I picked up my new Cooper S Countryman FWD last week. Ever sense then I’ve had a minor, but bothersome, vibration around 60MPH from an out of balance wheel. I had the dealer I purchased the car from look at it and they found one wheel out of balance. Driving home it started again. I took it to a different dealer closer to home and they found 2 wheels out of balance. However during the test drive with the service manager the vibration was still there at 58 to 60 MPH. We took another Countryman similar to mine and it did the same thing. If you’ve run into this problem please reply to this thread.
I too picked up my Countryman S in March. It felt out of balance at every speed. Went to dealer who had the car 10 days, replaced the Perelli tires twice - same problem. They said those tires were warped during storage. Got Continental tires instead. The ride is better but at/around 60mph in town there's a vibration. I haven't gotten it onto a smooth freeway yet (lots of construction around), so don't know about higher speeds. The loaner Mini Cooper S had a perfect ride, haven't driven other Countrymans. I fear it's the run flats.
After 3 weeks of trying to get this fixed I was told by the BMW service manager to contact the BMW customer service. If your service manager hasn’t told you to do this he should have. I’m told that a Regional Technician is scheduled to come out here to California to check on my Countryman. Are you running the 17” stock wheels? I’m wondering also if the 18” do the same thing. I’m puzzled that more Countryman owners haven’t noticed the problem.
I had this vibration problem with my first mini, the dealer never managed to fix it. I gave up trying to sort it however when I went into a local kwik fit (not sure you have these in USA) I got them to do a laser alighnment which sorted it out. Only cost £20 as well.
The story continues...I was told that the regional BMW Tech would not be coming out as planned and BMW would like another test to be done. I went to the local dealer this morning 4-20-11 to have the vibration problem looked at. They changed all the wheels and tires, Continentals instead of Pirelli’s. The shop manager road with me during the test and nothing changed. Same vibrations at the same speeds. The shop Manager thinks it maybe in the drive train. The shop Manager also mentioned that BMW may say this is normal. HOW CAN THAT BE NORMAL? Excuse the yelling but if I get that from the Regional Tech I will start looking at the California Lemon law. If you are having this problem please let me know.
I have the 17" tunnel fan wheels. I notice odd vibrations (not typical balancing issue) at around 40, 60 and 80mph... In general the ride is bad. I'm taking it into the dealer again tomorrow morning. Stay tuned....
The dealer had my car a couple days and told me "there are no abnormal vibrations". They said the combination of the stiff suspension and the run flats will give a rougher ride. Strange that it varies by speed, in my opinion - smooth at some rates and rough at others. I drove 3 Miatas and a Jeep Wrangler before this and their rides were great in comparison, so I'm disappointed. But my car sure is darn cute, so I'll love it despite its obvious flaw. And when those run falts where out, I'm buying real tires.
On Thursday Aug 4th I returned my Countryman to BMW for a complete refund due to the wheel/Tire balancing problem. It took all this time to get this done. After 3 new MINI Coopers and 2 older Mini’s I have decided that this will be my last MINI. I enjoyed the 2002 despite the various teething problems. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2007 MINI Cooper S but when it came to the 2011 Countryman my love for the Mini line came to an end. The other 2 older Mini’s was a 1967 Mini Cooper S and a highly modified 998cc 1964 Morris Mini. I owe the success of the refund on the Countryman to the BBB and to East Bay MINI in Pleasanton CA. If you live in the SF Bat Area please use them. The non-Countryman MINI’s are still a blast to own, it’s just that I needed something bigger. What did I get that was bigger? You ask. I decided to go in a completely different direction, not necessarily different for me, as the car I had before the MINI was a 2001 Honda Insight, so I have purchased a Chevy Volt.
I’ve enjoyed this forum sense 2002 and If I ever get another MINI I’ll be back. If your interested the forums I’m now on is GM-Volt.com and I use the name sguidero. Bye!
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Wheel/Tire balance problem 
