E46 M3 Veers Right!

[mahmoud_bedewi]

anyway we have to check against a new one as u said, so why donot u remove the arms and take them to a dealer of the ppl whom u deal with them and compare

[Bruno]

i never solved it my steering wheel was a bit to the left... so when it was centered the car veered to the right. but it was very minor you can't notice this if it is your first time behind the wheel... throughout the owning the car, i've changed so many bushings and parts and done many allignments. the only solution was to actually fix the steering wheel in the right place.


i've had PF bushings all around with Turner adjustable arms to solve my postive camber at the back. but nothing solved the right veer.

on another note the caveman had a rather similar issue to this case here and it turned out to be his RTABs, when they got alligned right after taking few rounsds with the car the wheels will be off the numbers and there used to be so much uneven wear in his tires. so assume that perhaps the RTABs are dead on this car if you say it's done 80k then it's about time they get a treatment.

[Ayham]

I don't want him to start buying parts and then nothing would work out. He could start with the cheaper parts like the FCABs. Recall when I raced with them the first time, it was a huge difference. Just might begin there...

I remember a discussion between me and Shak from *** about this and he said that they come with a few steering wheel degrees off to the left from the factory. But he said that he never accepted that. He'd usually spend so much time in correcting it...

[RAFiK]

Ayham, did you check tire sizes ? all of them !??

[Ayham]

Ofcourse, standard size all of them...

[SewerSideUp]

BMW front control arms are the most prone to bending, Mahmoud was talking about steel CA's of the old cars and now many new cars too. But, the E46 always had aluminum CA's, theyre week compared to the steel units, but then again they give you the blade sharp steering, so it's a fair trade.

FCAB's look wornout, you could see cracks or missing rubber when you look at them. And they also dry out. It's a good place to start as they don't cost much, but since youre going to unbolt it all to get there, why not replacing both front CA's aswell ?

[Bruno]

there must something wrong, it can't just veer like that. either bushings/arms or the steering wheel is not adjusted properly. it needs a proper check up-leh

[Rogue]

OK guys ... my knowledge is minimal in this ... but ayham i told u i had seens an M3 for myself and surprisingly even it veered to the right ...the guy jus told me its allignment problem but i no tht isnt it ...anyways like u said maybe its made like tht in the factories itself ... dunno but jus sharing my experience ...

[Ayham]

I'm going to see my friend tonight....Want to give him something conclusive!!

I think I'll tell him that it's many things but we'll take it from the cheaper fix and work our way up....BLAST!!!!!

[ruchikdave]

i just got lost at post no. 10 with all the technical talk...it felt like i was reading thru a discussion between bmw tech heads!!! lol...bt yeah i have the similar issue...among other things....nothing seems to solve that problem really...i changed the tires, rims and did balancing...bt still the car veers slighty to the right.

hopefully someone finds a fix for it.

[Lutfy]

BMW front control arms are the most prone to bending, Mahmoud was talking about steel CA's of the old cars and now many new cars too. But, the E46 always had aluminum CA's, theyre week compared to the steel units, but then again they give you the blade sharp steering, so it's a fair trade.

FCAB's look wornout, you could see cracks or missing rubber when you look at them. And they also dry out. It's a good place to start as they don't cost much, but since youre going to unbolt it all to get there, why not replacing both front CA's aswell ?

You can drive yourself insane doing this. Ayham, I like the law of elimination here. The car has 86K miles, wouldnt hurt replacing the front control arms as the joint tends to get weak with time. I have had this happen to my previous M3 and there was no freaking visual clue. After replacing the control arm, I noticed that the shock reinforcement plate (front) were bent causing camber issue.

Quick fix, get a camber bolt (factory provides it) and get rid of the camber issue. Possible long term fix is to get a new set of control arms and check the strut housing. Tie rods have nothing to do with camber.

Lutfy

[Ayham]

I've checked with him yesterday and he couldn't be happier. After the alignment at Hankook and swapping the front tires (used to veer more at first after the swap), the car veers to much lesser degree. According to him, it does it like my car now. I think it'll veer as before after a while after the tires get unevenly worn again.

Lutfy, I know it'll come down to elimination sooner or later especially that visually it's impossible to pinpoint a culprit. I was hoping we could avoid that...

[RAFiK]

^^ one thing I hate to proceed with all my life !! "Rule of elimination" .... Trial & Error .. but in this case .. you have no choice.. good luck & keep us updated !