So here is my story.

I bought used 19" rims awhile back for my E46 M3. Got them powder coated and the lip repolished. Looked fabulous.

I bought some cheap Brand new tires. Federals to be exact.

Got them mounted and balanced. The guy who balanced the wheels came over to me and said that his machine is reading that they are perfectly balanced, but visually, you can see the tires wobbling as they were spinning.

He said maybe I needed breaking in the new tires.

So drove it for a couple thousand miles.

My steering wheel and car still vibrates and shakes between 60-90mph. Its annoying as hell.


I finally took them to a wheel shop and asked if they could rebalance them for me, but the guy told me my tires were cupped. He said there are 3 reasons why that could be.

1. Cheap tires
2. Rims are bent
3. Shocks are bad


I really want to fix this, but have no clue what I should do first or find out what exactly is the problem.

I don't think my shocks are bad. Tires were cheap, but they were brand new? I hope the rims weren't bent when I bought them used from the guy, but how can all 4 rims be bent?

It doesn't make sense. Anyone have an idea what it could be and what I should do to find out?

 

Whoever balanced the tires should be able to tell if the wheels are bent, you can just watch the lip of the wheel as it spins and see if it wobbles, a straight wheel will have no visible shimmy or wobble

 

Stickied at the top of this forum is a topic called

Forum Rules and FAQ - READ BEFORE POSTING

It says:

P.S. Cupping is usually caused by worn/shot/busted suspension components, such as shocks, ball joints, bushings, etc., so that the tire is "jiggling around" rather than rolling down the road smoothly. Take it to a mechanic - dealer or independent - who has a lot of experience with suspensions.