Another thread on steering wheel wobble
Discussion
Hi
I know this has been done before, but of all the threads I have read, none have really answered my question.
Car is a 2015 LCI 340i Touring. So less than two years old. 12k on the clock and well maintained. Soon after I started commuting on the M25, I noticed that the steering wheel was intermittently wobbling. And I don't mean a vibration, a full on wobble as if a ghost was turning the wheel slightly left and right. Sometimes it didn't do it , sometimes it did it slightly and other times it did it quite alarmingly.
On the way home that evening I observed it again and noticed that on new smooth tarmac it didn't really occur. It got worse on the older more tramlined sections.
I took the car down to the local and well respect tyre place to have it checked out. All wheels were re-balanced and proper laser alignment done which didn't reveal any major issues (although see further below). The car still does it.
I have taken it out on other local roads (dual carriageways and B roads) and overall it wasn't as bad but did follow a similar pattern - newer surface, didn't occur, older more tramlined, did occur (but not as bad as on M25). My theory is therefore that there is something about the M25 that my car or LCI F31s (and their suspension set-up) generally don't like. In other words the M25 is so bad due to its constant pounding by trucks and cars that the road surface upsets the handling of the car.
I would be surprised if a component has failed or is about to fail as there are no noises and the steering otherwise feels fine. Or perhaps it is a feature of the RF tyres? I could change them for Michelin PS4s and hope that fixes it. That's not a cheap option though.
Have any other LCI F31 owners experienced this? Note - you will have to hold the wheel very loosely to see it (something you can do when sitting in the M25 car park!)
Any ideas?
Re the tracking check - the rear camber was the only thing that was out or had been deliberately set out at a previous visit. The guy said that it is a known problem with BMWs on runflats, If you leave the rear cambers where they should be then you quickly get uneven wear due to their stiff sidewalls. As a result, the tyre centre always sets the rear cambers on BMWs with RFs to be on the limit of tolerance (staggered in, I assume) to counteract this. Could this be a source of the problem and/or is the guy talking b
ks and should the rear camber be at factory settings?! He said if I switch to non-RFs, they would put the camber back to factory setting as you don't get this problem with normal tyres.
Cheers
I know this has been done before, but of all the threads I have read, none have really answered my question.
Car is a 2015 LCI 340i Touring. So less than two years old. 12k on the clock and well maintained. Soon after I started commuting on the M25, I noticed that the steering wheel was intermittently wobbling. And I don't mean a vibration, a full on wobble as if a ghost was turning the wheel slightly left and right. Sometimes it didn't do it , sometimes it did it slightly and other times it did it quite alarmingly.
On the way home that evening I observed it again and noticed that on new smooth tarmac it didn't really occur. It got worse on the older more tramlined sections.
I took the car down to the local and well respect tyre place to have it checked out. All wheels were re-balanced and proper laser alignment done which didn't reveal any major issues (although see further below). The car still does it.
I have taken it out on other local roads (dual carriageways and B roads) and overall it wasn't as bad but did follow a similar pattern - newer surface, didn't occur, older more tramlined, did occur (but not as bad as on M25). My theory is therefore that there is something about the M25 that my car or LCI F31s (and their suspension set-up) generally don't like. In other words the M25 is so bad due to its constant pounding by trucks and cars that the road surface upsets the handling of the car.
I would be surprised if a component has failed or is about to fail as there are no noises and the steering otherwise feels fine. Or perhaps it is a feature of the RF tyres? I could change them for Michelin PS4s and hope that fixes it. That's not a cheap option though.
Have any other LCI F31 owners experienced this? Note - you will have to hold the wheel very loosely to see it (something you can do when sitting in the M25 car park!)
Any ideas?
Re the tracking check - the rear camber was the only thing that was out or had been deliberately set out at a previous visit. The guy said that it is a known problem with BMWs on runflats, If you leave the rear cambers where they should be then you quickly get uneven wear due to their stiff sidewalls. As a result, the tyre centre always sets the rear cambers on BMWs with RFs to be on the limit of tolerance (staggered in, I assume) to counteract this. Could this be a source of the problem and/or is the guy talking b
ks and should the rear camber be at factory settings?! He said if I switch to non-RFs, they would put the camber back to factory setting as you don't get this problem with normal tyres. Cheers
You answer your question by yourself
"The guy said that it is a known problem with BMWs on runflats"
Previously i was reading some topics in regards RF tyres, people looking which best RF tyres, because been in similar situations like yours or even worse, feeling unsafe with those tyres, so majority changing to standard tyres.
"The guy said that it is a known problem with BMWs on runflats"
Previously i was reading some topics in regards RF tyres, people looking which best RF tyres, because been in similar situations like yours or even worse, feeling unsafe with those tyres, so majority changing to standard tyres.
SPaul said:
You answer your question by yourself
"The guy said that it is a known problem with BMWs on runflats"
Previously i was reading some topics in regards RF tyres, people looking which best RF tyres, because been in similar situations like yours or even worse, feeling unsafe with those tyres, so majority changing to standard tyres.
"The guy said that it is a known problem with BMWs on runflats"
Previously i was reading some topics in regards RF tyres, people looking which best RF tyres, because been in similar situations like yours or even worse, feeling unsafe with those tyres, so majority changing to standard tyres.
Have you any evidence for the assertion that the majority are changing from RFTs? I very much doubt that.
IME most of the issues attributed to RFTs are actually down to large wheels and low profile tyres. Vibration, poor ride, inner tread wear, you name it.
A couple of thing to consider.
I had an e61 msport with RF Tyres that tramlined on motorways; a change to non RFTs transformed this and also have a much better ride.
I had new rear tyres fitted to my TVR which were different to the front and the drive was so poor as to be, imho, dangerous. Changing the fronts to the same brand and pattern as the rears resolved the issue completely.
I had an e61 msport with RF Tyres that tramlined on motorways; a change to non RFTs transformed this and also have a much better ride.
I had new rear tyres fitted to my TVR which were different to the front and the drive was so poor as to be, imho, dangerous. Changing the fronts to the same brand and pattern as the rears resolved the issue completely.
Roma101 said:
Bump. Surely other 3er touring users go on the M25 and could comment?
2008 LCI E91 330i here with ca. 18K miles from new.I used to have Michellin PS2 RFTs, and then changed them to PS4s Non-RFTs, and never had any of those symptoms you describe whilst going on the M25 (or any other road, for that matter). Although the second owner from new, I doubt my car ever had any camber adjustments made for the RFTs either, and although only part worn when I changed to the PS4s (date code expired), the wear was even right across all 4 tyres, and still is.
If you had said you are driving an E39, then I'd have been suspicious of the front control arms being worn. But they aren't picky about which motorway you're driving on. ;-)
Sorry I can't be of more help.
Edited by RafflesNH on Saturday 9th September 15:55
E34 BMW's and others of the same years were notorious with front wheel wobble. The cure was EVERY joint in the front suspension and steering being perfect. I had 2, both did it.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=13...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=13...
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