F80 pulling to the right

[///M///]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

You are welcome to drive my car RIGHT NOW (before I swap to winter wheels).

I gave myself this issue in the spring because I cross-rotated my tires when I put my summer wheels back on. It is a distinct pull to the right that occurs on MOST road surfaces but not all, and on some road surfaces it's quite significant.

I will be rotating to winter very soon and so it'll go away.

During my first ~12,000 miles or so, before I swapped back to summer, I did not have this and the car would very gently drift to the right occasionally. It's not something you have to look for if you have it.

In my case it's crystal clear it's tire related.

So the Michelin's are the suspected culprit? How about the folks who got their 2016's with the Conti's? Any of those care to chime in?

[verruckt]

Originally Posted by dsm918

So the Michelin's are the suspected culprit? How about the folks who got their 2016's with the Conti's? Any of those care to chime in?

I did... one page back.

My 16 with Contis does the same exact thing.

Interesting note is I did ED and did NOT have the issue in Germany....

[verruckt]

Originally Posted by Manalope

BMW of Ontario (California)

Completely un-shocked by this...

BMW has one of their BMW Tech schools in Ontario CA and has engineers there. Probably some of the best techs and resources in the West US there.

I went to 2 classes there when I was a tech.

[verruckt]

Originally Posted by dsm918

To add to what Bluex stated, I don't know if this is the effect of this thread but I find myself trying to look for this problem. I do have a slight pull but in all honesty most single lane roads are sloping to the right. Got to test it on the highway in the center lane and see if it is the case. Even on the single lane, it is slight enough that it really doesn't bother me and had it not been for this thread I would have not even paid any attention to it.

So for those of you with this issue how obvious is it? Is it is a major pull to the right or a very very slight one? I think I fall in the latter category, if at all.

Thanks.

Mine is major - I'll be in the next lane over within 3 seconds

[///M///]

Originally Posted by verruckt

I did... one page back.

My 16 with Contis does the same exact thing.

Interesting note is I did ED and did NOT have the issue in Germany....

US roads then

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by dsm918

So the Michelin's are the suspected culprit? How about the folks who got their 2016's with the Conti's? Any of those care to chime in?

In SOME cases, it appears the tires are the culprit and this can be resolved with swapping tires to opposite sides. This is called "radial pull" and can happen on any car, but is more common on some cars/setups especially those with alignments setup to be very responsive - the tires are quick to change direction, rather than focused on stability.

On MY car, it was dead straight from the factory. When I switched my summer tires back on this spring, I put them on opposite sides - which introduced radial pull.

[verruckt]

Originally Posted by dsm918

US roads then

I think the shipping line / trucking line is tying them down incorrectly. Especially given a lot of people have this issue.

Used to see it all the time when cars were towed into the shop - they'd attach the chain to one of the front tie rods and crank it down, slightly bending the tie rod.

Swapping tires isn't solving the problem, especially with symmetrical tires, which the contis and michelins are. Also clearly not solving the problem when two different types of tires are having the same problem.

[IrvineTim]

they charged me zero. i only have 900 miles on the car.

Originally Posted by Bluex

Curious question: Are you guys getting this work done under warranty?

My drift is only slight, but it's there, however the dealership states that all is within spec. They won't do anything else because they state there is nothing wrong. They say the next step is to get it re-aligned, but that is on my dime. I have issues with spending $200 for a dealership alignment as an experiment.

[IrvineTim]

hard pull to the right for me

Originally Posted by dsm918

To add to what Bluex stated, I don't know if this is the effect of this thread but I find myself trying to look for this problem. I do have a slight pull but in all honesty most single lane roads are sloping to the right. Got to test it on the highway in the center lane and see if it is the case. Even on the single lane, it is slight enough that it really doesn't bother me and had it not been for this thread I would have not even paid any attention to it.

So for those of you with this issue how obvious is it? Is it is a major pull to the right or a very very slight one? I think I fall in the latter category, if at all.

Thanks.

[IM2C]

This thread is making me really nervous. I'm picking mine up in 3 weeks and it would drive nuts. Had the same issue on my S5 and tt. Damn.

[docmfg]

So my car now tracks perfectly. Swivel bearing was replaced.

[docmfg]

Originally Posted by thoevelk

hard pull to the right for me

It was slight but enough to fatigue my left arm from compensating for the pull.

[sameh]

Mine does pull to the right since I got it from the dealer 7000 miles ago. It actually got much worse. It's annoying me to no end. On an empty highway I let it go from the left lane across middle lane to right lane then exit, all in 150 yards. Why didn't I take it to the dealer you ask? Pessimism!! Yes..my previous E92 M3 was straight like an arrow for 70K miles then started to do that. I took it to the dealer, $150 later it still did same thing, changed tires, rotated it, danced for it...nothing. I give up

[IrvineTim]

mine is 95% better after they replaced swivel bearing, adjusted camber and realignment. I say 95% because I have not had a chance to fully evaluate the car yet, weekday traffic is crazy in orange county. That being said, it seems to be fixed.

Originally Posted by sameh

Mine does pull to the right since I got it from the dealer 7000 miles ago. It actually got much worse. It's annoying me to no end. On an empty highway I let it go from the left lane across middle lane to right lane then exit, all in 150 yards. Why didn't I take it to the dealer you ask? Pessimism!! Yes..my previous E92 M3 was straight like an arrow for 70K miles then started to do that. I took it to the dealer, $150 later it still did same thing, changed tires, rotated it, danced for it...nothing. I give up

[IrvineTim]

i knew about the problem before I took delivery, was hoping I would not have the issue. When I took delivery it was late, traffic and raining. I did not test drive it prior to delivery but did notice the pull after about a week. I was in denial at first, my cls550 had the same issue.Had to have it addressed at the break in service thought because it was definitely a hard pull and NOT CROWNING IN THE ROAD.

Originally Posted by e90im

This thread is making me really nervous. I'm picking mine up in 3 weeks and it would drive nuts. Had the same issue on my S5 and tt. Damn.

[DandyKing]

Just got this issue as well and im at around 14k miles. Its noticeable worse where i feel that i have to be making constant corrections. What was once a smooth easy driving experience is now ruined. I took it to dealer and they said they found nothing but the steering feels lose and off center and pulls hard to either left or right.

[IrvineTim]

update: Problem still exits, it drifts now as opposed to hard pull. Taking it back in this week to dealership. It is quite a bit better but still has the issue.

[IrvineTim]

Did you change anything on the car just before you noticed this problem? You are the first to report a pull to the left I believe, all other posts say their car pulls to the right.

Originally Posted by DandyKing

Just got this issue as well and im at around 14k miles. Its noticeable worse where i feel that i have to be making constant corrections. What was once a smooth easy driving experience is now ruined. I took it to dealer and they said they found nothing but the steering feels lose and off center and pulls hard to either left or right.

[DandyKing]

Originally Posted by thoevelk

Did you change anything on the car just before you noticed this problem? You are the first to report a pull to the left I believe, all other posts say their car pulls to the right.

It started from my 19s i just switched over to 18s winters and thought it would improve. It hasnt. Dealer did rotate tires as well with fronts now in rear. Yes it square winter set up.

[IrvineTim]

How much of a difference is there in ride and performance between the 18 vs 19. Dropped car off again today for the pulling issue, attempt #2.

Originally Posted by DandyKing

It started from my 19s i just switched over to 18s winters and thought it would improve. It hasnt. Dealer did rotate tires as well with fronts now in rear. Yes it square winter set up.

[mact3333]

I didn't read all 11 pages but I had this exact thing happen with another car...after like 5 trips to dealer and multiple trips to indy alignment shops, I was told everything with respect to suspension was fine and was told it has to be the tires...sure enough, I swapped out the tires and pulling to right instantly went away...the tires in question were part of dealer program where you get new crappy tires for life and I will never take those crappy new tires ever again.

[IrvineTim]

The car is okay now. I drove it on many different roads to diagnose if it was fixed or still drifting. I had to drive it on an air strip to determine whether or not it was still drifting, no crown on air strip. The car is very sensitive to the road crown. It was definitely not crowning in the beginning causing the car to pull, and they did rectify that problem of a hard pull to the right.

Originally Posted by thoevelk

update: Problem still exits, it drifts now as opposed to hard pull. Taking it back in this week to dealership. It is quite a bit better but still has the issue.