & 245. Other brands are making no such claims. So could be ok and could not.
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials checked Yesterday After watch your video. Insane how different they are . 41% in front instead of 45 / 35% rear instead of 40%... Both rears are even different... 35/37%
Yes it would be nice if the tyre manufacturers stuck tightly to the standards but they do not. As shown in the video there are very large differences
I had a set of nexen tyres I kind of had the issue if I really put my foot down but it came time to replace and so I replaced them with £1000 worth of mitchelin pilot sport 4s tyres the exact same size tyre. The issue is now massively noticeable
Hello. I have an 2016 320xdrive , I want to buy all seasons because wheather is very mild we have maybe 1 cm of snow per year, my rims are 17 inches with 225/55 all 4, not staggered. Would the transfer box have any problem since the the all season are not star marked!? As I have read and understand from you, should cause a problems since size and wear is the same (new wheeles of course).
The transfer case cannot tell if there are little stars on the tires or not but it can tell if the tires are different sizes. MRT
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials thank you for your answer. They are all 4 the same size 225/55/17, and I plan to buy good one pirelli all season rfts.
I have stock 245/40/19 front and 275/35/19 rears on the car i just bought, the previous owner replaced the fronts and i want to replace just the rears since the fronts are still almost brand new, the issue is i can’t find the same model. Would i be ok just replacing the rears to a different brand or do i really need to replace all four
From what i can see here i need to toss these brand new front tyres since brands vary even on the same size
If you end up with a difference in circumference you will get issues.
Good year and Winrun are a lot smaller tyre, and yes they all vary.
You could replace the two tyres with ones you know you can get again, and then replace the extra two if needed. MRT
th-cam.com/video/se8slYmDLbE/w-d-xo.html
Did you reset the adaptations of the transfer ecu after oil change
Yes 👍
Does width matter or just height?
It is just the rolling diameter or tyre height that makes the difference
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials so having wider rears shouldn’t matter. I have 21” staggered wheels some aftermarket things and I’m getting a slight judder when accelerating I think tyres and alloys must need changing to something OEM
Did you watch all 3 of my videos on this. I cover it in detail.
It is the final height of the tyres and their similarity front to back. With a staggered set of you get tyres to match in height you should be fine. Measure your tyres and see if there is a difference
@@Marksreviewsandtutorials I will get them off this week and let you know mate thanks.
i have f25 x3 , its not rocket science ,our xdrive runs direct to rear , the front is on a ratchet that grips when rear slips ,so as long as front wheels run slower it works normally .
Hi. Recently bought an xdrive. I’ve worked out the rear tyres are 2.0% bigger than the front. Identical brand new tyres. Car drives fine. Will this cause an issue. Or would you recommend changing the rears now. ?
Sounds like you are talking about a quattro style system. xDrive constantly splits torque between front and rear under normal driving conditions, not just when slip is detected.
Great and very informative videos, thanks!
Having watched all of the three videos on the topic, I understand that as long as front and rear are the same size, it is ok, right? I replaced both my winter and summer oem RFT tyres with the same size (17' winter, 18' summer, all single size) Nexen tyres (which I liie very much and have had them on all my cars for a while). I really dislike the * rated tyres as they are all RFT which takes away a lot of comfort for me.
If you have AWD. You must stay within 1% difference between hight 🎁
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