M5 tracking grooves in the road - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

daniel · 16th November 2000, 16:33

Tom,

ME is right that the M5 is not normally offending is this department... my last car was a Viper GTS and followed every seam in the pavement. Maybe an alignment might not be a bad idea... not likely, but maybe you your car needs a bit of toe-in up front. And I belive that the alignment is free in the US for the first few thousand miles, and BMW should do it for under $100 anyhow. Let us know. Dan

Tom M5 · 16th November 2000, 22:08

I'm running Michelin Pilot Sports and have confirmed 40lbs in the front and 44lbs in the back. Have about 100 miles until 1200 mile service. I will have BMW check the alignment.

Tim W · 17th November 2000, 01:50

Had the problem with mine. It was real annoying. THey checked the alignment and the Toe is was off by a bit. they set it correctly and the car is much easier to drive.

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Tim W.

Tom M5 · 17th November 2000, 01:51

I have noticed the M5 trackes the grooves in the pavement alot more than any other car I have owned. Any comments.

MEnthusiast · 17th November 2000, 01:55

Most performance cars will do this to some extent. I think its due to a combination of big fat sticky tires in the front as well as relatively "quick" steering. I find that relative to "true sports cars" the M5 is pretty easy going in this department. If you think its excessive you might want to check your tire pressures. It could also be the road- on some roads by me you can see where the pavement has sunk in from the weight of vehicles and I can easily feel this in the M5s steering. Out of curiosity, what kind of tires are you using? I have the Dunlop 8080s. I think they're decent, but I plan on replacing them with the michelin pilot sports.

ME

alpywhite · 17th November 2000, 05:42

I feel it's more the width of the wheels than the tires; still the same issue.

DrJimM5 · 18th November 2000, 01:07

I think Alpy is correct. Tramlining is the term I've heard and because of the width of the tire it feels unbalanced as part of it is higher and part of it is lower. The car therefore wants to get even(gravity), so it tracks right down into the valley of the road. This is probably made worse by things like faulty pressure or misalignment. You should probably find better roads to enjoy.

Jim

bob · 18th November 2000, 01:31

I had the same problem on my 2000 M5. The technical people in Spartanburg told me to set the alignment to the minimum toe-in specification (that is, make it more toe-out). I never did try this since the car is sold (2001 expected in Janaury) but I'd be interested if anyone has. The roads here in Oregon are full of ruts because studded tires are legal six months of the year.