bizarre car behaviour!

[anonymous-user]

whilst driving down the M1 yesterday evening in the bm i was in the 1st lane pottering back home at about 60mph as the temp was minus 4 when all of a sudden the car pulled to the left sharply then corrected itself..ten secs later it happened again. Quite frightening! Any ideas on a cause? I was on light throttle, no snow on road, i wouldn't want it to happen while OH and little un were driving.. Car is a E39 M5.

[anonymous-user]

just to add, i checked all tyre pressures and wheel nuts.. The closest description i could give is imagine driving in a straight line when a passenger yanks the wheel then immediately lets go..

[S1MMA]

E39 M5 has a limited slip diff, so your left tyre may have hit ice/snow, which if you were on a light throttle could mean the diff would transfer torque to the right hand rear wheel/tyre, which then caused the car to turn to the left. Possibly.

[iain a]

Had similar happen to me when a front wheel bearing failed.

[anonymous-user]

thought about the lsd thing but when i say light throttle i mean very light..so i discounted that explanation. Wheel bearing? Haven't heard any typical noises and car has been ok up to this. Only thing i can connect to it is about a week ago the OH slid into a kerb with back wheel in the deep snow. However it was only at walking pace so i didn't think it could have done anything plus i've used the car several times since.

[GreigM]

Does your car have traction control of any kind? Did the light flicker? Would indicate if it was a traction issue or possible mechanical failure

[davidjpowell]

My dad had a M535 years ago that had a broken collar on the drive shaft/LSD joint. Just occasionally it would only put drive to one wheel...

Very hard to diagnose, but could equally be ice on the road etc..

[RB5]

I had something similar a few weeks back, although it only really happened when cornering or coming off the throttle. Replaced the lower arm ball-joint and it was fine. In this case however, you probably just hit a patch of ice/snow/diesel.

[mike50001]

sounds like a patch of ice. but if you have had a kerb kiss its worth 5 min on the ramp at a decent garage just to check an peace of mind

[Larry Dickman]

Just sounds like tramlining to me.

[tyranical]

Haunted car, ghost's playing with your steering rack.

[Dave J]

were you falling asleep ?

[Digby]

Ruts in the road? Has happened to me in almost every vehicle I have been in, if the conditions are right.

[PaulG40]

If it was the diff, would you have not 'felt' it coming from the rear end?

[*Al*]

Possibly a rut in the road or a patch of sheet ice under the snow.If the car is driving fine before and also now i wouldn't be worried, just very careful.

[defblade]

Sounds like hitting short patches of slush (probably very dirty = dark colour = hard to see). That'll pull the wheel that hits it acroos, tugging back on the wheel.

[Jakg]

Were you using cruise at the time?

[y282]

tyranical said:

Haunted car, ghost's playing with your steering rack.

x2, definitely.

[anonymous-user]

not using cruise. it was something that's never happened to me before in 19 years of driving. if i'd have been going faster it could have been serious! just been to local tyre places but they are all shut so will have to try tomorrow.(booking in for wheel alignment and balancing checks)

[WeirdNeville]

If it's had any kind of suspension Knock I'd check the Geomotry to be sure it's ok. Also get it on ramps and either check yourself or have someone check all your linkages and arms for damage/bends.

Other than that, were the roads actually totally clear? Hitting slush/ice at 60Mph will make the car veer violently. Ice in particular can be silent when it does it too....