rayc

Hi everyone,

I have an E60 525 with run flats.

I have had the car 3 weeks now and have returned the car to my dealer at least 5 times (They have been excellent in trying to resolve so no issue there!)

My 525 has non active (Normal) steering.

I find that when driving along (Live in UK) the car wanders to the left. If you turn left or right and let the steering run through your fingers it doesn't straighten up but stays slightly turned by about say 15 degrees on the steering wheel.

The steering itself feels very vague in that I feel there isnt a response like I had in my E38 7 series, 2 x E39 530D Sports. It's almost as though you are driving on soft tyres. If you drive along at 20 mph and waggle the steering left to right 10 - 15 degrees each side there is very little feedback through the car. I tried an E60 2 litre and that was fine. My car has had 2 front tyres replaced, 3 x KDS setups, steering rack, wheel, centralising snsor & software all reset and still it tram lines and is vague.

My dealer has spoken to BMW UK who have had no issues reported. I am wandering if I have a friday afternoon car !

Any feedback would be gratefully received as I am about to return the car again. Surely I cant be the only one who has had this problem. Looking at all the reports it says these cars handle brilliant. Throw it around it does. Drive normally not so great. Thinking of returning it and getting another E39 which would be a shame as the car is lovely.

H E L P !!!!

richard

I have 2004 525i with normal steering and I've noticed exactly the same behavior. At first I thought the left front tire was flat; it wasn't; then I thought it was caused by snow and ice. It only happens at slow speeds and on uneven road surfaces. I live in New York City and during city drivng the car tracks left, as though it were being pulled, tugged. On the highway (motorway) at high speeds the car is steady, silky smooth and responsive. Interestingly, on several other bmw forums, people who took a test drive complained that the car was highly susceptible to crosswinds (over 20mph) and this was attributed to the pecular effect of Active Steering. But this is clearly not the case. Traded in 1998 528i and it never responded this way; had characteristic heavy, solid steering and tracking at slow speeds but nothing like this; perhaps BMW in an effort to filter out vibration has over isolated the steering box and thereby unnecessarily isolated the driver from positive feedback

Guest

Do you guys ever think about the allignment? try to allign the wheel. sometimes it does that if you dont do any allignmen. the steer tends to go left or right.

hope this will help.

rayc

Thanks Richard.

You've made my day!

At least I know I'm not the only one out there!

With regard to unregistered's comments.

The BMW KDS System is a complete suspension and steering geometry setup. So all has been correctly aligned 3 times. But thanks for the input.

I noticed today that the steering suddenly went "normal" after a left turn. Lots of feedback and felt correct on manouvres. After parking the car for 4 hours it went back to how it was. I spoke with my dealer again and the guy there thinks it's possibly a pressure relief valve in the pump sticking open through a bit of dirt or swarf. Look's like another trip to the garage.

Interestingly enough he has asked for the web link to this forum as he is very interested in the issues mentioned on here.

Looking forward to more feedback

richard

ravc: i don't have that dead feeling you describe but the steering is not as responsive as it should be at low speed; under 30 mph; the handling is heavier in an auto that is physically lighter than the previous model. On another forum, perhaps Roadfly, someone brought up this same issue which engendered a response about the tires; this doesn't explain why the sensation of drift is experienced as a pull or slide to the left. I wonder if it is more a matter of perception than reality. It feels as though the car is momentarily drifting left, as though the front wheel is caught in a rut or soft shoulder; but is it really happening? this I don't know. I feel the need to correct the steering but this morning I did not correct or over correct and nothing untoward happened.

richard

ravc: copied this from Roadfly BMW Forum:

"When I'm traveling on a road with uneven pavement, especially if it's rutted (not small grooves, but bigger ruts), the car seems to "hunt" for the right line to be on. Sometimes it makes it a little difficult to keep it in a straight line. I notice this only at in town speeds and not at highway speeds. It almost feels like I have flat tires. Anyone else experience this, or is it just me? "

rayc

Thanks Richard.

Will go and have a look. Also will pass the comments to my dealer. They have got BMW UK Coming to investigate.

I drove a 520 E60 with 17" run flats but 245 not 225 and that handled superbly.

When I put the 245's on mine to test it the car drove very hard.

I have assertained the vagueness is mainly in the wheel if you move between say the 11 - 1 o'clock positions. Outside those parameters it is much more responsive.

Am intrigued if this problem is unique to the 525. Most other people seem totally satisfied with 530's etc!

richard

ravc: the problem may not be specific to 525; perhaps it is simply more apparent because this model has less low end torque. I have 16" 225 conventual tires. Last week we had 5" of snow; the car handled horribly compared to 528. The difference is the unusual (for BMW) degree of sensory isolation. The engine and trans (6sp auto) are so quiet that I was unable to sense road speed and rpm; the car is over dampened and sound proofed. Evenutally I put trans in DS 2nd at start up to minimize wheel spin and opened the window to get a sense of what the car and drive train were doing.

rayc

My dealer will be passing this "problem" over to BMW tomorrow Richard.

When I get some feedback I will let you know.

Would also be interesting to note whether anyone has had this "problem"

richard

great. Next we can discus why idrive is such a disappointment. I don't find it difficult to operative; rather it doesn't do what it could and does what it does in a redundant, time consuming manner. speak to you soon