Understeer in E46, is something wrong?

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 13:55

Recently I seem to be getting slight understeer in situations where the DSC would normally kick in. Never in the dry, it feels quite nose-heavy.

I also seem to get a sideways slide if going rather clumsily into a high speed sharpish corner (you know the ones).

I've checked my tread and all looks/feels fine and quite deep... that's about the extent of my car knowledge so what else should I check? Anyone experienced the same?

Cheers
(It's a E46 325Ci)

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 15:01

Yep, previous owner put all brand new (I forget the make but they look expensive) on when I bought it. Will post the make when I check after work.

I'm pretty sure it's not the tyres as they still have a lot of tread, I've checked the pressures as well (which seem quite high 2.4 and 2.8) but it is all as is meant to be.

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 15:15

Thanks for the suggestions, as I said above I will let you know what tyres are on it once I am home about 6/7ish.

They look expensive to me just based on the fact that they look new I guess, but I see your point and will check this out. But I have had this car for a while now and never had any real understeer issues unless I was being really ham-fisted.

Out of curiosity, Gaygle, what tyres have you put on yours?

HummuH1, are springs and bushes easy to check or should I take it to Sytner?

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 15:55

Cheers Gaygle, I have just had Inspection II done (a few weeks back) and all they said were my break pads were getting low but it's nothing major. I will have a look through all the service history though to confirm fully.

So you would recommend Bridge Potenza RE050A's? Maybe I will fit them to see if it makes any difference. First I will measure my tread properly and check the tyre make and post back here with results, but maybe I should upgrade anyway... Cheers.

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 17:45

OK I've checked my tyres and they are 'Bridgestone Potenza RE040 *' Are these as good as those RE050A ones you use Gaygle?

They're 225/40ZR18 88Y at front and 255/35ZR18 90Y at the back (No idea what any of that means except the width and rim size).

All have a rotation arrow as well and they are all rotating the correct way.

I haven't measured the tread but there is no need as there is tons of it...

I'm thinking I should take it to a garage to get them to check the bushes/springs. Cheers for the advice guys.

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 17:53

Wouldn't they have taken care of that when they did the big Inspection II service? Or do they not bother with those kinds of things?

I'll have a call around at local places to see who has a Hunter, I'm taking it to Birmingham to fit some speakers this weekend so will prob have more luck finding one there than in my little town. Cheers Fox

EDIT @ Gaygle: Hmm, maybe I could do with an upgrade of tyres then... I'll see if the alignment helps, if not I'll get the bushes checked. Last port of call, upgrade to your RE050A's.

Thanks

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 18:24

I check/fill the pressure every weekend since my run-flat indicator came on a few months back. 2.4 at the front and 2.8 at the back.

Does sound like allignment could be the cause...

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 18:41

Yeah that's what I thought, but that's what it says for a normal load. Works to 35 and 41psi I think and the tyre itself says max tyre pressure 51psi so I'm thinking it's correct... :confused:

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 18:46

Oh so not much of a difference then, although I would have thought the heavier 5 series would be higher than my 3... What do you fill your's to Gaygle? Maybe it's me reading the sticker wrong?!

Edit: Tyres are 18's

nuvpal said:
They're 225/40ZR18 88Y at front and 255/35ZR18 90Y at the back

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 18:52

Yeah will do. I mean it ain't severe understeer but it is noticable and it wasn't like that before.

Oooohh!! I just remembered, last snow spell the car wouldn't turn and it did slide sideways into a kerb, only at about maybe 5 miles an hour max, maybe that has affected it. Was a few weekends back, around the time I started to notice understeer... D'oh!

Time to align...

NVP · 4 Mar 2010 at 19:02

Yeah I suppose I should. I never alligned my last car at all but it was a '92 2.0 Granada Ghia

Loved that car!! RWD baby!

But yeah I guess I should take care of this one properly. Thanks for all the advice guys.

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 08:37

So I finally got the tracking sorted and it was definitely the cause of all my problems. I had to replace my front tyres, the rears were fine, and this is how bad the tracking was off:

The guy that alligned them reset them to 2 at the front and 3.5 at the back, does anyone know if this is correct for a Sport? Because it seemed like a rather big adjustment.

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 08:48

Nah I knew they'd gotten low the last time I checked but then I didn't expect them to wear that quickly till I checked again.

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 08:51

...understeering

TBH I didn't drive it once they were that low (except to the tyre place), I borrowed my brothers instead.

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 10:38

Duke said:
I thought you said you checked the tyres?

[TW]Fox;16669113 said:
They don't suddenly show cord overnight. You must have driven on them whilst dangerously low to end up with that!

Unintentionally I guess, I had noticed they were low on the inside but they were no where close to being that bad so I kept on using them but it wasn't long until they ended up like this. :confused:

Gaygle said:
What were the new tyres you got?

I just went the model up and got RE050As

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 11:57

£140 a tyre inc fitting for the fronts, but rears would work to around £200 I think. They'll need replacing soon anyway.

Will def keep a sharper eye on the inside of my tyres from now on!

What could have caused the tracking to go so badly as to cause such wear on the inside?

Also, the alignment was reset to 2 at the front and 3.5 at the back. Is there any way I can check if this is the correct allignment for an M-Sport?

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 12:23

Same difference

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 14:04

Duke said:
Can.. worms.. everywhere

They are the same though aren't they? It's just a name change difference, M-Sport was used for pre-facelift and Sport was used for facelift. Or that's my understanding anyway.

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 18:49

Oh I see, my bad. I'm not the most knowledgeable when it comes to cars as you may have already guessed.

I'm getting my front brake pads changed and my MOT done tomorrow at Sytner and I was thinking of getting them to double check the tracking as the car feels slightly gittery at high speeds now, does anyone know if they do this and how much it would be?

NVP · 2 Jun 2010 at 18:59

[TW]Fox;16672992 said:
Unless Sytner are doing a special offer you would be mad to get your MOT done there.

BMW also wont do 'tracking' they'll do a KDS Alignment at a cost of at least £200.

MOT is £54, but was only going Sytner because they will change the brake pads under the value service on cars my age, £99 for the fronts seems good to me.