Floating, pull, tram line maybe?

[Firstbmw528]

The shock towers do not look mushroomed. Cruise control still works which is great.

My problem is I still kinda get the feeling of being all over the road like if I look away for a second I almost end up in another lane.

My problem is that it isn’t consistent sometimes it seems to pull left then sometimes a little right then if accelerating the steering wheel seems to go straight.

The suspension is new and so is the rack.

The tire pressures are set exactly to the door specs.

I have a wheel speed dependent squeak in the front that goes away when I press the brakes that I’m scared is a wheel bearing but it doesn’t sound like marbles or roar and I haven’t had time to put the car up.

Ideas?

Thanks for helping me figure out this vague frustrating issue

[StephenVA]

Try this simple tire shoulder contact test

Reduce the pressure in each tire 2-3 PSI and road test, better or worse?
The tire label is on the high side unless you run with 3 people in the car all the time.
Question> 15", 16" or 17" tires on your application?
If 15 try 32 PSI front and 34 rear and see if your issue goes away.

Tire issue: Some tires are very sensitive to pressures and tramming issues. A good contact patch with the right pressure for even wear based on YOUR driving will provide what you need. Experiment a little and see.

[Firstbmw528]

My car came originally with 15s it now has 16s on it.

And to help with the car weighting I am about 285 myself.

I was worried about some sort of radial pull so I’m thinking about switching the left front and left rear to see what happens.

[StephenVA]

Try right to left FIRST
Then do a Front to Back if there no results.

The Tire Pressure increase decrease actually helps on some tire types as their shoulders are affected by the crown or tracks/ruts/truck tracks found on some roads. Does your issue change on type of road surface changes? Asphalt vs Concrete ?

[Firstbmw528]

No actually in my opinion it seems to happen on all road types and ok I’ll have to work on that switching the wheels around.

[Firstbmw528]

It’s very strange last night I accelerated with the wheel straight not touching the wheel up to 60 and it drifted right into the other lane before I corrected it. Though sometimes when driving down the road if I’m not completely focused on steering it will drift to the left and almost into the left lane.

It’s strange how it doesn’t seem to have a consistent cause or symptom.

[Firstbmw528]

Weird question from my research on the internet. When I did my struts I had the local Pep boys swap the springs from my old struts to the new could something they have done caused this?

Also my blau struts did not have a tag to indicate on how to turn them on the front based on side like the Sachs so I had to estimate based on others pictures could this cause it?

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Did they seat the springs onto the spring perches properly, and equally on both sides? Did they/ or you, install the dust shield and the big spacer/washer on the strut shaft before they/you placed the strut bearing onto the strut and tightened the big nut down? You can't know that, since you didn't do the work. If the shield and washer are not on there, it could, actually will, stiffen up the rotation on the strut to bearing, causing your issues.

[Firstbmw528]

Exactly what I didn’t want to hear so in order to check I need to disassemble the strut entirely and re mount the spring?

Guess that’s penance for my ignorance at the time thinking I could use any shop.

I guess before I do all that I was wondering if there are any other tests because that is a big undertaking for me personally.

Could a bad passenger wheel bearing up front cause my issues as well?

Sorry for the vagueness I know it’s pretty impossible to know across the internet I just want to try and exhaust all options before I risk my primary mode of transportation down pending parts etc.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

It is not a tough job to do at all. This last fall, after work at 3:3opm, I swapped out the struts..... , Ok, I had already assembled the new struts, new sport springs, new everything, so they were already ready, but I did the swap in less than 2 hours, and that included running in and out of the house for more beer. Get the tools, learn it, do it, live it.

[Firstbmw528]

Thanks for the input bud just wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything else first

[itsbrokeagain]

Holy crap was the guy blind who did the first alignment? No wonder they didn't give you a printout afterwards. I would've raised holy hell.

I used to specialize in alignments and those results are ridiculous.

And I don't know about you, but I would never trust pep boys to touch anything on my car, not around here at least. They are horrible.

[StephenVA]

+1 on the total lack of trained tech working (not) at Pep Boys.

[Firstbmw528]

Thanks for the feedback on Pep boys and I should have raised hell at the place but I took it as a lesson and moved on

[Firstbmw528]

Update front drivers suddenly started randomly
Clunking no rhyme or reason from what I can tell only clunks when not braking does it on bumps and off and sometimes only does it once a day. Based on research I think it’s my end links because the aftermarket didn’t send washers so based on that thread when I have time I’ll throw in some washers and cross my fingers.

[Firstbmw528]

Question. Are the upper rubber strut mounts supposed to look like they flex up when you push down on the strut?

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

They are designed to flex, but not too much. Look for signs of cracks and dry rot.

[Firstbmw528]

No cracks no visible dry rot they were new with the struts about 2 months ago but good to know they flex.

[Firstbmw528]

Fixed the springs on the struts and reinstalled. replaced the power steering pump so that works better.

After reinstalling the struts the car drove pretty well and would go down the street pretty well without hands on the steering but I wanted to be sure things were right and I didn't eat my tires.

That said I went to BMW and spent way too much money on a true weighted alignment immediately after it was completed and I left I noticed the car no longer felt as solid as it did pre-alignment and if I took my hand off the wheel it had a rightward pull that would slowly pull me into the next lane regardless of lane. I am so confused.

I called the service advisor and they immediately offered a tech ride along unfortunately I didn't have time today to complete it.

Prior to heading back anyone have any ideas?

Practically every suspension part is brand new as is most of the steering system the tires don't seem to have a radial pull considering the car was solid and driving straight prior to alignment.

20180702_160619.jpg


Thanks for helping, guys.

[Firstbmw528]

From what I've read based on my own research the chamber ok front is barely adjustable and caster isn't adjustable but based on my splits and how they are distributed they shouldn't cause a pull.

Especially considering they were split almost the same before and it felt pretty solid and went in a straight line.

So I'm fairly certain it is not a radical pull, caliper or steering issue.

[geargrinder]

Correct. The camber (you have a typo) in the front is not really adjustable. Front suspension from factory is barely adjustable at all.

Before/after the notable bits are:
- much more + rear toe, which will generally make it feel more 'dead' in the rear. In spec, but, that's going to be the side-effect. (and you don't have to be EXACTLY on spec... there's a good degree of "what tradeoffs do you want in your alignment"... in coming to a final setup)
- roughly the same L/R front camber differential which is to say out of whack on the left, and the same w/ caster

The shop shouldn't have just sent you on your way, they should have sat you down and said "Ok here's the deal: we did best we could, but the LF won't come into line so something is amiss there and our best guess at that is that it is _______ "

You have a problem w/ the LF clearly, way too positive camber (you are +38' out of spec from the -13') Caster is out of spec on LF too (by over a degree negative) so something is obv bent or worn or mis-installed or something. Meaning that left front wheel is rearward and angled in at the bottom a good bit more than it should be from the factory. Those problems are consistent with the alignment data you got from PoopBoyz so really does seem like you have some problem on the LF.

A big unusual negative caster can mean a bent something from an impact that shoved that side back. Maybe took a front/side hit from the ol' "sliding into a curb while trying to turn away". Or maybe your suspension mis-installed still. Hard to say over the internet.

[Firstbmw528]

Could the strut bring seated too far down into the knuckle cause those problems?what about an impact to the rocker panel?

- - - Updated - - -

Yea I am going back to the bmw dealer today to get my spare key and hopefully take the tech on a ride I'll ask about that thanks for the suggestions.

[geargrinder]

Strut seated too low would be more NEGATIVE camber, not positive. Rocker panel only if the chassis was actually really majorly racked/bent. Mostly a minor rocker panel dent (mine came pre-effed by PO BTW...) is cosmetic.

[Firstbmw528]

Too bad my sheet doesnt include real ride height and oh ok my rocker sent us pretty nasty though never considered that could be an issue. Strut towers and front core support etc show no signs of impact.

Guess I'll just hope to get a great experienced tech when I get there in 40 min

[Firstbmw528]

Also any idea why with previous wrong spec it felt planted went straight hands of steering and didn't need adjusted or driven as much?

Does that make any sense with my previous measurements