530d hum at 40 mph

[billy5]

hiya everyone,
new member here, got a problem with e39 tourer, 2001
have got a humming sound after about 1 mile.
i have done the front hub, bearings, both sides but its still there.
its done 114k, my son says its at the back, he,s 13yrs old and has better hearing than me [loud guitars].
could it be a rear bearing, i can feel something on the steering
wheel very slightly wen i turn left or right, on the move
its a auto 30d. wen i slow down from say 45 it gets deeper.
any ideas will be welcomed. thanks good discusions on this forum.

[MattOz]

Billy,

Had a similar thing. Turned out to be the front tyres. Where they get champfered through cornering they create high spots on the outside edges. Transmits into the cabin and sounds like a bearing. I changed them and the noise went. Most odd!

Cheers
Matt

[Egbert Nobacon]

Yes, my 530 sport had the same.

The tyres on the front become "stepped" across the width of the tyre and create a horrendous racket.

Changed tyres and its gone.

Edited by Egbert Nobacon on Thursday 15th February 18:16

[billy5]

thanks to mattoz and egbert,
good advice. i changed the front tyres to michys[primacy]
previously dunflops and it made a vast improvment,
its still there at a lesser volume after say 15 mls,
does the same apply to the rear, i have a feeling that wen the tyres
warm up it kickes in.
also after that distance the ride on the rear gets bumpy, bit solid.
i have self levelling s,pension, is this the walls of the tyres on the back, i dont recognise the name of the tyres,
the suspension is level at all times on the rear.

thank you both for your help. billy

[blackspider]

Yep the tyres do the same at the rear aswell-if you look at the inner and outer treads of the tyres you will see the problem,they wear into steps-the forward edge of each tread will be higher than the rear,this causes a flapping noise as it hits the road-speeded up it becomes a hum.