Slight shimey at 60 - 70

I

IVORHOLDEN

Member
Hi there from sunny Essexshire

Very recently purchased a Z4 coupe and at 60 - 70 feels like the wheel is twitching from side to side although only slightly. The car had brakes, tires and 4 wheel alignment 1700 miles ago.
Is this a trait of runflats ?

Thanks in advance
 
Not that. Ive had that one before and it was tracking. This is on any road its a weird feeling. Also wondered if its to do with the electric steering.
 
Welcome to the forum by the way. :thumbsup:

I think it's more likely to be caused by the run-flats or possibly worn front bushes than the steering.

And we'd love to see a photo or 2 of your car!
 
IVORHOLDEN said:
Very recently purchased a Z4 coupe and at 60 - 70 feels like the wheel is twitching from side to side although only slightly.
Click to expand...

If you take your hands off the wheel (with care, obviously) can you see the wheel visibly twitch a tiny amount? Mine used to do that, but it was always intermittent, depending seemingly on road surface, speed, phase of the moon, direction of the wind... I spent ages trying to eliminate it, replacing an apparently slightly buckled front alloy, front track rod ends (one was seized anyway so it had to be done), alignments etc. Also had it looked at by BMW. Characteristic of tires was one explanation (it is still on run flats - which I don't see as the big issue that some do, as long as you are picky about what brand you put on). I also think that very occasionally one of my front calipers may stick, but neither alloy gets especially hot. I've had new pads and discs all round since the issue began as well and I barely ever notice it now so it isn't worth losing sleep over any more. Sorry, that doesn't really help you, but misery loves company! It may give you some ideas of things to check (or not :lol: ).

Welcome to the forum, by the way, and if you eliminate your issue please share the fix.
 
Thank you both.

yes done the hands off and its odd how it twitches only at 60-70. My son is in the tire business and he reckons it runflats :x
 
Could this be suffering from the notorious sticky steering that blighted my 2005 E85. If it is, there have been several threads about it also listing possible solutions.
 
I had this on my 2003 E85. Here are some possibilities of things to look at.. I ended up doing all of them, because they needed doing anyway!
- Wheel balance (not unheard of to lose a balance weight)
- Alignment (could be out after 1700 miles if you've seen enough potholes..)
- Sticky brake callipers (possible causes are degraded brake hoses, corroded slide pins, or degraded pistons/seals)
- Run flat tyres (I changed off run flats all round, soooo much better ride and road noise)
- Control arm bushes (E46 / E85 / E86 known to work through these fairly quickly) and ball joints
- Anti roll bar bushes.
- Track rods (check both ends for play)
- Drop links (both ends)

I can't actually remember which one fixed the steering wheel twitch in the end. I seem to remember replacing the anti roll bar bushes made a big difference; the old ones were so worn that the bar was waving around in the hole.

On the brakes; if you are UK, GSF Car Parts sell reconditioned brake callipers (good as new) and will give you a substantial discount when you return your old ones.

All are quite easy to inspect and diagnose, if you're into a bit of diy mechanic-ing.
 
I would take your car to a good tyre shop and get all 4 wheel re-balanced before you do anything else.
 
Does it only do it between those speeds? ie. goes away if you go faster?
Just thinking back to my old Escort and Capri days. The inner TCA bushes used to wear and give exactly that feeling.
Below that speed the weight of the car, drag of the wheels etc used to hold the bush firm. Above those speeds the aerodynamic forces would be sufficient to hold the bush tight, but there was a spot in the middle where the forces seemed to cancel each other out and the bush went a little slack. Hope my description makes sense?
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, it could be a worn suspension bush somewhere.
But do the balancing etc first as that is easier.
 
The fact it only seems to do it at a certain speed makes me think it might not be the runflats. However it does sound exactly like the issues I did have with the runflats on my '04 E85.

Is it on any road? Or just in a certain area of road?
 
Thanks for the good replies

I will be getting the wheels refurbed soon to get them perfect and they will check for bent wheels. I suspect wear on a ball joint.
I recently had a new drop link on my Holden but that is a rattle over the bumps and they do suffer as its a rather large engine.
 
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