1. Home
  2. BMW Cars and SUVs
  3. 97 318is follows lorry ruts

97 318is follows lorry ruts

hi ive got a 97 318is, great car but a couple of annoying little problems.

1 - i can be driving it down a dual carriageway in the outside lane no problem but as soon as i use the inside lane it follows the lorry ruts and i seem to have no control over it! does anyone have any ideas what may cause this?

2 - the other small problem ive got is when i accelerate hard through the rev range it feels a little hesitant, doesn?t rev smoothly through the rev range. is this the air mass meter or something more involved?

Reply to
silverplumbs
Loading thread data ...

Of course it follows the ruts! It will especially follow them when both sides fit into them. Any tire will follow the guides if there are any.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

I am not sure if this is the case for you but this sounds like what is commonly referred to as "tram lining" and has a couple of potential causes.

  1. Associated with installation of larger than stock wheels. People love the big wheels and I have heard a lot of issues with going more than +2" over stock causing this symptom to occur.
  2. The front (normally) or rear (not so normally) suspension components are worn causing the alignment to shift as one side of the car hits the "hill" of the rut in the road prior to the other. It becomes quite an act of will to keep the car going in a straight line.

cheers, Bob

Reply to
Bob

I agree with the sentiment here on the oversize tires, but two things come to mind relative to this issue. 1.) the chassis can hold a 225/45x17 without any issues, and 2.) the OP has a 318, which is likely to have nothing larger than a 205/60x15.

I would blame suspension parts for the tires following the grooves they cut into the surface of the freeway, but if there are visible ruts from a carriage (I envision a horse drawn carriage) or train tracks that due to resurfacing of the roadway now are set below grade, I'd expect a narrow tire to fit within the ruts and follow them. As annoying as this might be, I would not blame the car ...

And, it occurs to me that a bit of shimmy that comes from the car following the grooves they cut into the roadway indicates an otherwise desirable characteristic of handling that I paid extra for. I like the way my car handles, but on occasion it will find a rain groove to track for one reason or another -- I consider this a side affect of the otherwise desirable things I like about the handling. I'm not sure it iis even an undesireable side affect, just a side affect. I want my car to go where I aim it when I aim it there. If I'm not actively aiming it and it finds a groove to follow, then I have no problem giving my input as to where it should go. If the groove is going where I'm going, I don't really care. If the groove is going somewhere else, then I can easily take the car back.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Hey, Jeffy cretin. Did you know that scientists think that horses have evolved over 10's of MILLIONS of years?

formatting link
But you don't believe in evolution, do you, Jeffy? You think the Earth is only 10,000 years old, don't you Jeffy?

Reply to
dizzy

The ruts. Your wheels will naturally follow the ruts.

This effect is exploited in rail wheels using a "worn wheel profile": -

formatting link

This car is over ten years old. There could be a host of reasons including ignition, inlet, exhaust, electronics, linkages, injection etc. Try replacing the fuel filter as a first step.

The EMU will intentionally miss as you approach the red line to preserve the engine.

Reply to
R. Mark Clayton

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.