535i wandering
 

My 88 E28 535i is wandering all over the road. It will drive straight, then
if I ease left or right, it will turn smoothly then catch and veer sharper
than the chosen course.
Its going to the shop this week, just wondering what folks may think it is.

Does it always veer sharp (sudden oversteer) in a turn or only when you
go over an undulation in the middle of the turn?

At any rate, you have an old car, albeit one probably worth keeping.
Many suspension components would have or can wear out again by this
point in time. Just make sure you take it to a garage that really
knows BMWs or they may just add to the challenge.

> My 88 E28 535i is wandering all over the road. It will drive straight, then
> if I ease left or right, it will turn smoothly then catch and veer sharper
> than the chosen course.

If it's vibrating under braking then it's the centre drag link, tie rods
or front bushings.

If not then I'd suspect a badly worn steering box or rear subframe
bushings. Worn shocks won't help either.

--
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Exact symptoms I had when my sub-frame bushings failed. At this point,
though you may have other bad suspension parts as well, so have the
shop go through it. With the right parts, it will feel like a new
car...
Enjoy, Howard
David N Emmet wrote:
> My 88 E28 535i is wandering all over the road. It will drive
straight, then
> if I ease left or right, it will turn smoothly then catch and veer
sharper
> than the chosen course.
> Its going to the shop this week, just wondering what folks may think
it is.

I have a 535 E34 and can tell you, don't have one bit replaced if
something in your suspension has worn out.

Noone ever replaces these parts as genmeral maintenance so unless they
break one or two they will never have ben changed. If one wears out
there will be many more about to go (this is the case for all cars)

On an E34 front suspension the things that go and **will need
replacing** are;

Thrust arms (upper control arm) x2 (assy includes bushing bal joint, i
suggest you specify 750iL bushes as they are much better)
Lower control arm x2, (assy includes bushing bal joint)
Sway bar drag link x2 (do both rear links too - they are easy)
Tie rod ends (x4) (connect to drag link)
Idler arm bush may be suspect too
Shocks and shock mounts

Buy all that and do it in one go, otherwise it will never be right and
you'll be taking it back and paying for labour every time.

These parts aren;t much from www.bmaparts.com in the US or elsewhere in
the EU I am sure....