Read my recent post about tie rods. :thumbup: My steering was a bit vague when I purchased the car at 65k (I have 90k now) so I'd say they're good for about 50k, that's my guess. Gotta go for now.

 

Probably tie rods, bushings or control arms. When you brake, say on the highway, does the car seem to bounce around a lot or follow grooves?

 

Just been out and checked the power steering fluid, there's loads in there.

Also jacked up the two front wheels, couldn't feel any side to side or up and down play, gave the arms a good pull, no movement there.

Is there anyway of seeing where the problem is, I can't really afford to replace things that are ok. But i'm not scared of jacking the car up and crawling underneath to check stuff.

The steering is definately over-light and vague around the straight ahead, but feels better once you've got about half a turn of steering lock on.



I'll check when i'm out later. I did notice that under hard braking at highway speeds there was a slight "wobble" sensation in the steering.

The car had new lower wishbones at the front about a year ago.

Cheers all,

 

Wait for the guys to check out this thread. You don't think it can be bushings?

 

I can't discount anything, so could be.

Is there a way to tell, visually etc?

 

It can be as simple as an alignment... changes in toe can make the car go from completely vague to razor sharp.

 

Yeah?

OK, i'll get that sorted ASAP.

I did consider it, but didn't think it would make so big a difference, to even effect steering effort etc.

Cheers.

 

OK, nice one, i'll go to an allignment place on Saturday.

Would explain the suddenness of it too, maybe I hit a nasty pothole or something.

I'll report back when I've got the results.

Cheers!

 

the steering coupling / guibo would cause a vague feeling in steering at center...driving straight ahead...as if having a dead zone right smack in the center...would be able to move steering wheel left and right up to an inch with little change in direction..
cause is steering coupling which is located at steering rack to steering shaft junction..about $50 dollars for part from dealer and it is a simple do it yourself...only special tool is an external torx socket..e#10 and about an 18 inch extension.
you can see part from drivers side wheel well..look up and into engine bay from behind front wheel.

 

Cheers im

I'll check that out if the allignment doesn't work.

I LOVE Florida - was in Melbourne for two weeks over Christmas and new year. Beautiful part of the world.

 

Going in for allignment this afternoon.

I've been paying more attention to it since starting this thread.

There's a definate shake to the steering when braking.

 

Hi All,

I've now had a full laser allignment done.

The steering is still not right. It's just a lot lighter now than it was. There's no resistance at all when turning the wheel and very little feedback through the wheel.

It drives, accelerates and brakes in a straight line. There's a slight judder when braking heavily from high speed.

Any ideas?

 

Do you have your alignment sheet? What's the toe set to?

Did you rotate your tires recently by chance?

 

Gotta jump in as I've experienced pretty much the same complaint. When I'm cruising at highway speeds my steering feels super light, and what I would describe as "squirrely". I need to keep both hands on the wheel & it seems like a constant battle to keep from squirming around my lane.

I recently replaced my CAB's with powerflex bushings, which really increased my steering sensitivity. I like the result, but the downside is you really notice every imperfection. Out of balance wheels will drive you crazy, etc. So my previous steering "dead zone" on-center is gone but it seems I notice much more now just how light my steering is.

I've got relatively fresh rubber with 10k on them, and I had the car aligned then. 5k miles ago was inspection II, where everything checked out but the CABs mentioned. All done by my dealer, which doesnt mean much as I think sometimes my car gets serviced by a team of gorillas (another story altogether).

I'd say up to 50mph it's fine, but go faster & it seems to get ligher and more difficult to control. I would really like to find a fix for this!

 

I'd say up to 50mph it's fine, but go faster & it seems to get ligher and more difficult to control. I would really like to find a fix for this!

I'm telling ya... front toe!

 

I feel your frustration. If I had a dollar for everytime a mechanic told me everything is fine I'd be a rich man. Everything that's been described so far is very familiar to me. What really tightened my steering experience directly at the steering wheel was to replace the tie rods (meyle HD) and then a good alignment. I changed my CAB's with Meyle HD's a few months before changing the rods. As mentioned above I feel imperfections more so my suggestion is to just go OEM on the CAB's. I don't have the numbers for toe because I'm working but if you want me to post them later I will. I'm telling you I have a new car! None of that looseness. If you have more than 50 - 60k, then I'd start looking at tie rods.

 

Why not get it to a pro suspension shop that has one of those drive on hoists that can shake the beejesus out of the suspension so any movement in parts like ball joints or bushes is readily noticeable? No guessing on what needs replacing then.

 

I'm looking into getting some Powerflex bushes to replace the current cheapo CABs.

They list both a 60mm and a 66mm for the E46, does anyone know how to tell what I need? (Car is a 2001 330ci)

Thanks,

 

That would be number 6 in diagram and it's 66mm. You and I have the same year and model. Have you looked into new tie rods? It made a world of difference . . .

http://bmwfans.info/original/E46/Cou/330Ci-M54/USA/L/N/2000/09/mg-31/ill-31_0553/

 

This whole thread has made me believe I need new tie rods and alignment to