wibbly wobbly e30

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gotabmw
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Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:54 pm

just got my e30 on the road when when i go over abump in the road or accelerate hard the car seams to have a wobbly for about a second then its fine i have a 60/40 drop standard shocks and 14 inch wheels is this normal or is somthing wrong
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maxfield
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Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:57 pm

Hmmmm, wishbone bushes?

Is it through the steering?
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gotabmw
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Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:07 pm

not to sure feels like the whole car just bounces up and down then settles i thought shocks but just passed mot
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gotabmw
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Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:18 pm

just read the advisory sheet on mot says nearside front stearing system has slight freeplay detected at steering wheel but i cant feel any thing no sense no feeling i suppose could this be the problem or should i just change all the bushes shocks ect
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Brianmoooore
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Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:26 pm

The standard of damping required by the MOT (like brakes) is far below what you'd need to be happy with on a road car.
Could be many other things, based on your rather vague description: maxfield's control arm bushes, the steering coupling flexidisc, rear beam bushes (although MOT should have picked them up), incorrect tracking, etc.
gotabmw
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Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:21 pm

ill drive it tommorow and try and figure out where the wobble comes from and report back hopefully with more accrucy cheers
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gotabmw
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Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:28 pm

right tried again and if i go over a speed bump or pot hole the car bounces once then it settles straight away this happens on the back and front is this a problem or is it just normal would new bushes make it smoother or 51mm shocks or should i just grin and bare it
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dannyboy759
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Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:45 pm

Have you changed the springs and shocks or just the springs?
If only the springs then its going to be the shocks, that arent designed to have that lower spring on them, not enough travel in the shock.
Bought a car which had the same problem changed the 60/40 drop springs for standard and everything was peachy
Need dampers matched to those shocks :D
Dave_M3
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Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:09 pm

The NCT (Our Mot) didn't spot....

Knakered top mounts,
rear beam bushes in bad enough shape that give you a steering axle,
a rusty engine cross member in which the engine pulled the engine mount bolt through a month later :roll:

The tester did note how clean the car was both body wise AND underneath, not a hint of rust he said :roll:
And said the emissions was extremely good (I'll give him that though winkeye )

So as a result vehicle road worthiness tests are indeed a farce.

Sorry for going abit off topic :o:

Dannyboys conclusion seems bang on given the symtoms your descibing, A friend suffered something similar in his 205GTI when he droped the front 35mm.

The shocks are just constantly under compression so when you go over a bump it gives them a chance to get to they proper length and will want to stay that way hence the car will be slow to settle gain.
M42 rightness above 6500rpm, nobody can hear you scream
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scouse
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Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:49 pm

i had a similar problem with mine and when i checked the rear wishbone bushes where cabbaged. i fitted new powerflex items and what a difference. the only downer was i had to have the tracking reset. It is a job definately worth doing. winkeye
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