Sean_BMW320 Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 I have a BMW E46 320CD 2005. The steering is unbearable, it pulls left to right constantly and now i have got vibration in the steering wheel when driving at 50-60mph. I have had the following changed: Front wheel bearings Front suspension strut Front track rods Front drop links Front control arms Front calipers Front discs and pads Front steering rack Front steering coupler Ive had the balancing and tracking done several times from a local garage which costs approx £50.00 front and back using the Hunter alignment. The steering wheel sits straights The rear has had new bushes, brakes, brake hose and tyres. I cant seem to find a resolution Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 You've had two new tyres on the rear - I'm guessing they're not a match for the front tyres? I had Conti's all round, replaced the rears with Nexen N8000 and had awful handling issues - felt like I was constantly stuck in a crosswind. Replaced the front tyres with Nexen N8000's and it's now absolutely perfect. You need matching tyres all around on these things, especially with the 18" wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 1 hour ago, dontpannic said: You've had two new tyres on the rear - I'm guessing they're not a match for the front tyres? I had Conti's all round, replaced the rears with Nexen N8000 and had awful handling issues - felt like I was constantly stuck in a crosswind. Replaced the front tyres with Nexen N8000's and it's now absolutely perfect. You need matching tyres all around on these things, especially with the 18" wheels. Had my car for 9 years now. Not once had matching pairs front to back! Never had handling issues (apart from component failure). Mine is on MV2's. If handling is off - something has failed. I would suggest to OP to try to narrow it down, does it pull when you hit a bump or is it random? When you say it pulls, does it feel like the front is going first and the back follows? Or other way around? It sounds like shot bushes to me.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted July 19, 2017 Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 i've got vredestein ultrac sessanta tyres on the front of mine, and it's awful. I'm willing them to wear out (even if my bank account isn't right now!) It's twitchy, generally unpleasant to drive at anything above 55mph and requires a fair degree of bravery to take on a motorway at speed. It weaves around the lane badly too. This happened as soon as I switched from my winters, (and was the same when I had these wheels on my last e46 too). My point? My front tyres are ruining my car. Might be worth trying some others on yours? dontpannic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean_BMW320 Posted July 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2017 Thanks for the responses i am looking to buy new front tyres to see if that helps. The bushes are fine ive checked for play absolutely nothing. Ill keep you guys updated 7 hours ago, dontpannic said: You've had two new tyres on the rear - I'm guessing they're not a match for the front tyres? I had Conti's all round, replaced the rears with Nexen N8000 and had awful handling issues - felt like I was constantly stuck in a crosswind. Replaced the front tyres with Nexen N8000's and it's now absolutely perfect. You need matching tyres all around on these things, especially with the 18" wheels. Foe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted July 20, 2017 Report Share Posted July 20, 2017 Good luck! I've always had good results with Bridgestones on BMWs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 On 7/19/2017 at 17:27, momo said: Had my car for 9 years now. Not once had matching pairs front to back! Never had handling issues (apart from component failure). Mine is on MV2's. If handling is off - something has failed. I would suggest to OP to try to narrow it down, does it pull when you hit a bump or is it random? When you say it pulls, does it feel like the front is going first and the back follows? Or other way around? It sounds like shot bushes to me.. All I know is that matching tyres solved my issues. It's also fairly common especially on this type of car that different tyre compounds and treads can cause major issues. My handling was well off and everything was absolutely fine, four wheel alignment checked, all bushings checked, all ball joints checked, all shocks checked, all steering joints checked, tyre balancing checked, tyre health checked - absolutely everything was checked. I knew all along that it was the tyres that were causing the issues though - the symptoms started on the first drive after having the rear tyres replaced with a non-matching brand. Replaced the front tyres with ones that matched the back and all of the handling issues were sorted. OP has already narrowed it down enough for me to say with some confidence that his non-matching tyres are at fault. As for the symptoms, it's so difficult to describe - but I would describe it on my car at least as feeling as though you're caught in a crosswind - random lurches to the side, car wouldn't sit in a straight line, felt like I was moving totally sideways, couldn't narrow it down front to rear. I knew something was wrong, but when I nearly lost the backend and triggered the traction control changing lanes on the M25 @ 75mph I knew that it was inherently dangerous to keep driving the car in that state. Since changing the tyres to matching pairs, I've had enough confidence now to do 145mph along the Autobahn and a sub 10-minute lap of the Nurburgring. With the non-matching pair of tyres, I hardly had the confidence in the car to go to the shops. So - I'm glad that you've had no issues with running mismatched tyres, but just because you haven't had issues doesn't mean that there isn't an issue there. I can 100% categorically state and guarantee that my handling issues WERE caused by mismatched tyres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 Fair enough! Sounds like it could have been due to the sidewalls. Conti are generally a harder sidewall tyre. If you fitted Nexen (much softer) then it could've been that. One axle allowing more sidewall flex than the other etc.. Maybe I've never had the issue as I've always fitted tyres with softer sidewalls? I had Dunlop SportMaxx GT's to start with, then Avon ZZ3's now Falken FK452's.. I might be going to a full matching set when I get around to replacing my fronts!! Got Vred Vorti on the rear, i'll be getting them on the front also. Again, they've got quite soft sidewalls too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted July 22, 2017 Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 Could well be the sidewalls, all I know is that without the match, the car felt absolutely awful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estoril 333 Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Our M3 had broken spring N/S,all o.k when replaced. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbreddie Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 my 320d touring had this problem, we tried allsorts of solutions, nothing worked, the car sat too low at the back, so eventually we changed the rear springs, this lifted the back end by a few inches. The handling is much better now, she doesnt wander anymore. But I do agree with others on here, about matching tyres, I have noticed that the car handles better with a full set of the same tyre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_right Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Dear all, I'm a brand new and super proud owner of 2004 330ci sport convertible to be my daily run around car to take the daily commute off my c63s which is eating too much mileage. I'm a huge fan of the e46 and think it really is the sweet spot of luxury, handling and practicality and I even had the roof off yesterday and this model has a Harmon kardon system which adds to the joy. I found and expected the steering to be heavy when i test drove the car. but noticed when I picked it up and was driving home, everything felt out of kilter . it has conti sport 6 tyres at the rear and two completely different brands at the front. one falken tyre and one random one so I bought myself a couple of Michelin crossclimate + 225/40/18s for the front (to be fitted on Saturday.) and I'll keep the contis till they (no doubt ) will wear out super fast. The reason for the cross climates is I regularly get ungritted roads where I live. I'll see how they jive with the contis but I plan to go cross climates all round. I dont plan to drive this car hard , that's what my other car is for. This one is more a cruiser for me to treat kindly and gently for a few years hopefully. I just read this thread and it has very useful information, so , thanks for this. I'll check in again once the tyres are put on and whether this resolves the issue. momo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 Just be careful in the slippery conditions with cross climates at the front and Sport 6's at the rear. Different types/compounds may make it feel unbalanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_right Posted March 18, 2019 Report Share Posted March 18, 2019 7 hours ago, momo said: Just be careful in the slippery conditions with cross climates at the front and Sport 6's at the rear. Different types/compounds may make it feel unbalanced. Thanks - that's definitely on my mind. Especially if one set grips while the other set is slipping in adverse conditions without pushing the car. Also there is also a rolling resistance (conti 9.6kg t , mich cross + 8.9kg t)difference. In my estimation, the set up could not possibly be worse than the falken Front Right & random brand Front Left combo currently gracing the front rims! And there will at least be a consistent front/rear balance or imbalance throughout which i can work with. I don't plan to push this car too hard until I get an indy BMW specialist to give it a fine tooth comb inspection. Also I have another car built to be drifted and pushed, ironically, the 330 is my comfortable convertible cruiser !! Beautiful car once i get the steering sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_right Posted March 25, 2019 Report Share Posted March 25, 2019 Update, new crossclimate + tyres fitted to front (with conti sport 5p remaining at the back). Wheel alignment was miles off (10degrees on one of the wheels), front left and rear right. Got that sorted and car feels much better. The michelins are beasts, not as good as the best UHP tyres, but for any GT premium tyres, these things are fantastic. Still, this is a relatively slow car so i dont need the best performing tyres on it. I did start to push it quite a bit on sat. Nice car indeed. Steering is still not ideal on centre though. It is loose for a few degrees on either side before firming up. I need to get that sorted, it can be a pain on the motorway with always correcting on centre. Also, i have a bit of work to do with the yellow oil light that comes on during a cold start. will check the oil level etc. if it is dirty, i'll give it an oil change. So, steering, oil and i noticed a whine on cold start which wasnt there before. Looks like i may need to look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
