XSeries-forum

Hi from a newbie
I've not had the car that long after inheriting it from a relative. After collecting the car (which had been stood for nearly a year) I noticed instantly that the car was all over the place on the road. To be honest I didn't expect it to be great after standing so long. It feels like I'm driving my old hilux truck but with a v8 under the bonnet.
I've had a few bits replaced which were obviously worn - both front control arm bushes, two steering gaitors and a front n/s ball joint.
This has made a marginal difference in that the steering wheel now returns to center a lot better but the car is "wallowing" (for want of a better term) almost like there's huge travel on the dampers. There is also noticeable body roll and a lack of response from the wheel in that large steering movements are needed at low speed to get it round corners. Coming out of low speed corners/roundabouts requires quick correction to straighten up smoothly.
Lastly, I know that the sports have a firm ride but this thing judders and moves about on the road at low speed a lot more than any sports car I've owned (there's been a few now). I've searched a lot on this bit can't find a definitive answer. Sorry for the essay on my first real post but any ideas?

Thanks

Body roll is not something usually associated with an X5!

Assuming all tyre pressures are OK (32psi) and the air suspension is working if fitted?  Is the car sitting correctly - as in no corner a bit low, or the whole car looking as if it's been lowered?

Could be other suspension parts also need looking at.  What it the tyre wearing looking like?  Could be an alignment issue, worn bushes, low pressure in the air bags, tyre pressures.

Richard

Thanks
Alignment definitely needs attending to as do the tyres. There Bridgestone all round with good tread but all have started to degrade from age with tiny splits in the tread. The pressures are currently 36/36 as I found it improved  tram lining slightly over the 34r/32f as Reccomended. The car does not have air suspension and is running oem shocks/springs. Also should mention it's at 70k miles but does have a full bmw history up to 64k (2012 inspection 2). Can't see anything obvious from a visual inspection the car appears to be sitting ok and the obvious bits have been done in the last two weeks. Even with the tyres the way they are I don't believe it should be behaving like this I was under the impression the x5's had similar characteristics on the road to a 5 or maybe 7 series?
I've also checked the brakes over which seem fine. I replaced a front abs sensor as well which was throwing codes and a dash light.
One other thing on a long journey last week the runflat/tyre pressure light came on red. I pulled over and checked the pressures (non runflat) which hadn't changed so I held the button on to reset and it disappeared. Not sure if it's relevant but thought is mention it.

You might have rear air suspension - called self levelling - though.  It came as standard on 'sport' trim 3.0 petrol & diesel versions and may be the default on the 4.4 V8.  There is no cabin adjustment for it.

The tyre pressure warnings do occasionally come on simply because of one wheel rotating at a different speed - it uses the ABS as a tyre pressure monitor.  I had the odd false alarm with mine, especially if it had been parked up for a while.

The E53 should handle pretty much like a car so body roll is certainly not right, hence wondering about air pressure.

Richard

Oh dear. How do I find out if it's running the self levelling suspension. I've heard this can be bloody expensive to fix and tbh if it's shot I'll be getting rid of the car cheap as I don't really need another big bill as I've three other cars on the drive atm. Which is a shame because I actually really like the x5!

Have a look under the boot floor for a dime below the spare wheel and for blue and red plastic hoses running across the floor.

There should be a dome as well which holds the compressor inside and air bags on the rear axle.

The parts look like this:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=33&fg=50

If you have coil springs on the back then you don't have self-levelling air susp.

Have you seen a message on the dash saying 'self levelling susp intact'?  It will appear in the LCD display directly in front of you on the dash.

If you press the right button in the instrument binnacle, do you see anything other than 'Check Control OK'.

Richard

Ok I'm going to check now. Should the suspension reading on the display always pop up when you start the car? I havnt seen it yet but I'll try the button on the clocks as suggested.

Right I've checked and yes unfortunately I have red pipe work everywhere under the wheel. How can I check if the systems functioning without a manual adjustment?

As Richard said, body roll should be very minimal, with regards to the wandering, sounds very much to like worn suspension components.
You said one ball joint was replaced, normally they should be done in axle pairs, if ones worn enough to have to be replaced the other will be on its last legs, your problem may stem from several components each with a small amount of play all adding up to a car which wanders and tramlines.

You mentioned that you've had control arm bushes fitted, there are 4 suspension arms on the front, which ones had the bushes fitted, and where did you get the bushes?  ideally again if one set need the bushes done, the other will also be well past their best . A shake through the wheel when braking moderately around 60 - 40 mph is a good sign of worn thrust arm bushes

I've recently replaced all 4 arms and both ball joints, the difference I'd very noticeable, a good way to check whether your bushes and/or balljoints are worn is to drive in a straight line at a sensible speed (say 40 mph) and quickly turn your steering wheel from side to side about a couple of inches in either direction, if the car continues in a straight line, you've got free  play. If it's not in the rack (also check track rod ends) it must be in the bushes

If your rear suspension level is sitting at the same height after the cars been left standing all night then it sounds as though there's no leaks there, as for the body roll , are you talking about high speed here? Under normal driving conditions there should be very little, depends what you're used to previously, if your last car was an M5 or a GT3 your idea of body roll may be different to mine . Bear in mind it's a very heavy car

What year and model is the car? Also what wheel /tyre size?  That will probably help in making suggestions which are model specific.

Thanks guys
It was the thrust bushes that were replaced as you say the car was vibrating under breaking although that's disappeared. Only one ball joint was changed on the n/s. The car is running on standard 19 inch wheels on 255/50 fronts and 285/45 rears all matching Bridgestone Turanza with good tread. If I'm on a smoother road or motorway it's a different car very smooth and confident it's at lower speeds/rougher roads that you really feel the issues. Pulling off the drive onto the street for example is akin to steering a boat. I've had a couple of biggish pick ups before and the whole experience (minus the luxury and the v8) is very similar. I think I need to get it into a specialist because I simply cannot see any play in anything else.
Should the compressor engage and be audible when the car starts or does it only activate when weight is added.

Sorry should mention the year/model is on my sig

I can't see any sig,  but then I'm using Tapatalk on an iPad so maybe that's the reason. None the wiser therefore.

No worries it's a 2006 4.4 sport although it's the only sport model I've seen after hunting the net that seems to have seats like a 7 series?  It definetley says sport on the logbook maybe it's had a transplant? All the others I can see have similar seats to my old 330's

Comfort Seats could be specified in place of Sports seats.....I had them on mine.  'Sport' was really a trim change and extra goodies thrown in...for a price of course >:(.  One of those being self-levelling rear air susp.

Sounds like you need the suspension looking at carefully as has been said.  If one side was no good then the chances are that the other side will be too.

Was the suspension re-aligned using a 4-wheel system?  It needs to be as all sorts of unwanted effects can be triggered by what you have had done if the alignment wasn't't checked and/or corrected.

Richard