Author Topic: steering wheel poor returnability to center (Read 11207 times)

roundel318 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 14, 2009, 05:04:37 PM »

I am in the market for one of these....
http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7852

Is yours loose?

strad · « **Reply #16 on:** February 14, 2009, 07:54:40 PM »

I bought the bushings/lollipops already assembled, from bavauto iirc. So yes, I guess it is possible they were installed in the lollipops the wrong way, but I didn't do it, and there's only one way to put each assembly on the car. They did appear to be the same orientation as the old ones iirc. The control arms are spec'd for a non-M, non ix E30. I installed the bushings and control arms with the help of someone who's probably installed hundreds, if not thousands of them. He's a bodyman though, not a suspension specialist per se.

And to roundel, I don't think there is much freeplay in the steering system. It's certainly not noticeable if there is.

I guess it's off to the alignment shop then.

Boosted E30 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 15, 2009, 02:53:47 PM »

which ball joints did you get?? do you have a link because there is certain ones that go a certain way. were the ball joints just round and flat on the bottom?? or did they have a flat bar going accoss?

strad · « **Reply #18 on:** February 15, 2009, 04:48:12 PM »

Ball joints are Meyle. I bought the arms and ball joints as an assembly. Maybe the factory assembled one the wrong way? How are Meyle's supposed to look when they're correct?

Boosted E30 · « **Reply #19 on:** February 16, 2009, 06:53:58 PM »

i dont know by brand name what they look like and if they came assembled then they should be ok. have you got an aligement yet?? if i can remeber correctly my steering wheel doesnt return to center by it self either when i change lanes i have to help it to but not to sure havnt driven it in a while.

max123 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 16, 2009, 07:02:59 PM »

Does the steering feel really tight and hold on to corners even when you let go of the steering wheel? I had a similar problem when I did my control arms - here's the thing - when you install the control arm the main bolt/ball joint holding the control arm to the strut will just spin freely when you are bolting it back together. As such, during installation you must put a jack or a clamp under the balljoint in order to tighten up the nut. Only problem is that you may have massively over tightened the bolt, which will basically make your steering really tight. I had to loosen mine slighty (not alot!) and also grease everything up really nicely - also, the new control arms took a little while to break in and loosen up.

strad · « **Reply #21 on:** February 16, 2009, 09:47:33 PM »

Yeah Max, that pretty precisely describes what is occurring. I did not put a jack under the control arm when tightening the strut-control arm nut, but it felt fine going together. Didn't feel like I needed extra leverage or anything.

max123 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 17, 2009, 09:07:29 PM »

Right you are - my memory is slipping since I did the job over a year ago - the overtightness issue applies to the small ball joints at the end of the tie rods - not the big ones on the control arms. Check these out, lube up everything that moves and then get an alignment - it will sort itself out.