530d Loses grip on un-even surface
08-23-2010, 01:57 AM
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Hi All,
Just to recap on my current set up.
F10 530d SE with:
Dynamic drive
Sport gearbox
20 inch wheels
I've owned the car for about 2 months now and have covered approx 3k miles in that time. In principle the car is a very fine vehicle, both internally/mechanical and externally. However, I have on a number of occasions experienced a complete loss of grip and the car has physically slid sideways when travelling around a round a bout with an un-even surface. This happened to me yesterday.
I was with my wife and two small children. I was just joining a round-a-bout outside Wimslow (cheshire). (just in case anyone knows the area.. this is the round-a-bout that leads from the M56 and has the Marriott hotel on it. see this link for google earth.. you can see for yourself the road surface I'm talking about)
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&ie...41.47,,0,17.05
I was travelling on this round-a-bout at 20MPH and the car for a split second felt like it was on a sheet of glass. Traction to all four tyres was lost and the car drifted completely sideways. This was a massive shock to me as there was a 4x4 at the rear/side of me and we managed to just avoid touching.
This type of loss has happened to me about 4/5 times now and all of them have been on round-a-bouts on uneven surfaces. Some happened at 35/40mph but like I said this happened at 20mph.. Very scary.
Spoke to the salesman at the dealership this morning and he is advising it's a characteristic of the car and especially the stiffer suspension.. (not entirely sure I have the stiffer suspension on this car.. BMW have made it so complex now to decide what extras you need to make the car ride correctly).
Anyway.. just wanted to share my experience with you and at the same time ask if anyone has had similar issues with the F10 or indeed any other vehicle.
Roy
ps I have posted this same question / remark on another forum with a hope that someone from either forum could shed any light onto my situation.. so please don't feel like i'm spamming or something like that..
Just to recap on my current set up.
F10 530d SE with:
Dynamic drive
Sport gearbox
20 inch wheels
I've owned the car for about 2 months now and have covered approx 3k miles in that time. In principle the car is a very fine vehicle, both internally/mechanical and externally. However, I have on a number of occasions experienced a complete loss of grip and the car has physically slid sideways when travelling around a round a bout with an un-even surface. This happened to me yesterday.
I was with my wife and two small children. I was just joining a round-a-bout outside Wimslow (cheshire). (just in case anyone knows the area.. this is the round-a-bout that leads from the M56 and has the Marriott hotel on it. see this link for google earth.. you can see for yourself the road surface I'm talking about)
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&ie...41.47,,0,17.05
I was travelling on this round-a-bout at 20MPH and the car for a split second felt like it was on a sheet of glass. Traction to all four tyres was lost and the car drifted completely sideways. This was a massive shock to me as there was a 4x4 at the rear/side of me and we managed to just avoid touching.
This type of loss has happened to me about 4/5 times now and all of them have been on round-a-bouts on uneven surfaces. Some happened at 35/40mph but like I said this happened at 20mph.. Very scary.
Spoke to the salesman at the dealership this morning and he is advising it's a characteristic of the car and especially the stiffer suspension.. (not entirely sure I have the stiffer suspension on this car.. BMW have made it so complex now to decide what extras you need to make the car ride correctly).
Anyway.. just wanted to share my experience with you and at the same time ask if anyone has had similar issues with the F10 or indeed any other vehicle.
Roy
ps I have posted this same question / remark on another forum with a hope that someone from either forum could shed any light onto my situation.. so please don't feel like i'm spamming or something like that..
08-23-2010, 02:59 AM
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My Ride: E61 CarbonBlack 535d, Ventilated and Heated Comfort Seats with Massage in Black Nasca Leather, Dark Poplar Wood, Professional Navi, Folding Rear Seats, Load Through, Advanced Remote, PDC, Bluetooth, Dimming and folding Mirrors, Bi-Xenons, Hi-Fi, Tinted
Hi, I know EXACTLY what you mean since I had this problem with my E46 330xd few times. Gotta say it is extremely dangerous, even it happened at low speeds only. I never found out the true origin of this behavior though.. 
This IS NOT a characteristic of ANY car for sure and the salesman knows nothing. I never had this kind of problems with any other car since (BMW, MB...)
I hope you'll solve this issue quickly, good luck!
This IS NOT a characteristic of ANY car for sure and the salesman knows nothing. I never had this kind of problems with any other car since (BMW, MB...)I hope you'll solve this issue quickly, good luck!
08-23-2010, 03:09 AM
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My Ride: April 2007 520D M Sport LCI. Automatic. Sunroof. BMW Bluetooth. Deep Sea Blue Metallic, Natural Brown Leather.
if there was diesel or any other oily substance on the ground this could make conditions treachorous for anybody after rain.
Add to this stiff suspension and the transition from grip -> none can happen very suddenly.
Have you tried using your softest suspension setting in these conditions?
Add to this stiff suspension and the transition from grip -> none can happen very suddenly.
Have you tried using your softest suspension setting in these conditions?
08-23-2010, 03:17 AM
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if there was diesel or any other oily substance on the ground this could make conditions treachorous for anybody after rain.
Add to this stiff suspension and the transition from grip -> none can happen very suddenly.
Have you tried using your softest suspension setting in these conditions?
Add to this stiff suspension and the transition from grip -> none can happen very suddenly.
Have you tried using your softest suspension setting in these conditions?
Re diesel spillage.. once, maybe twice I could accept, but now it's happened 6/7 times in total, all in the same conditions. I think it's a fault with the setup somewhere.
I tend to drive in "normal" set up for the majority of the time.. can't say 100% hand on heart that all the above instances happened whilst in "normal" mode but a large proportion would have been.
08-23-2010, 03:32 AM
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My Ride: April 2007 520D M Sport LCI. Automatic. Sunroof. BMW Bluetooth. Deep Sea Blue Metallic, Natural Brown Leather.
Hi.. firstly, thanks for the quick answers and suggestions.
Re diesel spillage.. once, maybe twice I could accept, but now it's happened 6/7 times in total, all in the same conditions. I think it's a fault with the setup somewhere.
I tend to drive in "normal" set up for the majority of the time.. can't say 100% hand on heart that all the above instances happened whilst in "normal" mode but a large proportion would have been.
Re diesel spillage.. once, maybe twice I could accept, but now it's happened 6/7 times in total, all in the same conditions. I think it's a fault with the setup somewhere.
I tend to drive in "normal" set up for the majority of the time.. can't say 100% hand on heart that all the above instances happened whilst in "normal" mode but a large proportion would have been.
At the end of the day very wide tyres will break away more suddenly than more narrow ones - add a slippy road and huge dollop of torque from a 3.0D and slides are likely.
Where all 4 wheels slip it sounds like the momentum of the car is causing the slide however and not too much power.... whenever I've had this happen to me I have felt totally helpless, and its not nice.
08-23-2010, 04:47 AM
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when's the last time you got an alignment? i remember i had much more grip to my back wheels after i got a full alignment, including camber adjustment.
08-23-2010, 05:06 AM
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Having had the car for less than 2 months from new and driving only 2.6k miles in that time. I've never had an alignment or camber adjustment.
08-23-2010, 05:08 AM
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Only other suggestion would be to read up on your tyres to see if there is a trend of issues like this occuring.
At the end of the day very wide tyres will break away more suddenly than more narrow ones - add a slippy road and huge dollop of torque from a 3.0D and slides are likely.
Where all 4 wheels slip it sounds like the momentum of the car is causing the slide however and not too much power.... whenever I've had this happen to me I have felt totally helpless, and its not nice.
At the end of the day very wide tyres will break away more suddenly than more narrow ones - add a slippy road and huge dollop of torque from a 3.0D and slides are likely.
Where all 4 wheels slip it sounds like the momentum of the car is causing the slide however and not too much power.... whenever I've had this happen to me I have felt totally helpless, and its not nice.
The tyres seem to get good overall reviews. Im running Dunlop SP Sport Maxx
245/35/R20 Y on the fronts
275/30/R20 Y on the rears
thanks for the suggestion.
Roy
08-23-2010, 06:10 AM
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Hey Roy,
i know this problem so well from my 245hp 330d. There is a thread on a german forum addressing this issue - the problem occurred on the 330 at even 50mph when you suddenly accelerate. It took BMW a year to find a solution - they played around with the traction control software and now it has improved.
cheers
i know this problem so well from my 245hp 330d. There is a thread on a german forum addressing this issue - the problem occurred on the 330 at even 50mph when you suddenly accelerate. It took BMW a year to find a solution - they played around with the traction control software and now it has improved.
cheers
08-23-2010, 07:05 AM
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Hey Roy,
i know this problem so well from my 245hp 330d. There is a thread on a german forum addressing this issue - the problem occurred on the 330 at even 50mph when you suddenly accelerate. It took BMW a year to find a solution - they played around with the traction control software and now it has improved.
cheers
i know this problem so well from my 245hp 330d. There is a thread on a german forum addressing this issue - the problem occurred on the 330 at even 50mph when you suddenly accelerate. It took BMW a year to find a solution - they played around with the traction control software and now it has improved.
cheers
I really need to pin down as much detail as possible before I get my car checked into the dealer for them to test and hopefully solution find..