I was cleaning my rims.. and noticed that my rears had 2 or 3 weights for balance on them (the little metal sticky tape kind).. no big deal right?

Well, I went to clean the fronts, and both fronts have an AMAZING, un-acceptable amount of weights... I counted ~18 on one wheel, and ~14 on the other.

I mean like a strip about 10-12" long of weights.

Anyone else have this issue?

-- Aaron

 

Yep. In fact, I'm surprised that you have so few on the rears. It's because of the extra weight of the TPMS sensors - you should find that those weights are all opposite the valve assembly (which includes the sensor).

 

The large amount of weight is there to balance the tire pressure sensor mounted inside of the wheel. So it is nothing to get alarmed about.

 

Yup. My 8 has MANY weights on both front wheels. Not sure if this is because of the TPMS sensor on the wheel, but there are a lot of weights on these wheels. If it keeps the wheels from wearing abnormally and balances them ok, I'm good with it :D

 

Yeah - if there's no vibration then the weights are doing their job. If you have vibrations at speed then you could start to get worried about wheel balance.

 

There should be tire pressure monitors in the rear rims too. But from what I'm reading from the above post, you guys feel the monitors are only in the front rims.

So what happens when the time comes, and you have to rotate the tires ?

 

Yes, there should be sensors in all four wheels, and your car most likely has them. The difference in balance weights is probably due to the individual characteristics of the wheels and tires. It's a little odd that you have the distinct front to rear difference, but it could occur that way.

 

There are TPMS sensors in all four wheels, thus one would expect to see approximately the same amount of weight on each wheel. Hence my comment about being surprised at the relative lack of weights on the rears.

 

I have a lot of weights on all 4 rims.

 

I have noticed that they appear to come off very easily - this something to worry about?

 

Yes..those 'sticky' weights will come off, especially at high-speeds..it should be a concern.

 

I've had wheels with stick-on weights for years - my RX-3 racecar had a clearance limitation that precluded the use of regular clip-on weights on the inside of the wheels. In all that time, I never once lost a stick-on weight. I don't see them as a problem.

 

Having just moved back from living in Germany for 3 years and seeing most BMW wheels using the stick on weights, I am not at all concerned about them coming off. As for tire rotation again it should not be an issue because the wheel is balanced on it's own regardless of where it will be mounted on the car, so if it is that great a concern have a tire shop rotate them for you and ask them to re-balance each wheel before mounting it.

 

I've sure seen sticky weights come off at speed, especially on wheels with some slant to the rim. That's why Gawd made duct tape!

Aaron:

Balance issues are the same front/rear, so your car must have rear tires that are inherently unbalanced. Someone, by luck or skill, mounted them in such that the heavy spots offset the TPM sensors. My Dear Wife's 8 has about the same ridiculous number of weights on all four.

{{{{

 

no wonder the wheels weight so much.

 

I know when i got my winter wheels and tires from Tire Rack i had balance issues. Tirerack had me take them to a local tire shop to have them broken down. Described as seperaing the two and once again ligning up the heavy side of the tire on the opposite side of the wheel. As a result, they had to remove the weights. judging my the divets and the adhesive left over, I would assume that the one's I had there stick very well.

Tirerack compensated me for the issue beyone the service to the tires. I also made them note the issue if the wheels have issues later on ...