535 dynamics

What ever the problem is, it sounds like it will be obvious once someone inspects it. Am I understanding your problem correctly, you have a problem with losing front TRACTION?

 

I would have to go with severely loose ball joints, misadjusted steering box, or trashed front control arm bushings. Any unusual clunking sounds over bumps or when initially taping the brakes?

 

Jake

 

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I did test drive it and it felt perfect as one would expect of a BMW. Infact the owner (a nice chap indeed!) drove me around the town and on some A roads before I drove it and it all seemed fine. It was only on some sections of the journey (especially on A34) , as I mentioned, that I felt the car was dragging left and right at times arbitrarily. I feel that some road conditions are affecting the balance of the car which might be triggering the control mechanics into overdrive. But that is just my logical inference since I am not a mechanical expert and so I am trying to get as much feedback  to see how to get the "ultimate" driving machine to drive in an "ultimate" way --- not in the "ultimate" way I experienced

The car service history seems intact and it has a MOT upto Aug' 05. Everything upto last service is with a BMW garage and the last one seems to be with a BMW independent servicing garage. The car is coming upto a inspection 1 service but there is still one green light left on the service indicator on the display.

There is one aspect of the wheels of the car though. The car was running on some fancy 18" Alloy wheels and the owner put back the original wheels of the car before he sold it to me. Could that affect the balance of the car  (in certain road conditions ) in case it was not put back properly ?

regards,

Automatix

Hi Jake,

I pressed the pm button on your message and perhaps that sent a message to your inbox ! Sorry I only noticed now since the message did not get posted here (which is what I intended ) !

Sounds like it could be the front wheel alignment.   For what it's worth, I
think once the other things that have been mentioned above have been
checked, it may be worth a full FOUR wheel alignment at a
REPUTABLE dealer or BMW agent.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip home; must have been gut-wrenching
when you were expecting something special.   After I bought my car in
Manchester I had a wonderful drive back up to Scotland, even chasing a
911 at 120 for about 5 minutes. (I reckon he had a radar detector); I
realised afterwards that it had been a bit stupid of me, as the tyres were
on the legal limit, and I hadn't had the steering/brakes checked. I'm sure
you will get this problem sorted out, and then you will really enjoy your
car.   

As you felt the "loss of steering" on certain sections of the road, it sounds like to me you just experienced some major tram lining, when the wheels” pick up” and follow the ruts or contours of the road.

I was surprised how much tram lining I felt in my five (e34 though)

It seems the steering is wrenched out of your hands and can be disconcerting at first....

Im betting you've just got to get used to it a little bit more

 

Automatix

Before the 535 I had a 523 with 18 inch wheels the car was as responsive as a water bed and tramlined on virtually any surface whether there were white lines or not. I had them changed to 17 inch and the handling on the car was immediately far superior and more like the 328 I had before it which only had 15 inch alloys.

Would have thought the guy selling the car should have given you the  option on the 18's but there's a chance he's put you back on the standard 16 inch alloys that 5's came with - you'd be amazed what different alloys and rubber do to the cars handling

check John's site :- http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/bmw_home.html

for other advice on tyre/alloys

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all your replies. Here is my bizzaree story. I waited until a servicing was done today to get all the reasons for my ordeal.

The first and major problem relating to erratic steering actually was due to two worn out tyres and a third reaching legal limits. The weather  and hence the road conditions were good at the time (afternoon) I test drove it and the car felt well balanced. By the time I was on the A road it was late evening and I guess there were pockets of roads  which had no grit and hence the tyre grip was inadequate and making the car wander with the side-effect that I felt I had no steering control.  Unfortunately,  I  did not pay  full attention to the tyres tread since the drive felt good  (yes Andrew I should have given a proper "once over" of the car but this is my first private purchase and not very experienced I guess) and also because the PO had mentioned that the display wasnt functioning properly and that distracted away my mind to check if other parts of the car were sound since I had a long journey back home. I find it astonishing that the PO tried to pass away a car with faulty tyres that was endangering me and other road users (he made a tidy sum selling of his fancy 18" wheels/tyres, how clever indeed!). I had to throw away four tyres immediately (including the spare ! yes even the spare was useless !) for a hefty sum of £600 !  I didnt have the time to shop around and more importantly it was not safe to keep driving around with tyres that was sensitive to road conditions so I took immediate action to replace it irrespective of the cost that the local tyre shop hammerred on me !

The other bit which probably had minor influence on the erratic behaviour was the worn out rear ball joints.  This replacement along with  rear  break pads/disc  and  inspection I  service set me back by another  £670 pounds.

A third blow is a broken catalytic converter which is shooting up my expenses bill. Apparently the steel ones are better (so they would claim to drain your wallet!)  and there are myriad options from custom fit to direct fit.  I learnt a thing or two about cats now and keep wondering why a piece of metal should cost £600 ( £1000 pounds if it comes nicely packed in a BMW service centre !).

The moral of the story is that never make a private purchase without an expert (mechanic or someone who can tell if a cat. is broken !) opinion on the condition of the car. It can be very costly otherwise ! Just because the car is HPI clean and comes with service record isnt good enough --- even if it is a BMW !

After all this, I still have to contend with "tramlining effect" on this car which I have never encountered with any other car before which I have owned or rented ! I find it hard on the outside lane of the motorway when the road seems patchy and the car behaves as though it has a mind of its own --- or a tramline underneath it !!

regards,

Automatix

Automatix

PITA, but I guess its just one to chalk up to experience.  We all get burned once in a while.  Its just the stakes are a bit higher with a 535i.

Same thing happened to me years ago with a big bumper Mk2 Golf GTI.  I bought it with my heart instead of my head and it cost me.  It had a bad shake on the front end, for all the world like completely knackered wheels, massively out of balance.  Cost me loads and ended up replacing nearly everything on the front end, suspension and steering, before it was right.

Re. tramlining.  I have the 16's on my car and there is absolutely no tramlining with it, so I really do think there is something amiss with the alignment.

Edited by Dergside

Claymore,

Thanks for your post and the link to John's site. Amongst all the misery of fixing broken cars, John's site is a great relief to see both the positive side of good cars and also the funny side of cars. John has an amazing sense of humour --- I thoroughly enjoyed reading (almost) all of the material he has collated!

regards,

Automatix

 

Enjoy the extra grip and stop worrying about the tram lining AM, just a trait of having a wider tyre , exaggerated by a heavier car...Most BM's seem to suffer from this

A switch of brands isn’t going to make any difference

Sorry to hear about the problems with the car, I think we have all been there at some time or another..

Makes you feel sick at the time..get it done and enjoy the car