[SteveF1]

My problems never end.....

Yesterday I began driving to work, first ten mins is pretty much straight roads but when I hit a roundabout the car seemed to lurch at the back and felt very loose as if I'd hit a patch of oil. I pulled over straight away as I wasn't sure if I'd had a flat tyre as I've had tyre pressure warning light issues over the past two weeks since a smart repair was done on one of my wheels. I couldn't see anything untoward so set off again but all the way to work the car felt strange, as if the back was dragging/lurching when cornering or as if a tyre was falling off the rim - I just had no confidence in the rear at all.

When I got to work I checked the tyre pressures and they were all normal, all within tolerance and the tyres appeared fine. I drove home and got the same experience and again today too.

I haven't hit anything, the tyre treads all appear evenly worn, the pressures are fine but that backend feels terrible. All the tyres are Bridgestone runflats and have loads of tread left and its only just come on, it didn't feel like this three days ago and there are no warning lights either. DSC is still engaged so I haven't got a clue whats wrong.

Any ideas?

[dxb335d]

Could be diesel. Ive had it where its taken ages to come off the tyres. You had it twice in the same direction eh!?

[willhollin]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

You had it twice in the same direction eh!?

That's a recipe for a loose rear end.

[toxicnerve]

Could be a suspension issue?

[SteveF1]

I doubt its contaminants on the tread cause Ive done roughly 30 miles since I first got the problem.

I'm starting to think that when BMW did the smart repair and took one of the back wheels off they didn't screw it back on properly and its slowly loosening itself free. There doesn't appear to be much gap between the wheel and the upright to suggest the wheels coming off but it might be one area I need to look at.

[zltm089]

damn....I would get them to look if everything is tighten correctly...

[beemerbird]

Broken spring?

[SteveF1]

Problem is the dealer (Bowker Preston) that did the work is nearly 70 miles from where I live. My nearest dealer (Williams Rochdale) is only 5 miles away but there is likely gonna be a charge for them to check my wheels if its down to Bowkers muck up.

I might just tell them my warning light has come on again and the rear feels loose and forget to tell them any work has taken place recently. It certainly needs seeing to but I'll be damned if I'm paying for it.

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by beemerbird

Broken spring?

+1 - or anti-roll bar bush/mounting loose?

[SteveF1]

Originally Posted by beemerbird

Broken spring?

Wouldn't I have heard it pop and feel or hear something as I drive though?

Apart from feeling loose at the back I can't hear or see anything from underneath the car thats sticking out.

The best way I can describe it is how it felt when we had snow early this year and the rear liked sliding around like a greasy weasel. I have absolutely no confidence with the rear at all and its quite unpredictable.

[beemerbird]

Steve, you wouldn't hear or even necessarily see a broken spring. Imagine how thick they are but a clean break of the spring and you wouldn't have anything poking out just still held together for the most part with a crack in it sort of thing.

As Paul has said, could be anti-roll bar/bush problem. Without getting the car on a ramp and checking such things over, it's going to be difficult to diagnose.

If the car is under warranty then surely any BMW dealer will sort it for you? You can check your wheels are tightened correctly yourself if you've got a torque wrench and don't have to mention prior work on the car.

[toxicnerve]

Does it appear to be an issue when turning in a particlar direction more than when turning the other way? You mentioned roundabouts, is it more obvious when turning to the left? If it's direction specific then it may provide a clue as to which side the issue is on.

[dxb335d]

Jack the facker up and take a gander.

[jinjur]

[mycoupe]

Sounds like a personal problem

[SteveF1]

Suppose I asked for that with the title named as it is.....:-D

I have checked the wheels, they are all bolted on properly and the tyres are stuck to the rims like glue and pressured correctly.

It must be suspension related - oh well its another trip to the garage on Friday

[SteveF1]

Does anyone think it might be a wheel bearing gone?

[Skid]

If it has disintergrated, it could cause a loose wheel but that would be obvious if you jacked the car up and gave the wheel a wiggle.

Usually they just get noisy.

[Cafe.Racer]

Yeah - you'd have been talking about a serious grinding noise for a looong while before now if it was the Wheel Bearing.

You could jack it up and try the wheel bearing test.

OR, just book it into the dealer for a look? You have booked it in, haven't you?

[dxb335d]

Ive blown up a wheel bearing before. All over the place when it went at 30mph.

[m1bjr]

This sounds more like rear bushes or the toe control arm/TCA bushes are shot to me.

However, a logical answer if the wheels been off is the TC system playing up.
That, as with the pressure alarm, relies heavily upon the ABS sensors being correctly adjusted and operational.
So the first place I would look is the ABS sensor on the wheel you just had refurbished.

[SteveF1]

Originally Posted by m1bjr

This sounds more like rear bushes or the toe control arm/TCA bushes are shot to me.

However, a logical answer if the wheels been off is the TC system playing up.
That, as with the pressure alarm, relies heavily upon the ABS sensors being correctly adjusted and operational.
So the first place I would look is the ABS sensor on the wheel you just had refurbished.

I think you might be right mate to a certain degree because the problem does seem to be under power whilst going round bends or roundabouts as I'm getting slippage with the rear being over sensitive to input. The only problem with this theory is that my wheel was taken off around 3 weeks ago and this problem has only been happening for around a week, it was fine before that apart from the intermittent tyre pressure warning light coming on when the pressures were fine.