bmw 318 2014 steering problems!!! Help!!

[Anthony5172]

Hey lads/ladies...
I own a bmw 318, its just come back from my personal mechanic after having track rod ends replacing as the car was drifting off both left and right whilst driving, and there was a bit of play on the actual wheels at 9am and 3pm clock positions..hense why i had the rods changed, my mechanic has assured me that the car has no problems, and to him its 'fine' but to me it feels far from it!
So here it goes,my last hope...

So, whilst im driving, lets just say 30mph, im feeling every single bump in the road, and watching cars infront of me going over bumps and the suspension takes the hit as you can see, but i can imagine if im behind my own car watching it, i feel like it would be following the bumps instead of counteracting them.
I thought it may have been the struts/shockers but my mechanic has also said they are fine, so im at a standstill on that...
Also, whilst im driving, lets say on a straight road,yes i can feel the bumps, but the steering obviously goes off to the side if i go over an uneven road which is down the cambur i get that, the issue is when im turning there seems to be a lag when either turning round a bend, corner, roundabout. Im literally having to turn the wheel 180° just to be able to get round the smallest of turns, as if the steering is loose, also when coming off a round about, im 80% sure if you let the wheel go it should automatically centre the steering and drive straight again? Well with mine, you need to manually do it yourself as its taking to long to centre back to normal, as an example if i left it to centre itself id hit whatevers in the path og the direction it was originally going.

If anyone has a clue what these issues are please help, im not that clued up with cars and its already cost me a fortune to fix previous problems, i just want it to drive perfectly as it did a year ago.

Thanks guys 🙂

[d_a_n1979]

Anthony5172 said:

Hey lads/ladies...
I own a bmw 318, its just come back from my personal mechanic after having track rod ends replacing as the car was drifting off both left and right whilst driving, and there was a bit of play on the actual wheels at 9am and 3pm clock positions..hense why i had the rods changed, my mechanic has assured me that the car has no problems, and to him its 'fine' but to me it feels far from it!
So here it goes,my last hope...

So, whilst im driving, lets just say 30mph, im feeling every single bump in the road, and watching cars infront of me going over bumps and the suspension takes the hit as you can see, but i can imagine if im behind my own car watching it, i feel like it would be following the bumps instead of counteracting them.
I thought it may have been the struts/shockers but my mechanic has also said they are fine, so im at a standstill on that...
Also, whilst im driving, lets say on a straight road,yes i can feel the bumps, but the steering obviously goes off to the side if i go over an uneven road which is down the cambur i get that, the issue is when im turning there seems to be a lag when either turning round a bend, corner, roundabout. Im literally having to turn the wheel 180° just to be able to get round the smallest of turns, as if the steering is loose, also when coming off a round about, im 80% sure if you let the wheel go it should automatically centre the steering and drive straight again? Well with mine, you need to manually do it yourself as its taking to long to centre back to normal, as an example if i left it to centre itself id hit whatevers in the path og the direction it was originally going.

If anyone has a clue what these issues are please help, im not that clued up with cars and its already cost me a fortune to fix previous problems, i just want it to drive perfectly as it did a year ago.

Thanks guys ??

For me, a) you need to get it to another respected local Indy mechanic that knows BMWs and get their 2nd opinion and b.) ideally get it to a decent tracking & alignment place (ideally one the uses the Hunter system) and ask them to check the tracking/alignment (they could do it all for you in one go as they’ll be a full working garage too more than likely).

It could be that your tracking & alignment are way off and needs sorting, could also be bad tyres/incorrect tyre pressures, could be damaged/snapped springs or leaking dampers, could be worn suspension bushes... This is why I think a 2nd opinion could be invaluable, unless you know as trust the mechanic you’ve already used.

In otherwords, the advice you’ll get online is manly guesswork, it needs to be up on a ramp & checked, thoroughly