Dear group – not sure what other members think but I find that good mechanics are quite few and far between, so I thought I’d share my findings on one that I can strongly recommend. I’ve already posted about this on the yahoo groups page, so apologies for the repetition for anyone who subscribes to that board.fficeffice" />
I've recently bought a '94 avus blue – a truly great car, but I had some difficulties with the steering, which I couldn’t quite believe, given that I’d previously owned a ’91 for 3-4 years and spent a small fortune trying (and failing) to irradiate the slack. I had even test driven the car under every circumstance I could imagine – but it was only on the journey home that I found it …. grrr.
But the symptoms were a little different this time. As well as the slack, the car had an unnerving habit of swerving as I crossed the camber whilst braking, was far too twitchy, impossible to hold a straight line and there was uneven and excessive tyre wear.
The swerving was due to a split bush on the near side control arm, the twitchiness, tyre wear and straight lining due to significant toe out and the slack simply due to an incorrectly adjusted pre-tensioner. How the car passed the pre-sale check I'll never know!
The good news is that now all these problems have been sorted by a guy named Keith Ormiston based in Berrylands, Surrey who I can strongly recommend. He was pretty reasonable too.
I too use Keith Ormiston for looking after my 1992 3.8 M5 and I am very happy with the quality and the cost of the work he does.
He used to be the workshop manager for Coopers Thames Ditton, one of the biggest dealers in South East England, before he left to start out on his own. So you get arguably a main dealer level of expertise for half the labour rate. Indeed, I believe that Coopers subcontract some of their work to him (although whether they reduce the labour rates they charge the owner I'm not sure )
He can be contacted on 0208 390 1116 or keith@ormistonbmw.com (although he is on a well deserved holiday for the next 2-3 weeks)
Alaistair, I think you should let the M5 world know which well known dealer sold your car to you in such a state?
I've got a wandering 91 US M5 too. I just bought it and I've wondered myself how I didn't notice it before. I've never owned a car with tires this wide, so I thought at first that this was just a little tramlining and that it was to be expected. but driving close to the "New Jersey Barriers" (our version of Armco) has been a nerve-wracking experience.
I've seen that several others have had this problem and the first cause seemed to be looseness in the steering box. my local shop thinks this is rare, but they don't work on M5s much and I know the box is unique to this model. I checked the spline nut under the dash and it was tight.
my shop has said from the start that the first thing to do is get an alignment. I didn't think that was it since the car tracks pretty straight, but pulls to the left with each bump. now I'm inclined to agree with them. They checked for excess play with the car on the rack and found none. the bushings all look good.
I think outward toe might be the problem. the shoulders of the front tires are bald, but I figured they'd been rotated from the rear. now I think the outward toe has caused them to wear out on the front.
My plan was to replace bushings or tighten the box before buying tires since it'll need an alignment and I didn't want to do it twice. the rears are pretty shot as well, so I ordered a set of Pilot Sports that are going on the car on Friday. I'll get an alignment afterwards and report back! Here's hoping it's not anything more expensive!
Eric - you really need someone who knows the M5 e34 set up. alternatively, there are some very good posts on this board and the yahoo board which together comprise a very comprehensive check list. Email me off line if you want the one I compiled.
Cheers.
Alastair
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Lee
I've got a wandering 91 US M5 too. I just bought it and I've wondered myself how I didn't notice it before. I've never owned a car with tires this wide, so I thought at first that this was just a little tramlining and that it was to be expected. but driving close to the "New Jersey Barriers" (our version of Armco) has been a nerve-wracking experience.
I've seen that several others have had this problem and the first cause seemed to be looseness in the steering box. my local shop thinks this is rare, but they don't work on M5s much and I know the box is unique to this model. I checked the spline nut under the dash and it was tight.
my shop has said from the start that the first thing to do is get an alignment. I didn't think that was it since the car tracks pretty straight, but pulls to the left with each bump. now I'm inclined to agree with them. They checked for excess play with the car on the rack and found none. the bushings all look good.
I think outward toe might be the problem. the shoulders of the front tires are bald, but I figured they'd been rotated from the rear. now I think the outward toe has caused them to wear out on the front.
My plan was to replace bushings or tighten the box before buying tires since it'll need an alignment and I didn't want to do it twice. the rears are pretty shot as well, so I ordered a set of Pilot Sports that are going on the car on Friday. I'll get an alignment afterwards and report back! Here's hoping it's not anything more expensive!
Name and shame! I may just do that, but I am discussing with "them" how they might make good ... so watch this space!
Hocus
Quote:
Originally Posted by Howie.San
I too use Keith Ormiston for looking after my 1992 3.8 M5 and I am very happy with the quality and the cost of the work he does.
He used to be the workshop manager for Coopers Thames Ditton, one of the biggest dealers in South East England, before he left to start out on his own. So you get arguably a main dealer level of expertise for half the labour rate. Indeed, I believe that Coopers subcontract some of their work to him (although whether they reduce the labour rates they charge the owner I'm not sure )
He can be contacted on 0208 390 1116 or keith@ormistonbmw.com (although he is on a well deserved holiday for the next 2-3 weeks)
Alaistair, I think you should let the M5 world know which well known dealer sold your car to you in such a state?
Ive got the exact problem on my 91 M5...However, I bought the car with the stock wheels and dunlop super sport tires and the car ran perfectly straight. I then purchased aftermarket wheels/falkon ZR rated tires from "Wheel Exhange" with the exact size specs as the originals. I had the new wheels/tires mounted and balanced on the car, and the second I drove it I noticed a major wander in the steering and the car will not hold a straight line. It is being aligned and the box is being tightened this week, however, I know this is not the problem. My next try is trying the old tires on the new wheels. Does your M5 have the stock or aftermarket wheels??
I have had three shops drive the car, and they all say the tire tread or alignment is off, but the car ran great with the stock set up. Also, the new tires have 3k miles on them, and they are wearing perfectly.
VERY FRUSTRATING!!!
Please let me know how your new tires work out.
Thanks
Darin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Lee
I've got a wandering 91 US M5 too. I just bought it and I've wondered myself how I didn't notice it before. I've never owned a car with tires this wide, so I thought at first that this was just a little tramlining and that it was to be expected. but driving close to the "New Jersey Barriers" (our version of Armco) has been a nerve-wracking experience.
I've seen that several others have had this problem and the first cause seemed to be looseness in the steering box. my local shop thinks this is rare, but they don't work on M5s much and I know the box is unique to this model. I checked the spline nut under the dash and it was tight.
my shop has said from the start that the first thing to do is get an alignment. I didn't think that was it since the car tracks pretty straight, but pulls to the left with each bump. now I'm inclined to agree with them. They checked for excess play with the car on the rack and found none. the bushings all look good.
I think outward toe might be the problem. the shoulders of the front tires are bald, but I figured they'd been rotated from the rear. now I think the outward toe has caused them to wear out on the front.
My plan was to replace bushings or tighten the box before buying tires since it'll need an alignment and I didn't want to do it twice. the rears are pretty shot as well, so I ordered a set of Pilot Sports that are going on the car on Friday. I'll get an alignment afterwards and report back! Here's hoping it's not anything more expensive!
For the benefit of all, can you post your checklist here? If not, I would appreciate your list as I too am a victim of the Wandering Steering problem! BTW, the dealer has already adjusted my steering box and that seemed to help only a little bit. But I've got bigger items to resolve to totally correct this problem, including worn idler arm, torn front sway bar links, etc....
Eric - you really need someone who knows the M5 e34 set up. alternatively, there are some very good posts on this board and the yahoo board which together comprise a very comprehensive check list. Email me off line if you want the one I compiled.
sorry, but this isn't going to be much consolation. I have 17" throwing stars, and I put new Pilot Sports (not PS2s) on and that seemed to take care of the problem. I did have the car aligned (just front end, none of the local tire shops could find specs for the rear on that car....whatever, saved me $40), but the tech who did the work said the alignment was pretty good beforehand. I didn't drive the car at all between the tires and alignment jobs, so I can't say for sure.
The yokos that were on front when I got the car two months ago were worn on both inside and outside shoulders. maybe they came off the back during a rotation and were already worn. I can't say for sure....
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Re: Wandering steering/good mechanic
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