Persistent Tramling and South East London garage recommendation

[bmwz4dream]

Hi

My 3.0l auto 2008 has been suffering from tramling since i got it and now im lost as to how to fix it! Its noticeable when driving on motorways the steering starts to twitch and i struggle to drive in a straight line when going above 70mph and having to drive with two hands on wheel. Also i dont feel safe driving at fast speeds as if im driving on ice

I had a 4 wheel adjustment done then took it to a local garage who said the bushes need changing so did that then another alignment. This helped abit but not a great deal, they said everything else looks fine including tyres/suspension etc

They charged me £300 for new bushes and alignment.

Does anyone know what the issue could be? Its on normal tyres. Or of any independent garages in south east london/croydon/bromley area who know z4’s?

Thanks

 

[Mr Tidy]

Both of mine have done it to some extent, but I've never had non run-flat tyres which most people on here swear by and are supposed to help no end.

It's particularly bad when the inside lane is "rutted" from heavy use by HGVs.

I can't help with a specialist in that area, but if you travel a bit further BMS in Leatherhead seem to get good reviews. I use TWG Automotive in Camberley as they're only a couple of miles away, and are excellent! They do have a courtesy car, but you need to book weeks ahead - still to me that's another recommendation!

 

[MKZ4000]

Are your tyres all good quality and matching brands? What tyre pressures are you running?

Mine tramlined and reducing the pressures to 30,32 or even 30 all round helped no end.

 

[brickers911]

Fitting non run flat tyres will make a big difference but you need to buy a punture kit to carry around same as the Z4m.

 

[tee.gilding]

I've got the same issue. I'm running 19in wheels with non-runflats all round, and the problem arose when I lowered it from factory height. I've had the front arms replaced, alignment done, no real improvements. I believe its the "sticky steering" issue, but haven't got round to sorting it. Have you looked into that at all?

 

[Ewazix]

I've got the same issue. I'm running 19in wheels with non-runflats all round, and the problem arose when I lowered it from factory height. I've had the front arms replaced, alignment done, no real improvements. I believe its the "sticky steering" issue, but haven't got round to sorting it. Have you looked into that at all?

Tramlining and sticky steering are different, my car had epic and dangerous TL on it's original worn runflats, a change to Falkens and a 4 wheel alignment cured it. A few years later I swapped to staggered 18's with Goodyear Eagles and it was back. I then spent 12 months going through new rear springs, lots of bushes including lollypops and anti-roll bars, track rod ends etc which got rid of most of it. Finally got it sorted with a competent 4 wheel alignment by someone who understood that it's no use using factory settings on a car which has been changed from factory, wheels, tyres, springs and bushes. It now runs true with no wiggle even on inside lane canyons or greasy white lines.

Having done a LOT of reading during all this I came to the conclusion that 50% of the issue is tyre construction and tread pattern. A piece I found and posted a while ago explained that the stiffer the tyre and more 'square' the edge profile the more likely it is to sit in and not climb out of ruts, which makes sense. Supported by my experience with Falkens, which are quite forgiving and have a rounded edge profile and were fine, and Eagles that are stiffer and square edged. Worth considering when choosing tyres.

 

[tee.gilding]

I've got the same issue. I'm running 19in wheels with non-runflats all round, and the problem arose when I lowered it from factory height. I've had the front arms replaced, alignment done, no real improvements. I believe its the "sticky steering" issue, but haven't got round to sorting it. Have you looked into that at all?

Tramlining and sticky steering are different, my car had epic and dangerous TL on it's original worn runflats, a change to Falkens and a 4 wheel alignment cured it. A few years later I swapped to staggered 18's with Goodyear Eagles and it was back. I then spent 12 months going through new rear springs, lots of bushes including lollypops and anti-roll bars, track rod ends etc which got rid of most of it. Finally got it sorted with a competent 4 wheel alignment by someone who understood that it's no use using factory settings on a car which has been changed from factory, wheels, tyres, springs and bushes. It now runs true with no wiggle even on inside lane canyons or greasy white lines.

Having done a LOT of reading during all this I came to the conclusion that 50% of the issue is tyre construction and tread pattern. A piece I found and posted a while ago explained that the stiffer the tyre and more 'square' the edge profile the more likely it is to sit in and not climb out of ruts, which makes sense. Supported by my experience with Falkens, which are quite forgiving and have a rounded edge profile and were fine, and Eagles that are stiffer and square edged. Worth considering when choosing tyres.

Very interesting. Maybe it's my tyres then? They're Kumho Ecsta PS91's. Seem pretty rounded and forgiving, but maybe not??

 

[skelters]

What's the tyre pressures?

What bushes went on the car?


I Had tramlining on the previous E85 but that was with runflats.

Never experienced it with Goodyear Eagle F1's, Vreds or Michelin Pilot Sport 4.

 

[Magicarcher]

Had tramlining chronically when on Bridgestone RFT all round (all with very even wear 5-6mm). There are two sections of A road on my way home where the road is pretty badly rutted, and the car was pretty scary to drive above 50mph, I felt the car was in control of me not the other way round. Changed to Non RFT Dunlop Sportsmax 2, its a different car now, no problems up to 70mph.

 

[Ewazix]

Another interesting read on tramlining

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=47

 

[Davz]

I had severe tramlining, it was downright dangerous, having to take a firm grip of the wheel on poorly maintained roads, at speed (70) I had a few brown trouser moments as it darted all over the place. I had it all checked out with a clean bill of health for dampers and bushes, I also gave it a look over myself and all looked good, no leaks from the dampers etc.
I have just changed all the dampers to Bilstein B4, the dampers that came off looked fine (50k miles) but two were completely shot (drivers side) no damping at all and the other two barely damping. New dampers...... zero tramlining and that is without a 4 wheel alignment. If you think about, unequal damping or zero damping is going to promote bump steer and tramlining. It is easy to check your rear dampers, just undo the lowers bolts (while on axle stands) and see what the damping is like, I was surprised to find one rear with zero damping hence 4 new ones on it now.

 

[A-minor]

I've not had it on the Z4 but used to get it on my old E39. It was definitely related to the tyres, really bad with some and non-existent with others. Of course there could be an underlying reason which the tyres were just amplifying, but without any concensus on this I just settled on a brand of tyres that eliminated it and stuck with them. For me that was Avons.

 

[Jamturbo]

Had all the TLC issues and bounces on the motorway. In the end, I changed to non- run flats and it has been a really good change. No more tl and better feel on the motorway.