Tire Noise - Bridgestone Potenza??

Anyone been having loud road noise with the Bridgestone Potenzas?

My 2006 650i has the Sport Package, 2200 miles, and I have recently (in the last 200-300 miles) started to notice what sounds similar to "wind" noise, starting at about 25-30mph and progressively getting louder as the speed increases. It certainly could be the outside wind blowing around the car, but I haven't really noticed it much in the past and think it's coming from the tires.

I took the car to the Dealer and the tires were all out of balance - came that way off the truck. "The Dealers don't check balance prior to delivering the vehicle, only tire pressure", so I was told. Re-balanced, no charge of course, but the noise persists.

Anyone with a similar problem? Thanks.

Tire Pressure - ha that's a laugh. Although their checklist SAYS to check it more BWWs are delivered at close to 50 psi than not. On the other hand my balance has been perfect since 34000 miles ago and now my 2nd set of Bridgestones. No abnormal noise in that time, even when at 33,000 miles when I replaced 1st set. However, othres may have different experience.
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US '05 645 Coupe, Silver Grey, Chateau, Sport, Logic 7, HUD, Cold Wx Pkg, SIRIUS Sat Radio, Aux Input, Bluetooth w/ snap in adapter, V1 CIP 20.02 w/MP3 enabled - Great, great BMW!!

COBRADAV - Thanks for your response.

Do you experience any unusual wind noise that sounds like it's coming from the left front side of the vehicle, at speed?

All of my door and window seals appear to be sealing properly and I see nothing rubbing upon inspection of the wheel well area, calipers, rotor, etc. Any relevant tech bulletins that you've come across?

And... I was thinking of lowering the car 1" or so. Might as well wait until I can get a definitive answer on the noise.

Ed

You will hear the occasional complaint about wind noise or tire noise, but nothing so common or founded in some root cause to warrant a Tech Bulletin. And you will see claims of SIGNIFICANT reduction in road noise by some who have switched to say PS2s. MIne are so quiet I find that hard to believe, but......What I have tried to test for tire noise is start at a stop on a lonely but good type of hiway location and increase speed listening for tell tale signs of tire noise. Also try on different road surfaces. Some tires are more neutral on all surfaces like black top or concrete (I think the Bridgestone are) than others. However, by not having any other brand or type (RFT) on my car I cannot positively state you could not do better

Under certain conditions I do hear some wind noise but am not exactly sure what those conditions are. Obviously high winds and or gusting winds, but usually associated with specific weather conditions and wind direction, not an everyday thing. What with the number of hurricanes or tropical storms I've been through with this car I am pretty impressed:)
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US '05 645 Coupe, Silver Grey, Chateau, Sport, Logic 7, HUD, Cold Wx Pkg, SIRIUS Sat Radio, Aux Input, Bluetooth w/ snap in adapter, V1 CIP 20.02 w/MP3 enabled - Great, great BMW!!

Try setting tire pressure to mfg. spec's that are on the driver's doorjamb. A digital guage is essential. My dealer set pressures much lower on delivery and claimed that the mfg. specs were wrong. I disagree and find with the Bridgestone Potenza re050 tires set at the correct f/r pressures that the car not only handles much better, but is not noisey at highway sppeds. Rnflat tire sidewalls are much stiffer than normal tires, so bumps are more noticable than with regular sidewalls. The bit about your wheels being out of balance from the factory is a little hard to accept at face value. Mine 650i conv, sport option has 6000 miles and the wheels stay in contact evenly with the road with no vibration or bounce, which given the width and stiffness of the tires is impressive.

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

The tire pressure has been spot on (30/33) both before and after the re-balancing and in case I failed to mention it, the tires are RFTs.

The BMW Factory rep was at the Dealer when the re-balancing was being done and agreed that BMW will pay for it, although he stated that this is normally a Dealer/customer charge. Sounded like BS to me, especially for a new $80,000.00 car with 2200 miles on it. Actually, the tires never felt like they were out of balance, but after only 2,200 miles, perhaps the cupping or abnormal wear wouldn't have been present.

The noise is still present from 25 mph on and is rather annoying. Sounds like wind, but I'm sure it's coming from the tires.

I've driven on highway sections of concrete, asphalt, with the windows down/up, even moved the tranny into Neutral to check if the noise was coming from the Steptronic , but the noise was still there. While driving through a tunnel with no other vehicles, I rolled the windows down and still heard the noise reflecting off of the tunnel sides.

I had a similar problem several years ago with Bridgestone S-03s on a Porsche that I owned and Bridgestone acknowledged the problem (a "bad batch") and replaced them. Perhaps the present problem stems from a "bad batch". Car was delivered on 7/25/06.

Thanks. All further suggestions or info will be appreciated.

Worse tire for noise i've very seen. Friggin' waste of money. Do not buy!!!!!!!

I just picked up a 2002 e46 330i and I am noticing the same "wind" problem. At first I thought something was rubbing but I came to the conclusion that it is my tires. I do not have the Bridgestones but my problem is very similar, did new tires fix it?

Never will I trust Bridgestone again. Tires roar, roar, roar. Fast, slow it doesn't matter. It's amazing. They roar at 5 miles an hour. They sound like the old 60's snow tires. Potenza never again. I bought new. now 14,000 miles. Great injustice. I am going to registar a complain with the company rep. at my dealership.