*SOLVED* Illusive steering issue

[the_dude]

Hi folks!

I have a 2024 MT 3.0 (completely stock) and I'm experiencing an issue I don't know how to deal with. I've attached a couple of videos which demonstrates what's happening. Basically, at some point during the drive I'll feel a slight pull on the steering wheel (happens in both directions) and if I press the brakes in that moment (I just have to tap it really), the car starts pulling to the side. Steering wheel starts pulling to the same side as well. You can see what happens if I let go of the steering wheel in that moment on the videos. This is an intermittent issue and I've spent quite a bit of time trying to understand the conditions under which this happens. So here it goes:

• Speed of the vehicle this happens at is not important. You can see in the video that the speed is about 25mph and when it happens at higher speeds, it's scary. The whole car rotates. Not fun.
• It happens both on dry and on wet surfaces. It's more noticeable on wet surfaces tho.
• Seems to be happening on uneven surfaces which made me suspect it's bump steer but the speeds this happens at are too low for that to be this noticeable (I think).
• I had winter tires on. They were a bit bigger than the stock ones (235/40/19 and 255/40/19) and this was way more noticeable.

So far I've tried:

• Changing the driver side caliper thinking that it was seizing. Didn't help.
• Did a few alignments. Helped a bit. I've attached the last one.
• Visited the dealership a few times. They couldn't replicate the issue and told me they checked some stuff (didn't get a list) and that everything looks fine.

I have a couple of questions:

• Am I wrong in thinking there's something wrong with the car?
• Has anybody else experienced something similar?
• Is there anything I could do so the dealership takes me seriously?
• Is there anybody in MA/NH/VT/ME area that could help me troubleshoot this?

Thanks!

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[razorlab]

Just to make sure, do you have steering assist off?

 

[the_dude]

Just to make sure, do you have steering assist off?

Lane departure assist is off, yes. I have it set to just vibrate.

 

[itzTang]

Lane departure assist is off, yes. I have it set to just vibrate.

All those symptoms sounds like for some reason the assist till on. Try turning traction one tick off.

 

[ShakaDaKine]

Hi folks!

I have a 2024 MT 3.0 (completely stock) and I'm experiencing an issue I don't know how to deal with. I've attached a couple of videos which demonstrates what's happening. Basically, at some point during the drive I'll feel a slight pull on the steering wheel (happens in both directions) and if I press the brakes in that moment (I just have to tap it really), the car starts pulling to the side. Steering wheel starts pulling to the same side as well. You can see what happens if I let go of the steering wheel in that moment on the videos. This is an intermittent issue and I've spent quite a bit of time trying to understand the conditions under which this happens. So here it goes:

• Speed of the vehicle this happens at is not important. You can see in the video that the speed is about 25mph and when it happens at higher speeds, it's scary. The whole car rotates. Not fun.
• It happens both on dry and on wet surfaces. It's more noticeable on wet surfaces tho.
• Seems to be happening on uneven surfaces which made me suspect it's bump steer but the speeds this happens at are too low for that to be this noticeable (I think).
• I had winter tires on. They were a bit bigger than the stock ones (235/40/19 and 255/40/19) and this was way more noticeable.

So far I've tried:

• Changing the driver side caliper thinking that it was seizing. Didn't help.
• Did a few alignments. Helped a bit. I've attached the last one.
• Visited the dealership a few times. They couldn't replicate the issue and told me they checked some stuff (didn't get a list) and that everything looks fine.

I have a couple of questions:

• Am I wrong in thinking there's something wrong with the car?
• Has anybody else experienced something similar?
• Is there anything I could do so the dealership takes me seriously?
• Is there anybody in MA/NH/VT/ME area that could help me troubleshoot this?

Thanks!

What kind of wear pattern do your tires have...could be tramlining? Also, wider tires are prone to following imperfections in the road and can be exaggerated during braking.

 

[the_dude]

All those symptoms sounds like for some reason the assist till on. Try turning traction one tick off.

Thanks for the insight! I'll try it and report back.

 

[the_dude]

What kind of wear pattern do your tires have...could be tramlining? Also, wider tires are prone to following imperfections in the road and can be exaggerated during braking.

On winters, I have a slight wear on the inner edge. I haven't spent enough time on summers to notice.

 

[razorlab]

Thanks for the insight! I'll try it and report back.

You actually want to long-press the safety button which will turn EVERYTHING safety related off. Try that, just to see if your issue changes at all. Which could help focus on the issue.

Long press this safety button until the light goes fully out:

 

[the_dude]

You actually want to long-press the safety button which will turn EVERYTHING safety related off. Try that, just to see if your issue changes at all. Which could help focus on the issue.

Long press this safety button until the light goes fully out:

Ok, I managed to do some testing. I've tried turning off the safeties, VSC, TSC, played around with suspension and steering wheel settings in the menus. None of it helped.

One thing I did manage to do is find a patch of the road where I can almost consistently trigger this behavior. I'll try to hook up GoPro to the front of the car and record the road when it happens. I'll post the video when I get it.

In the mean time, this patch of the road is on a busy intersection which has visible grooves and the road is sloped to the left.

edit:

Worth noting is that I've driven other cars on the same patch of the road with no such issues (narrower and wider tires).

 

[RGlbk1]

While it seems obvious to me this is safety system related issue, you might want to check the tie rods.

 

[BMWAF]

Lane departure assist is off, yes. I have it set to just vibrate.

I had a settings issue which may be related to your problem. At one point, my lane assist refused to turn off, even though all the settings were set to off in iDrive. To fix this I toggled the setting a number of times and eventually it played ball. I also suggest deleting the user profile as this can store gremlins in it too. #BMWThings

 

[SupraYYJ]

In the mean time, this patch of the road is on a busy intersection which has visible grooves

What you describe sounds like tramlining due to wide, grippy tires. Is this your first sports car?

 

[the_dude]

While it seems obvious to me this is safety system related issue, you might want to check the tie rods.

What should I be looking for?

 

[the_dude]

I had a settings issue which may be related to your problem. At one point, my lane assist refused to turn off, even though all the settings were set to off in iDrive. To fix this I toggled the setting a number of times and eventually it played ball. I also suggest deleting the user profile as this can store gremlins in it too. #BMWThings

Thanks! I'll try that.

 

[the_dude]

What you describe sounds like tramlining due to wide, grippy tires. Is this your first sports car?

In this class, yes. While I do think tramlining (or something on the road's surface) is the first domino, I don't think this is the full story because of the magnitude of the effect and the speed at which it happens.

I'll be doing something like 25-30mph, and when I tap on the brakes the car literally turns to the side so much that it crosses into another lane if I don't catch it. This seems excessive to me. I might be wrong tho.

Also, shouldn't tramlining make the car follow the road and make it harder to turn rather than turning by it self?

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