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895 Posts
Does the "left drift" exist you ask? or is it "left-pull" you mean?
Some people have become convinced that the left pull is a figment of their imagination that does not really exist. They have listened to people on the internet and some dealers who say that the problem only existed on a handful of cars and that the problem was of sub-standard component manufacture. Some dealers insist that they have never heard of the problem. They have simply popped a few tablets and happily driven off. I jest of course, because the reverse arguement is used by those whose cars steer as straight as an arrow, and they refuse to accept that the problem was widespread on earlier models.
Sadly many cars have been built with varying degrees of left pull and not just a drift.
Of course the car should be camber sensitive, but we are talking annoying tug, arm ache stuff on more extreme cars.
To address this problem BMW will happily fix these cars with steering pull provided you kick up a big fuss should the dealer try to play dumb. Don't get me wrong, not all dealers deny the existence of the pull. My dealer says that all the early models had a left pull to one degree or another. That's why my MINI is at the dealers right now getting a new front suspension system and is travelling back to the BMW plant at Thorne tomorrow to get the realignment done. If it was all psychological then it looks like I have even managed to convince BMW too.
Cars built week 9 and after have the fixed suspension. That does not mean that it will not pull if the alignment is out though, or if the tyre pressures are up the creak. Its just a lot less likely though.
If you want to test your sanity try the following:
Find a deserted stretch of flat, smooth, straight road, on a windless day.
Drive from North to South and note the steering pull (or a lesser drift).
Now drive South to North down the SAME wheel tracks.
If the car always goes East or always goes West then your car is doing what it is supposed to. If you don't like it, tough. Buy a different car coz it cant' be helped.
If it goes East and then West, or vice versa, then you had better make tracks to your dealer to fix it as your car has a pull in one direction.
Some people have become convinced that the left pull is a figment of their imagination that does not really exist. They have listened to people on the internet and some dealers who say that the problem only existed on a handful of cars and that the problem was of sub-standard component manufacture. Some dealers insist that they have never heard of the problem. They have simply popped a few tablets and happily driven off. I jest of course, because the reverse arguement is used by those whose cars steer as straight as an arrow, and they refuse to accept that the problem was widespread on earlier models.
Sadly many cars have been built with varying degrees of left pull and not just a drift.
Of course the car should be camber sensitive, but we are talking annoying tug, arm ache stuff on more extreme cars.
To address this problem BMW will happily fix these cars with steering pull provided you kick up a big fuss should the dealer try to play dumb. Don't get me wrong, not all dealers deny the existence of the pull. My dealer says that all the early models had a left pull to one degree or another. That's why my MINI is at the dealers right now getting a new front suspension system and is travelling back to the BMW plant at Thorne tomorrow to get the realignment done. If it was all psychological then it looks like I have even managed to convince BMW too.
Cars built week 9 and after have the fixed suspension. That does not mean that it will not pull if the alignment is out though, or if the tyre pressures are up the creak. Its just a lot less likely though.
If you want to test your sanity try the following:
Find a deserted stretch of flat, smooth, straight road, on a windless day.
Drive from North to South and note the steering pull (or a lesser drift).
Now drive South to North down the SAME wheel tracks.
If the car always goes East or always goes West then your car is doing what it is supposed to. If you don't like it, tough. Buy a different car coz it cant' be helped.
If it goes East and then West, or vice versa, then you had better make tracks to your dealer to fix it as your car has a pull in one direction.
He has headed off to his dealer to get his fixed. His MINI was a Nov 01 build car.Lets see if they try to fob him off!
