Twitchy Steering on E36? Dodgy Offset?

[Crossposted again uk.rec.cars.misc,alt.autos.bmw if anyone disapproves let
me know!]

All,

The steering on my 1994 E36 Coupe has always seemed light. Sometimes a
little too light. Certain contours in the road (not always visibly obvious)
can momentarily pull the steering left or right. I'm beginning to suspect
this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas that were already on the car
when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)

Usually the steering is dead straight but sometimes an uneven surface it
easily cause the wheel to pulling a little too hard in one direction or the
other.

I suppose I could compare the offset/width of the steel spare (which I
assume is one of the original wheels) to the fitted wheels.

Besides the posibility of having incorrect offsets? Are there any other
factors that may make steering twitchy or is this par for the course? Is
there anything that could reduce this.

Lordy

In message >, Lordy
> writes
>[Crossposted again uk.rec.cars.misc,alt.autos.bmw if anyone disapproves let
>me know!]
>
>All,
>
>The steering on my 1994 E36 Coupe has always seemed light. Sometimes a
>little too light. Certain contours in the road (not always visibly obvious)
>can momentarily pull the steering left or right. I'm beginning to suspect
>this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas that were already on the car
>when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)

Wider, lower profile tyres show more of a tendency to follow cambers
than do narrower, higher profile ones. They also tend to make the
steering heavier, though, so the lightness is probably unrelated.

--
Steve Walker

In article >,
Lordy > wrote:
> Besides the posibility of having incorrect offsets? Are there any other
> factors that may make steering twitchy or is this par for the course? Is
> there anything that could reduce this.

Incorrect tracking? Toe out will cause twitchy steering.

--
*If tennis elbow is painful, imagine suffering with tennis balls *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article >,
> Lordy > wrote:
> > Besides the posibility of having incorrect offsets? Are there any
other
> > factors that may make steering twitchy or is this par for the
course? Is
> > there anything that could reduce this.
>

Worn control arm bushes and/or balljoints. They wear more quickly with
wider wheels.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article >,
> Lordy > wrote:
> > Besides the posibility of having incorrect offsets? Are there any
other
> > factors that may make steering twitchy or is this par for the
course? Is
> > there anything that could reduce this.
>

Worn control arm bushes and/or balljoints. They wear more quickly with
wider wheels.

"Lordy" > wrote in message
.. .
> [Crossposted again uk.rec.cars.misc,alt.autos.bmw if anyone disapproves
let
> me know!]
>
> All,
>
> The steering on my 1994 E36 Coupe has always seemed light. Sometimes a
> little too light. Certain contours in the road (not always visibly
obvious)
> can momentarily pull the steering left or right. I'm beginning to suspect
> this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas that were already on the
car
> when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)
>
> Usually the steering is dead straight but sometimes an uneven surface it
> easily cause the wheel to pulling a little too hard in one direction or
the
> other.
>

I would attribute this to the tires themselves.

Depending on the tread design of the tires, some will follow the rain
grooves more strongly than others. If you notice that your car always does
this in the same section of roadway, then I would pay attention to the
roadway surface to see if I could spot some kind of variance in the texture
of the surface as compared to places where my car behaves itself. If so,
then I would not worry about the car.

Lordy wrote:

> The steering on my 1994 E36 Coupe has always seemed light. Sometimes a
> little too light. Certain contours in the road (not always visibly
> obvious) can momentarily pull the steering left or right. I'm
> beginning to suspect this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas
> that were already on the car when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)
>
> Usually the steering is dead straight but sometimes an uneven surface
> it easily cause the wheel to pulling a little too hard in one
> direction or the other.
>
> I suppose I could compare the offset/width of the steel spare (which I
> assume is one of the original wheels) to the fitted wheels.
>
> Besides the posibility of having incorrect offsets? Are there any
> other factors that may make steering twitchy or is this par for the
> course? Is there anything that could reduce this.

How about the possibility your tie rod ends are worn out? Ball joints?
Bushings? Especially with a ten year old car...

Matt O.

Well, what is the offset?

Should be about 40mm give or take the usual margin, if it's a lot different
then there's your problem. You can measure it with a ruler easily enough,
although you might need to take a wheel off to see.


Apparently on date 31 Jan 2005 13:07:16 GMT, Lordy > said:

>[Crossposted again uk.rec.cars.misc,alt.autos.bmw if anyone disapproves let
>me know!]
>
>All,
>
>The steering on my 1994 E36 Coupe has always seemed light. Sometimes a
>little too light. Certain contours in the road (not always visibly obvious)
>can momentarily pull the steering left or right. I'm beginning to suspect
>this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas that were already on the car
>when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)
>
>Usually the steering is dead straight but sometimes an uneven surface it
>easily cause the wheel to pulling a little too hard in one direction or the
>other.
>
>I suppose I could compare the offset/width of the steel spare (which I
>assume is one of the original wheels) to the fitted wheels.
>
>Besides the posibility of having incorrect offsets? Are there any other
>factors that may make steering twitchy or is this par for the course? Is
>there anything that could reduce this.
>
>Lordy

wrote in
:

> Well, what is the offset?
>

17x7.5 ET41

> Should be about 40mm give or take the usual margin, if it's a lot
> different then there's your problem. You can measure it with a ruler
> easily enough, although you might need to take a wheel off to see.
>
>
>> I'm
>>beginning to suspect this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas
>>that were already on the car when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)
>>



--
Lordy

Those rims are fine. Offset isn't your problem. If offset was the problem,
the problem would be that the tires rub somewhere, typically the front tires
will rub on the undercarriage in a full-lock turn, or the rear tires will
rub on the shock mounts.

My humble opinion is that the tires themselves are merely following grooves
cut in the roadway to channel water away.

I am running 7.5x17 rims on my car, and the tires track fine, except on a
few particular places on the freeway, where the tires want to follow the
grooves. In these places, the grooves are more pronounced for some reason.





"Lordy" > wrote in message
.. .
> wrote in
> :
>
>> Well, what is the offset?
>>
>
> 17x7.5 ET41
>
>> Should be about 40mm give or take the usual margin, if it's a lot
>> different then there's your problem. You can measure it with a ruler
>> easily enough, although you might need to take a wheel off to see.
>>
>>
>>> I'm
>>>beginning to suspect this MAY be due to the aftermarket M3 replicas
>>>that were already on the car when I bought it? (17x7.5 ET41)
>>>
>
>
>
> --
> Lordy