Hi all
I've had my Z4 for several months and am loving it, although can't shake off this odd feeling I get through the wheel!
I first picked up the car at the end of July and it drove beautifully. All tyres were Bridgestone RFTs. The front right required replacement (MOT advisory) so two weeks after purchase I replaced both fronts with Vreds non-RFTs and at the same time, got the camber and 4-wheel alignment done. All of this was done at Elite Tyres, who I've always rated very highly. They use Hunter equipment.
Drove a couple of hundred miles and all seemed fine - the main difference being less tramlining, I suspect due to the non RFTs on the front. However, I then began to notice a twitching/wobble above 50/60mph - almost like a constant side to side movement - along with a light/vague feeling at these speeds. More noticeable on smooth roads and quite tiring after driving for more than 30 minutes. Also, it is more noticeable when the car in in Sport mode (I assume this is because the steering is tighter). I find the steering on the car light in general so I prefer using Sport mode, but sadly this makes the problem worse.
I took the car back to Elite and mentioned this problem. They rechecked the balance and found on the front wheels was buckled - this could be seen quite clearly on the balancer, so I thought this was the root of the problem.
Fast forward several weeks and I got a new set of 108s from FA Wheels to replace my damaged set. Mine needed a refurb badly anyway so this the wheel swap worked out well for me. Driving home afterwards, the car seemed much smoother as a whole - turned out both left wheels were buckled, so this is no surprise! However, the twitchy feeling remained.
Next stage was to replace the rears to Vreds non-RFTs (I know, I was naughty for mixing and matching) to have the same all round - I thought this would be the end of the issue. I also asked for the alignment to be rechecked. After the new rears were fitted, the ride improved significantly but sadly the twitchiness still was noticeable!
I've attached a print out of the alignment - this was the result of the check after it was originally adjusted (roughly 2 months). I am told it is normal for the rear camber to settle in a negative position for Z4s, so I am not worried about this. For all of the experts out there, is there anything drastically wrong with the results?
Has anyone else had a similar problem and subsequently cured it? I've had wheel balance issues before on previous cars and it doesn't feel the same, but I guess as the wobble only appears at 50+mph it could be related. It just seems strange the problem only occurred after the run-flats were taken off and the alignment was done. To add, a rear spring was replaced at the MOT in July as it had snapped, and to my knowledge all 4 are now fine.
Thanks in advance (and sorry for the essay!).
I've had my Z4 for several months and am loving it, although can't shake off this odd feeling I get through the wheel!
I first picked up the car at the end of July and it drove beautifully. All tyres were Bridgestone RFTs. The front right required replacement (MOT advisory) so two weeks after purchase I replaced both fronts with Vreds non-RFTs and at the same time, got the camber and 4-wheel alignment done. All of this was done at Elite Tyres, who I've always rated very highly. They use Hunter equipment.
Drove a couple of hundred miles and all seemed fine - the main difference being less tramlining, I suspect due to the non RFTs on the front. However, I then began to notice a twitching/wobble above 50/60mph - almost like a constant side to side movement - along with a light/vague feeling at these speeds. More noticeable on smooth roads and quite tiring after driving for more than 30 minutes. Also, it is more noticeable when the car in in Sport mode (I assume this is because the steering is tighter). I find the steering on the car light in general so I prefer using Sport mode, but sadly this makes the problem worse.
I took the car back to Elite and mentioned this problem. They rechecked the balance and found on the front wheels was buckled - this could be seen quite clearly on the balancer, so I thought this was the root of the problem.
Fast forward several weeks and I got a new set of 108s from FA Wheels to replace my damaged set. Mine needed a refurb badly anyway so this the wheel swap worked out well for me. Driving home afterwards, the car seemed much smoother as a whole - turned out both left wheels were buckled, so this is no surprise! However, the twitchy feeling remained.
Next stage was to replace the rears to Vreds non-RFTs (I know, I was naughty for mixing and matching) to have the same all round - I thought this would be the end of the issue. I also asked for the alignment to be rechecked. After the new rears were fitted, the ride improved significantly but sadly the twitchiness still was noticeable!
I've attached a print out of the alignment - this was the result of the check after it was originally adjusted (roughly 2 months). I am told it is normal for the rear camber to settle in a negative position for Z4s, so I am not worried about this. For all of the experts out there, is there anything drastically wrong with the results?
Has anyone else had a similar problem and subsequently cured it? I've had wheel balance issues before on previous cars and it doesn't feel the same, but I guess as the wobble only appears at 50+mph it could be related. It just seems strange the problem only occurred after the run-flats were taken off and the alignment was done. To add, a rear spring was replaced at the MOT in July as it had snapped, and to my knowledge all 4 are now fine.
Thanks in advance (and sorry for the essay!).
