Car handles like garbage after $1500 in new parts

There are myriad reasons why you are experiencing such an horrendous ride:

1-Different tire types (radial vice non-radial)
2-Shoddy alignment. Recommend having it verified at a different shop
3-Differing tire pressure (minimal but noticable)
4-Loose tie rods
5-Weak shock absorbers

If any of your tires are non-radial then your handling will be all over the road. This is actually quite a dangerous combination.
As to the alignment, having zero or negative toe-in (called toe-out) will cause much of what you described.
 
I had this problem on my 330i sport, and also went through the same procedure replacing bushes etc. For years, I drove the car like I was forever correcting the direction it was travelling in. Then after a regular service the garage said they replaced the anti-roll bar drop links /tie rods which were worn, after that it was transformed. I couldn't believe such an innocuous little part would change the car so much. I very much doubt it'll be the tyres. The newer less 'square' edged profile of them will make them feel different to start with.
 
I'VE MENDED IT!

alright so after taking it in to discount tire again and having them redo their work it got a little better, still nowhere near it needed to be. well I went to check the tire pressures after work today because the drive home was particularly unpleasant and decided I might as well just take all the tires off and inspect them all the way around and see if there was anything funny in the suspension as well. started with the passenger rear as I had suspicions about it... well the spring was unseated from the lower arm. the bottom portion was about 2 inches more toward the outside of the car than it should have been with the bottom coil of the spring sitting on top of the like, centering hole nipple thing? anyways, fixed it and fixed the problem.

I'm assuming that when I was wrestling with the RTAB on that side (it was about 10x worse than the driver's side) I must have unseated it slightly and then when discount went to replace the tires and lifted it, it let off enough tension that it slipped off, causing the sudden onset of crap handling. I can see how they missed it too because the rubber shim hid the fact that there was a problem.

so folks, if you've just done work where your struts are off on the rear, check that your springs are still on there properly. it was the one thing I didn't check as I triple checked everything else. always that one thing huh?
 
Kipvr said:
I had this problem on my 330i sport, and also went through the same procedure replacing bushes etc. For years, I drove the car like I was forever correcting the direction it was travelling in. Then after a regular service the garage said they replaced the anti-roll bar drop links /tie rods which were worn, after that it was transformed. I couldn't believe such an innocuous little part would change the car so much. I very much doubt it'll be the tyres. The newer less 'square' edged profile of them will make them feel different to start with.
Click to expand...

the sway bar links and bushings are next on my list. I'm trying to get the car back to how it was when I first got it and I know that the sway bar bushings and links must be looking similar to the rest of the rubber parts I've replaced.

in the mean time though I found the cause of my problems.
 
good to see you found the problem - that sort of thing can do your head in (and your wallet) trying to diagnose the cause.
 
Well done. Do you think the folks at Discount Tires exascerbated the problem or do you believe it was all self-inflicted?
 
rjsimmons said:
Well done. Do you think the folks at Discount Tires exascerbated the problem or do you believe it was all self-inflicted?
Click to expand...

well I dont see how they could have caused the entirety of the problem. that spring couldnt have really moved except when I had the strut off and the trailing arm unbolted to replace the RTAB. only time I can think of that the trailing arm was low enough that the spring wouldn't have been firmly wedged in there. pretty sure all they did was be the first people to lift the car after I did the work, taking just enough tension off the spring that it slipped further off the mount. only way it makes sense for the car to handle that way immediately after they worked on it.

now that said, do I think they should have caught it? yeah. when I took the wheel off I zeroed in on the problem within about 10 seconds, it was pretty obvious. instead of spending that 10 seconds looking for any issue when I brought it back in, that time was spent trying to sell me rims and making sure there was no possible way that they could have been put on the hook for some kind of damage. but, i brought a car that even a real shop probably isn't going to know much about unless they specifically work on BMWs to discount tire and didn't stand there the whole time watching everything they did, so thats on me too. though I really feel like that shouldn't be the way things are. I drop it off, I give you money, I don't need to supervise you and troubleshoot my own car. that's how that should play out I feel like :P

quick side note, anyone else ever run into "the tone"? the tone that says that the shop guy you're talking to thinks you're just "that" bmw driver that doesn't have any real mechanical knowledge about his own car and is just hassling them cause you think you're important, rather than the guy that spent 40 hours over two weeks installing self bought christmas goodness; hassling because he knows there's a problem in that area, told you about it, and can see you're not fucking doing dick about it? anyone else have that problem? completely drives me up a wall. another reason I don't like taking my car to shops.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom