Steering Feel Changed After Dealer Visit

[ErikB]

I just had my 2002 530i into the dealer for an Inspection I. I have just over 25,000 miles on the car. I noticed some uneven tire wear on the fronts (driver's side wearing faster than the passenger side) and asked them to check it out, but not to do any alignment work unless it was necessary as the car tracks straight and true.

When I got the car back, they said that the alignment was fine and that they hadn't touched the alignment (evidenced by no charge to me).

When I drove home, however, the steering felt wrong. It was tracking staight enough, but it suddenly was following ruts in the road, and when I went through the occasional bump or small pot hole the steering wheel would turn in my hands. The car seems more effected by wind as well. It just feels less sure-footed and more "squirrely".

I have a service appointment on Wednesday and need your help! Any thoughts from the forum?

[sp0rky]

How many miles did you drive it since then?

Some cars get like this if they've been jacked up for a while. When the car is lowered back down, the suspension doesn't settle for a good number of miles. This is also characterised by the car looking higher than normal.

[Dirty_Tool]

How often do you check your tire pressure? Im wondering if you neglect keeping up on your tire pressures (as most people do) annd you have been running on low tires and when at the dealer they set the pressure to the correct amount and now the car feels totally different.

DT

[sp0rky]

Yeah, he's absolutely right, higher tire pressures will make the car feel like its on its toes. lol

[ErikB]

Not a tire pressure issue. I rotate my tires in my driveway about every 3K miles (every quarter) and check the tire pressure then and sometimes when I wash it. So I average about once every 6 weeks. The most recent check was about 1K miles ago.

Any other ideas?