[insanesam]

Have done a search and found no definitive answers.
My car tracks straight but when i let go of the steering wheel
it pulls to the left. Had an alignment done, it stopped pulling to the left
but then i had to turn my steering wheel a bit to the right to track straight. Had another alignment done - the car tracks straight but pulls to left (hence back to the original problem). The tyre stop said it the something called the castor bushes need to be replaced. Anyone have the same issues or can shed some light? Im still using the Bridgestone run flats and car has 85000km on it. Tyres are still good and always kept at about 36-38 PSI.

thanks

[_ink]

I would say perhaps the control arms need replacing, or just the bushings.

[niiCk]

the road.

[Jexus]

Camber arms?

[e90328i]

mine pulls slightly as well with a recent alignment. Probably just the bushings, tech said everything looked fine. Could be tires.

[insanesam]

Any idea how much these bushings cost?
Also whats the difference between a control arm bushing and caster bushing?

[litxus]

It depends who did your alignment as for some reason the shop I used could not do it, but no problems at the dealer.

[John_01]

I guess you should probably take the advice of the tire shop and get the tension strut bushings replaced.

Also have a look at these:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535542

My understanding:
Lower arm = wishbone
Upper arm = tension strut = castor link(?)

[jamesausBMW330DE93]

try changing the tyres, i recommend the bridgestone s001s run flats

[dr335e93]

Was your alignment done by BMW?
After many wasted hours and $$$ at chains and indies I firmly believe that only BMW can align our cars. From what I've read they place weights on the seats and corners at different points during the process and it takes 1.5 hours. And someone has to sit in the drivers seat for the final measurements.
Just my thoughts.

[R3N]

Check to see if the control arm bushings are leaking. Stock ones are hydrofilled and don't last very long. I had mine changed out at 70,000kms. Same symptoms as yourself, more pronounced when braking.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=906045

[insanesam]

Also my steering wheel shakes/shimmy on certain roads at varying speeds. Its hard for me to replicate and pinpoint under the exact circumstances/parameters. However my control arm bushes were leaking slightly so i recently replaced them with Meyle HD ones and got an alignment. The pulling seems to have minimised but the shimmying seems more frequent now on more roads though not as severe as before. The mechanic and tyre place said all other bushes seem tight and there are no visible leaks.

I have gone through alot of threads and haven't come across any definitive answers.
I have Kumho KU39 tyres (225/35/19 front , 255/30/19 rear, 225m rims) with about 5000km on them, the wheels have been balanced 2-3 times and the tyre pressures are as per the placard (though i've played around with different combinations to no avail).
Anyone have any ideas? This issue is bugging me but at the same time i don't want to start replacing components unnecessarily.

thanks

[JinAM]

Originally Posted by dr335e93

Was your alignment done by BMW?
After many wasted hours and $$$ at chains and indies I firmly believe that only BMW can align our cars. From what I've read they place weights on the seats and corners at different points during the process and it takes 1.5 hours. And someone has to sit in the drivers seat for the final measurements.
Just my thoughts.

That's a fairy tale. Only car they have to weight down for a wheel alignment is the E46 M3.
Everything else it's basically the same. They even use the same wheel alignment machine that some of the tyre shop uses.
It all comes down to attention to details. BMW is charging a few times more than an average tyre shop and of cause they have to do a better job.

[dr335e93]

Originally Posted by JinAM

That's a fairy tale. Only car they have to weight down for a wheel alignment is the E46 M3.
Everything else it's basically the same. They even use the same wheel alignment machine that some of the tyre shop uses.
It all comes down to attention to details. BMW is charging a few times more than an average tyre shop and of cause they have to do a better job.

Jin, I'll let you or Peter or BMW align my car. No one else.
Point is its a specialist job. Corner shop will certainly f$@k it up

[ccbl]

Does your car pull to the left when on the alignment rack? I have the same issue regardless of multiple alignments. My car can't pin point it. On the rack the front wheels are free to move and constantly want to pull the the left even when car is off. He thinks it's an electrical bmw thing he's unaware of but can't get it. Car drives straight but pulls when you let go

[insanesam]

After having my wheels balanced and aligned at 4 different (somewhat reputable) places the problem remains. However after my last alignment the 'pull' seems to have minimised and i have learnt to live with it.

Prior to my last wheel balance, there was a slight steering wheel shimmy at about 70km/h. After a 'precision' wheel balance whereby they use the finger plate to mount the tyre to the balancing machine the vibration seemed to have disappeared. About 3000km later, there is a very slight vibration at about 55-65km/h under load when i'm in 3rd gear. But at over 100km/h its the same vibration rythm but more pronounced. I have checked the wheels and all the weights are in place and no foreign objects lodged in the tyre. This time the vibration is in the seat and not the steering wheel.

It seems as though each time i get a wheel balance, it just moves the vibration to a different speed range. Does anyone know a place in Sydney whereby getting a wheel alignment + balance is not a lottery. Would prefer recommendations based on a place you've been to and ideally the name of the technician who performed the work as for me it seems getting this done right seems like rocket science.

P.S I know the common denominator is my car, but all 4 places have said that all suspension components look tight, and also i recently replaced my tension struts about 5000km ago (and yes bolts tightened at ride height)

[DR-JEKL]

Vibration is in the seat and not the steering wheel? Hmm you do know there are subs under the seats though right

Seriously though, perhaps its mechanically related (might need an intake clean?) I use to get a similiar issue before I changed my plugs and vanos solenoids (albeit the car was physically struggling at low rpms, but there could be vibrations felt through the seat)