Tramlining/horrible steering

[PboroRyan]

Hi all,
Getting a little bit tired of the tram lining problem in my 04 3.0i. On any road with even minuscule camber, it will try and put me into the pavement/hedges/wall/ anywhere that isn't straight. On top of this, the wheel is constantly turned to the right 10 degrees to keep the car straight.

In the past year it has had:
New eibach springs
New wheels
New tyres (eagle asymetric 1's all round)
New drop links
New polyurethane ARB bushes all round
New OEM rear trailing arm bushes
New polyurethane wishbone lollipop bushes
And aligned by AReeve BMW specialist.

And it still won't go bloody straight! The handling is great, it sticks to the road, turns in sharply etc, but it doesn't want to ever go straight. Am I missing something, what else should I be looking at? Wishbones, steering, driveshafts? Many people say this car is a great cruiser but in my experience it can't even go in a straight line! Any help and suggestions very much appreciated.

 

[Chris_D]

bent chassis?
:wink:

 

[AlienZed]

I had this problem also at one point so i increased the toe in more and this solved the problem .
If you run almost no toe in then you will get the tramling symptoms as you are .inceasing toe in will give you more straight line stability .get your wheel guy to check it again and try adjusting the toe in to find a level thats suits your suspension set up. Without going ott and wearing the tyres.
M

 

[Behr]

I would get a second alignment carried out.

To explain; I have been down this road myself with my ditchfinder, as it used to be -

1. Got rid of run flats for high quality rubber - NO noticeable improvement contrary to what I expected based on current wisdom.
2. Changed control arms and control arm bushes even though only minor perceived wear - minor improvement
3. Had KDS alignment at BMW (expensive at £189!) - completely different car to drive even though it wasn't that bad according to the "before" numbers on their report.

I know Mike (ducklakeview) got a package from Kwik Fit whereby you can have (iirc) unlimited alignments in a year. Maybe that's worth a try as long as your local Kwik Fit has a bloke who knows his kit. Or pay the dosh and roll the dice at BMW.

It's a crap problem to have for sure.

 

[PboroRyan]

I would get a second alignment carried out.

To explain; I have been down this road myself with my ditchfinder, as it used to be -

1. Got rid of run flats for high quality rubber - NO noticeable improvement contrary to what I expected based on current wisdom.
2. Changed control arms and control arm bushes even though only minor perceived wear - minor improvement
3. Had KDS alignment at BMW (expensive at £189!) - completely different car to drive even though it wasn't that bad according to the "before" numbers on their report.

I know Mike (ducklakeview) got a package from Kwik Fit whereby you can have (iirc) unlimited alignments in a year. Maybe that's worth a try as long as your local Kwik Fit has a bloke who knows his kit. Or pay the dosh and roll the dice at BMW.

It's a crap problem to have for sure.

It's had 4 alignments since January, most recently at a motorsport garage who specialise in BMW and Mini, although it was out a bit they said it wasn't terrible before. The handling itself is spot on and with dodgy wheel alignment I'd guess handling would be adversely affected also, but it doesn't seem to be. Very frustrating on longer journeys where my right arm actually gets tired having to constantly pull to the right and fight the wheel. :headbang:

 

[Behr]

That's a lot of alignments

Some random ideas then...

Have you tried messing around with tyre pressures? I found 32/32 to be spot on and am running Michelin Pilot Sport 4's on Style 107's.

What about some simple DIY geometry checks with a tape measure and some string lines?

 

[PboroRyan]

That's a lot of alignments

Some random ideas then...

Have you tried messing around with tyre pressures? I found 32/32 to be spot on and am running Michelin Pilot Sport 4's on Style 107's.

What about some simple DIY geometry checks with a tape measure and some string lines?

Yep, played with tyre pressures, was around 30 all round before, now gone up to 34f/36r and doesn't seem to be much different. I wouldn't know where to start checking alignment myself, have you got any tips/links to a tutorial?

 

[Buckz]

What are your wheel specs? I found that my z4c tramlines more with my 19s and it's pretty much gone with style 224s and correct rubber.

 

[PboroRyan]

Ive got 18x8.5J with 225 tyres front, and 18x9.5j with 255 tyres on the back, so a tiny little bit stretched but not too dissimilar to oem wheels and tyre sizes are the same. I've been toying with the idea of getting some factory 18s and seeing if that fixes the issue because it was never like this on the original MV2s (which i got rid of because they had loads of cracks). Trouble is I can't work out when it started so I can't pinpoint if anything changed to affect the tramlining.

 

[Buckz]

I'd say see if you can borrow a set of stock z4 wheels and try that.. going from 19 to 18 transformed my car

 

[Ewazix]

I wrestled with this problem a while back, but a suspension refresh with oem spec bushing and correct alignment (2nd try) sorted it. This is a handy read and focuses the mind on the basic causes of tramlining https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=47

It's also worth remembering that every bit of of compliance that's ironed out of the suspension by fitting stiffer lower springs, more rigid (poly) bushes and bigger lower profile tyres (with less sidewall) the more likely you are to experience tramlining, but I'd definitely start by trying stock wheels.

 

[TempusFugit]

I Don't think I saw Tie-Rod Ends/arms in the list of replaced parts, are you certain the play in those is acceptable? Relatively cheap to swap out and see.

 

[PboroRyan]

I Don't think I saw Tie-Rod Ends/arms in the list of replaced parts, are you certain the play in those is acceptable? Relatively cheap to swap out and see.

Hi, I forgot the mention the front track rod ends, they were also replaced last year so should certainly still be up to the job. I took the car to modified nationals this weekend after swapping the 2 front wheels round and the problem was certainly lessened. I'm not sure why or that this should have any sort of effect but it seems to have, handling is still sweet. I'm going to try the sticky steering grease fix as well this week so hopefully as a package it will drive a lot smoother, especially as the weather warms up. Thanks for all the suggestions guys!