Really easy to fit, undo two bolts remove old bush, fit new ones (they are in two pieces) tighten the bolts easy upgrade and IMO worth every penny...
Handling on uneven roads (self steering)
- Thread starter Momo77
- Start date
Does this look normal? Or is it too bad?
I wonder if I should change 2 front tyres first and align wheels then see how it feels.
I'm getting alot of help here thanks all for your input.
It certainly narrow it down to tyres and/or bushes
I wonder if I should change 2 front tyres first and align wheels then see how it feels.
I'm getting alot of help here thanks all for your input.
It certainly narrow it down to tyres and/or bushes
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99% sure if you change the front tires you'll be right 
As said the mixture won't help and they look as if they are directional tyres (only rotate one way ) and seems the best tyre for Z are assymetric ( tyre marked 'outside').
I have also found replacing the anti roll bar drop links and roll bar bushes transforms front end control.
When I put new ZV5 Avons on the front of Z3lda to match her rears, the springs and shocks were 15 years and 73k miles old! As I said the difference was like night and day. This was achieved just by putting new matching tyres on the front! To be able to drive with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the gearstick (with the elbow on the arm rest) was something completely new to me! I replaced the springs, shocks, mounts, drop links and ARB bushes (all OEM) a couple of years later. This improved the handling and ride. I then fitted front, and lower rear strut braces and longitudinal body braces. This again gave a further marked improvement in ride and handling.
I would fit a new set of tyres anyway, as a mix would have 2 different characteristics.... It worked for me, and some others I believe.
Best of luck.
Bonzo.
I would fit a new set of tyres anyway, as a mix would have 2 different characteristics.... It worked for me, and some others I believe.
Best of luck.
Bonzo.
I have ZV7 Avon on the front and work superb. Stated at #24 in this thread.
What is the Caster measurement in the alignment data? The range should be around 3.11 to 4.11 degrees (depending on the spec used by the tech).
If you have too much caster on the standard Z3 you end up with bump steering (much like tramlining). The caster is usually not a problem unless your control arm bushings are stuffed or someone has decided to fit the off-set bushings used on early MZ3's. Off-set bushings do make bump steering and are terrible to drive with. They came on one of my cars and were quickly removed once they were found.
Tech Stuff
The Z3 has one of the fastest steering racks fitted standard to any BMW car. This means there are less turns from lock to lock, 2.7 from memory. It also means that you have less mechanical advantage to control the feedback from bumps etc. While it is safe, if needs good maintenance to the car to avoid steering issues like tramlinning from creeping in. Tyres, Shocks (all 4 corners), bushings (front and rear), tie rod ends, control arms (for ball joints). All these items may have a little wear but when you add it all up the total wear is causing you problems.
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Avon ZV5 have been superseded by the ZV7. My chum has 4 x ZV7 on his Z3 2.2 and is quite happy.
Bonzo..
Like your avatar! I was at RAF Marham Family and Friends day the other week and they had 6 Tornado aircraft carry out a mock airfield attack! Very noisy, great to see!
Bonzo.
Thanks. Was at RAF Marham (the grassed El Ahdem) from 90 -92. My favourite kiteLike your avatar! I was at RAF Marham Family and Friends day the other week and they had 6 Tornado aircraft carry out a mock airfield attack! Very noisy, great to see!
Bonzo.
That depends on who tested it, Was the car loaded to imitate driver and passenger weight? When these are tested they should be under load and not with any empty car. If you drove it around and tried it again you would find a different result to the tracking.
having mismatched tyres not only front to back but also side to side will be causing all sorts of odd handling!
The car was empty when they did it. It was tested on laser machine.
Though they can only adjust front Toe only. Everything else is fixed( no adjustments)
Thanks again to you all.
I'll change the front tyres after I attempt to adjust Toe on the driver side rear wheel.
Which bushes do I need to change? Is it subframe bushes? Or drop link arm?
The toe is positive and I think it supposed to be negative like the other rear wheel to make the thrust line more correct. Once i did this I'll see how the car feel then if it's not good still ill change the front tyres.
I know that you can't adjust toe on rear wheels but bt changing a few bushes it might adjust due to new bushes installed?
Toe adjustment a visible issue and need to be put right so that's why I'm starting from.
Meanwhile, if I happen to find anyone who is willing to do a wheel swap with me for a few hours to see if that resolve the issue or not?
I'll change the front tyres after I attempt to adjust Toe on the driver side rear wheel.
Which bushes do I need to change? Is it subframe bushes? Or drop link arm?
The toe is positive and I think it supposed to be negative like the other rear wheel to make the thrust line more correct. Once i did this I'll see how the car feel then if it's not good still ill change the front tyres.
I know that you can't adjust toe on rear wheels but bt changing a few bushes it might adjust due to new bushes installed?
Toe adjustment a visible issue and need to be put right so that's why I'm starting from.
Meanwhile, if I happen to find anyone who is willing to do a wheel swap with me for a few hours to see if that resolve the issue or not?
The Z3 steering rack is a sought after swap for E36 owners due to how quick (lower number of turns lock to lock) it is.
That's one of the reasons Z3 racks tend to fetch £150 and up.
They didn't show caster on computer for some reasons, they have done test with empty car!!!
I'm a bit concerned about rear wheels having 2 deferent toe figures, left one is negative and right 1 is positive, which makes the rear wheels drive to the left, and that makes the car crab to the right.
That's what I experience as well when I push thruttle suddenly. And when I release the throttle car goes a bit to the left again.
I think that also might be contribute to my tram-lining ?
The question is how to I fix toe or rear wheels?
As I was told there is no adjustment to rear wheels, I'm thinking of changing all rear bushes.
Is this a good idea or a waste of money?
Mike Fishwick has produced a superb article on this job. The bush in question is the one at the rear end of the front wishbones. It is simple to replace because the bush is held in a sort of lollipop shaped housing which can be unbolted from the car. The bush looks like this
Because it has spaces around the bush, as it gets older and the rubber perishes movement of the control arm becomes possible making the steering less than perfect. The holder and a replacement polybush is shown in this picture. Look them up on polybush.co.uk and buy them from Eurocarparts. On the Polybush site you can download the fitting instructions. I am going to have to do the same job on my newly acquired Z3 which also suffers from disconcerting steering. According to Mike Fishwick, whose photos I have used (sorry Mr Fishwick) the problem is worse on cars with the 17" wheels and low profile tyres.
I'm hearing mixed views about poly bushes. It feels like it's a solution to disguise the issue rather than solving it.
Let me know how your car feels after changing them please.
I'm going to solve rear wheel alignment for the time being and how things go from there.
Thanks anyway
Hi again. Poly bushes will give you a harder ride. If you don't mind this, fine. My bushes are standard O.E.M,. my wheels 17" with fairly low profile tyres. As I said before, my tramlining was cured by simply fitting front tyres to match the rear ones.
Bonzo.
Bonzo.
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