Poor Handling

[cslee]

My 2000 X5 3.0i has only 50K miles. The handling has been getting poor. It does not feel right, especially going over uneven road, the car seem to be sliding left and right. I'm sure there's something not right about the suspension. Any suggestions?

Chin Lee

[Tleong]

maybe a sway bar and/or bilstein springs? Can someone else confirm...

[FSETH]

I think you really need to check it out or have it looked at. Pretty hard to diagnose with that info. Could be an issue with shocks, springs, bushings, roll bars, tires, etc.

[cslee]

My concern is if I bring it in, they will always says lets do a $300 alignment first. What can I do to self-investigate?

[Tleong]

Originally Posted by cslee

My concern is if I bring it in, they will always says lets do a $300 alignment first. What can I do to self-investigate?

You can jack up the car and remove your springs. From what I've read on the forum, "if you can push the springs together with your hands, you need to get new ones." Also, even if your springs don't necessarily have to be changed, bilstein springs will make a significant improvement in the handling of the X. I'm sure someone who has installed these can chime in their thoughts.

[faz]

Originally Posted by Tleong

You can jack up the car and remove your springs. From what I've read on the forum, "if you can push the springs together with your hands, you need to get new ones." Also, even if your springs don't necessarily have to be changed, bilstein springs will make a significant improvement in the handling of the X. I'm sure someone who has installed these can chime in their thoughts.

If you can push a spring together with your hands, your X5 would be bottomed out ALL of the time, riding only a couple of inches above your wheel.

Each 'spring' takes 1/4 of the weight of the truck to compress only a few inches. One must be a very strong person to compress them any reasonable amount using their hands alone.

Perhaps you mean 'shocks'?

[Tleong]

Originally Posted by faz

If you can push a spring together with your hands, your X5 would be bottomed out ALL of the time, riding only a couple of inches above your wheel.

Each 'spring' takes 1/4 of the weight of the truck to compress only a few inches. One must be a very strong person to compress them any reasonable amount using their hands alone.

Perhaps you mean 'shocks'?

Yeah, I was just remembering what I read in a thread a while back. Thanks for the correction

[FSETH]

Basically, you may want to inspect all the suspension and steering components including bushings to see if anything looks out of place, worn, damaged, etc. It can be hard to tell if a shock has gone bad. The old bounce test may not apply anymore. Check the air pressure in your tires as well and make sure all lugs are tight.

[cslee]

I would never have thought the springs can be a consumable. Wonder if the springs have become soft in the middle of the compression. Have anyone had to replace springs because it had gone bad rather than just for exhancement.

[Tleong]

Originally Posted by cslee

I would never have thought the springs can be a consumable. Wonder if the springs have become soft in the middle of the compression. Have anyone had to replace springs because it had gone bad rather than just for exhancement.

Springs don't necessarily go bad, but they don't perform as well as when they were first put in. Especially if your car is 2000 and if the springs have not been replaced, it is a good idea to change them now.