Vague/twitchy steering

G

Gareth161

Member
 Cornwall
Enjoying the extra power of the 3.0 Z4 over my old 2.8 Z3 and all the creature comforts.
However am not so keen on the feel of the steering when you get above 70mph as does not feel anywhere near so firm & secure as the Z3.
Have recently put 4 new Yokohama Advan Sport V105 tyres on & tracking was checked. Currently at 33-34 psi in the front 225/40/18's.
I am assuming this is roughly the right pressure but is there anything else I can check/change or is this just the "normal" feel of the car & I will get used to it.
Any guidance from this very helpful forum greatly appreciated and I REALLY MUST post some pictures but I only ever remember in the evenings when too dark to take pics!!.
Thanks
Gareth
 
Hi, in my experience this is the nature of the beast :cry:
Not as stable as the z3, most people lay blame for the fidgety steering on the electric assistance as opposed to the good old hydraulic pumps of older cars-if you've checked the basics it's just something to get used to :o
Rob
 
Thanks Rob - had a feeling that might be the case. Pity there is no hybrid combining the best of both the z3 and the z4.
At least I can stop looking for things to fix that are not broke.
Now do I sell the z3 or keep her for occasional use?
Gareth
 
I believe the stated tyres pressures on the driver side is for runflats. If you are using regular tyres, might want to play around with reduced tyre pressures to see if that helps.

If you have the Sports mode button, engaging it on higher speeds may help since it tightens up the steering.
 
Hi, this is probably one of the most frustrating aspects of Z4 ownership and a search of topics will throw up hundreds of discussions and ideas on how to at least reduce the issue - but there really isn't a consistent answer or a single cause. I cured some epic tram lining by switching from runflats to Falkens on the stock 17"s. Switching to staggered 18"s with Eagle F1A2's introduced new stability issues at motorway speeds. Tyre pressure fiddling improved things a bit, 4 wheel alignment made another subtle improvement but new front RTAB 'lollypop' bushes, front ARB's and track rod ends dialled out 90% of the problem. Point is the 18"s on Eagles definitely highlighted underlying suspension weaknesses which were all MOT passes but not 100%.

So I found the whole suspension needs to be tip-top and is well worth working through it to get things right. With regards to the electric PAS, well that a whole other evening of threads to read! but can be difficult to diagnose unless suspension issues are eliminated.
 
You might want to run a diagnostic check to see if the steering angle sensor is reset. I am currently having major issues with this after getting the car tracked last Saturday.
 
Gareth161 said:
What or where is that as never heard of it?
Sounds complicated?
Gareth
Click to expand...

http://www.bmwclub.lv/files/06_E85_Chassis_Dynamics.001.pdf :oops:

Page 13 re steering angle sensor, but the whole doc is worth a read if you want to understand the whole suspension and steering systems :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for that- very interesting reading.
Is this part of something that anyone can access as presumably there is loads of useful and interesting information in it?
 
Gareth161 said:
Thanks for that- very interesting reading.
Is this part of something that anyone can access as presumably there is loads of useful and interesting information in it?
Click to expand...

Yes it's a Latvian site that publishes BMW material, some browsers will auto translate in to English (Im on Chrome which does) http://www.bmwclub.lv/index.php?MODE=bmwdocuments&MISC=Z4
 
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