[David328M-Sport]

No shimmy or lurch here either. In fact no problems at all thank goodness.

[onesixeight]

Originally Posted by rocky20nm

Chris,
It seems like, the BMW field service engineers themself do not have any idea as the car is so new. The problems are new.

I drove a friends car who also bought it with me. He thought his car did not have a shimmy, when I drove it, it was there. I think many people cannot notice it as it is so hard to miss it. I would suggest people to drive between 40-50mph and keep their hand loose on the wheel and notice their hand shake a little.

Make sure the road is smooth and straight, that way you can hold the sterring lighly.

It is certain though that many cars has this issue if not all.

The guy, Charles is suppose to be the go-to-guy for the E90 on the West Coast. But I too wasn't confident that he actually knew anything beyond what you and I can read in manuals and brochures. My car does it still even after a rebalance and tire change.

For those that say it's limited to ZSP (Sport Package) cars, I've driven a few non-ZSP cars that shimmy too.

-Chris

[rocky20nm]

I personally think you bought a BMW, it should be free of any defects, that is why we paid the premium for this car. If I have to drive this car with a shimmy, it is a shame for BMW, for their quality and the name. As far as safety goes, if BMW does not know the fix yet, how can they say it is really safe. Again, that is my view. BMW label gets on line if they do things like these.

I am certain, they have lost sales already because of this issue which they are not able to resolve in a timely maner.

[jrct9454]

I don't doubt that some cars do not have this problem - but I also don't doubt that there are some owners who say their car is fine, and like Rocky, if I drove it, I would detect the problem.

I'm just sensitive to this issue, because it was the reason I stopped driving BMWs nearly 20 years ago. I had three E30s, and only the '85 325e was free of this defect. Both of the others developed the symptoms inside of 5000 miles, and it drove me nuts - in retrospect, as I have noted here many times, I'm convinced it was the tires flat-spotting after sitting for awhile [overnight or longer], and then never getting round again before sitting again - and then having multiple flat-spots.

The design of the 3er's front suspension has always made it prone to this problem - twice they've added links and claimed that the problem was solved - but these reports on the E90 tell me that it's the same old story.

I loved driving this car; both dealer test drives, which were less than ten miles, were impressive. I had an E91 wagon in mind, probably with EU delivery. But all that is on hold until someone reports that they have a positive solution to this problem. The fact that not every car or every driver is experiencing it is no comfort at all to me....not when I'm spending this kind of money.

Incidentally, I got some significant seat time in an '06 MB C280 last week [3.0 liter V6, 228 hp, 7-speed automatic] - smooth, quick, quiet. I came very close to trading my '02 C240 on the spot, and am still pondering the question. MBUSA has made the unfortunate decision to drop the C wagon in our market for the rest of the W203 model run, and I really want the versatility of the wagon. But that issue aside, the new drivetrain makes the C a better competitor, and there is an actual spare tire [temp, but it still works] in the trunk and room for a real 5th wheel/tire [I have 5 real alloys with my '02].

So yes, they have indeed lost sales - mine. I am not happy about this problem, and also unhappy about the decision to use run-flats across the board, with no alternative and no place in the trunk to put a conventional 5th wheel. This is a potential deal-breaker right now.

[HUNTER]

If its any consolation boys and girls my 330i is faultless as far as steering and shudder, the directional accuracy is just outstanding, did few years in single seaters here in UK so I am fussy.If you have a problem its almost certain to be rims+tyres+balancing , sometimes bad luck can mean many sets before its ok.
As for spare wheels they are a thing of the past, be happy bmw are ahead of the game.

[jrct9454]

Wait until the first time you have to repair a run-flat - a simple nail-in-tread that would be patched and remounted on a conventional tire will turn into a $200 replacement with a run-flat. They don't emphasize the fact that if YOU ACTUALLY RUN THE TIRE WITH THE PRESSURE LOST, it is not repairable - has to be replaced. And if you have any significant wear on the other tires, chances are you'll be replacing two, so they at least match on the appropriate axle.

If this is the wave of the future, I'll cling to the past.

[onesixeight]

Originally Posted by jrct9454

Wait until the first time you have to repair a run-flat - a simple nail-in-tread that would be patched and remounted on a conventional tire will turn into a $200 replacement with a run-flat. They don't emphasize the fact that if YOU ACTUALLY RUN THE TIRE WITH THE PRESSURE LOST, it is not repairable - has to be replaced. And if you have any significant wear on the other tires, chances are you'll be replacing two, so they at least match on the appropriate axle.

If this is the wave of the future, I'll cling to the past.

This is my gripe with BMW's application of technology. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for technology, but it needs more real world testing.

It seems to me that BMW releases excellent technology that looks great on paper, but doesn't work well in the real world. We need real everyday people without BMW interest do some testing. The reason I say that is because everytime I talk to a BMW official about a certain issue I'm having with my car, (ie. soft-stop, hesitation, shimmy, etc.) the only thing they can say is one of two things, 1) It's a BMW, go buy a Lexus if you're looking for a perfect car, and 2) BMW is the leader in technology, no one else is use this stuff and it's just something you're gonna have to get used to. True, I can go buy other cars and I do. But I still love the driving excitiment I get from driving BMWs and I'll still buy them, but I'm just thinking how much better they would be if they just remove their egos and do more testing.

Thoughts???

Bests,
Chris

[a burrito]

Your right, BMW should look into this with more depth but in no way are they not testing their products. Unless you can quote them on this, you should not make such a assumption. BMW's technology IS great. The Vanos, Drive by wire system, Active headlights etc... this is more of engineering fault and of course like human beings, nobody is perfect. Give it some time.

Originally Posted by onesixeight

This is my gripe with BMW's application of technology. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for technology, but it needs more real world testing.

It seems to me that BMW releases excellent technology that looks great on paper, but doesn't work well in the real world. We need real everyday people without BMW interest do some testing. The reason I say that is because everytime I talk to a BMW official about a certain issue I'm having with my car, (ie. soft-stop, hesitation, shimmy, etc.) the only thing they can say is one of two things, 1) It's a BMW, go buy a Lexus if you're looking for a perfect car, and 2) BMW is the leader in technology, no one else is use this stuff and it's just something you're gonna have to get used to. True, I can go buy other cars and I do. But I still love the driving excitiment I get from driving BMWs and I'll still buy them, but I'm just thinking how much better they would be if they just remove their egos and do more testing.

Thoughts???

Bests,
Chris

[onesixeight]

Originally Posted by a burrito

Your right, BMW should look into this with more depth but in no way are they not testing their products. Unless you can quote them on this, you should not make such a assumption. BMW's technology IS great. The Vanos, Drive by wire system, Active headlights etc... this is more of engineering fault and of course like human beings, nobody is perfect. Give it some time.

I'm NOT quoting anyone and it's not assumptions, this is strictly my opinion on my ownership experience of currently my three BMWs. My 745Li has a lot of great features, but they don't work well. Let me give you some examples. They put in a electro-magnetic Parking Brake. When you put the parking brake on before turn off the car, the car will lurch forward when you turn off the car. Jaguar uses the same electro-magnetic brake on their XJ and S-type cars and they don't lurch forward. Why does it lurch? Because the car swtiches from the service brakes to the parking brakes...why it does this, I have no idea. Is this great engineering? I'm not saying that their technology is NOT great, but it's a matter of translating what looks good on paper, to actually working in the real world. As you said, engineer maybe the problem, but the idea of getting great technology into real world applications is engineering the idea to fit the application. The soft-stop and hill-hold, yeah, they look great on paper. But driving them in the real world, you have a delay with the hill-hold in the automatic transmission and soft-stop lurches after a stop...This this excellent technology in your opinion? Engineering and technology go hand in hand...you need both to make a GREAT product.

[scottz5]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3610