Pulling to the right (passenger side) and steering wheel is off-center

[Ghetto2315]

Any of you guys experiencing this or pulling to either side, especially when applying your brakes hard? I have just over 2K miles with no track time.

I literally just took out my friend's brand new M4 with 10 miles on it on the flattest road that I know as a comparison and his travels straight. Mine veers to the right.

Also, I just got an alignment done last week and it was ever so slightly off where it was pulling right, which was corrected back to factory spec but the car still pulls.

Plus my steering wheel is a tad bit off-center. It's tilted to the right. If I grab my steering wheel hold it completely level, the car will travel to the left.

I am very aware of road crowning and it's not that. Any ideas?

[01ON19]

I don't have this.

I guess I would check brakes for uneven wear or some issue with left side, but that seems unlikely with 2k miles.

Uneven tire pressure?

[Ghetto2315]

Originally Posted by Kanuck

I don't have this.

I guess I would check brakes for uneven wear or some issue with left side, but that seems unlikely with 2k miles.

Uneven tire pressure?

Negative. Tire pressure is spot on.

[RowanBuds]

You know now that you mention it, I think I felt a pull to the right under braking also, but it was not all of the time. It happened probably a handful of times on my ED, but not everytime. I thought it could be related to/associated with possible tramlining, but didn't attribute it to a brake problem, at least until I get more mileage under on the odometer.

I also think that someone in the past on these forums had a similar issue resolved by checking/correcting tire pressures, not relying on the on-board TPMS readings.

OP - do you have CCBs or standard M brakes?

[04RC51]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

You know now that you mention it, I think I felt a pull to the right under braking also, but it was not all of the time. It happened probably a handful of times on my ED, but not everytime. I thought it could be related to/associated with possible tramlining, but didn't attribute it to a brake problem, at least until I get more mileage under on the odometer.

I also think that someone in the past on these forums had a similar issue resolved by checking/correcting tire pressures, not relying on the on-board TPMS readings.

OP - do you have CCBs or standard M brakes?

If he says CCB's everyone will say "glad I didn't get CCB's!". But if he has regular brakes, no one will say a word. Hahahahahaha!

Mine brakes straight as an arrow so I hope you can find a solution to your problem.

[Viking123]

Ask your girlfriend to lose a few?

[jfox335i]

Has this happen twice. I thought the alignment was off, but after I took off from the light it was fine.

[Lups]

Originally Posted by Viking123

Ask your girlfriend to lose a few?

Or him to gain some! I'd prefer eating to living with a cranky witch on a diet.

[Krajo15]

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

Any of you guys experiencing this or pulling to either side when applying your brakes hard? I have just over 2K miles with no track time.

I literally just took out my friend's brand new M4 with 10 miles on it on the flattest road that I know as a comparison and his travels straight when applying the brakes hard where mine 100% veers right.

Also, I just got an alignment done last week and it was ever so slightly off, which was corrected back to factory spec but the brake dive to the right happened before the alignment as well so I don't think it's related.

Brakes do feel fine. Grab like they did on the first day. No pulsation. No fade but I wouldn't expect any fade from normal daily driving.

Any ideas?

My M3 has been drifting to the right but not under braking just regular driving. I took it in to my local bmw dealership, they aligned it but the problem continued. Took it back and now they state the rear control arm is bent and the front right swivel bearing is damaged which is causing the issue. They aren't covering the swivel bearing which is a 1k job but did cover the control arm. Don't know how they came to this but the service manager is not helping me out which sucks considering I haven't hit anything in my car. I only drive on the freeway to and from work. No pot holes..I hope you don't have the same issue I have with my car.

[Ghetto2315]

Originally Posted by Krajo15

My M3 has been drifting to the right but not under braking just regular driving. I took it in to my local bmw dealership, they aligned it but the problem continued. Took it back and now they state the rear control arm is bent and the front right swivel bearing is damaged which is causing the issue. They aren't covering the swivel bearing which is a 1k job but did cover the control arm. Don't know how they came to this but the service manager is not helping me out which sucks considering I haven't hit anything in my car. I only drive on the freeway to and from work. No pot holes..I hope you don't have the same issue I have with my car.

Hopefully I'm having mine looked at this week but I'll keep your post in mind when I speak to my tech

[Marckymarc305]

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

Hopefully I'm having mine looked at this week but I'll keep your post in mind when I speak to my tech

There was a long forum about it and seems to be the swivel. My service manager change a few things and still does it. I still pull to the right, the alignment is good. Since the steering wheel is electronic so they are saying its s software issue lol. Who knows really but one thing my tires are still good after 15k already in my car. This is what a guy posted and claimed he drive straight now.

[Ghetto2315]

Originally Posted by Marckymarc305

There was a long forum about it and seems to be the swivel. My service manager change a few things and still does it. I still pull to the right, the alignment is good. Since the steering wheel is electronic so they are saying its s software issue lol. Who knows really but one thing my tires are still good after 15k already in my car. This is what a guy posted and claimed he drive straight now.

Hmmm okay. Thank you for this. Also, I have noticed that my steering wheel is a bit off center as well which could be related. Tilts to the right a little when I'm on a flat road. When I put my finger and hold it against the steering wheel spoke to make the steering wheel dead straight, the car starts to travel left.

[Krajo15]

Ghetto2315 -

I hope that your issue has been resolved. I'm currently having more issues with a dealership out here in the Bay. They have now changed my rear control arm, right from swivel bearing and the car still drifts to the right. They have now called me and stated they are stumped on what is causing the issue - BMW tech has to look over my car now.

The dealership continues to state that this issue happened from something that is not covered by the warranty - pot hole or curb which neither has occurred.

Has anyone else had an issue like this and what advice can you give me regarding how to deal with BMW?

[Ghetto2315]

Originally Posted by Krajo15

Ghetto2315 -

I hope that your issue has been resolved. I'm currently having more issues with a dealership out here in the Bay. They have now changed my rear control arm, right from swivel bearing and the car still drifts to the right. They have now called me and stated they are stumped on what is causing the issue - BMW tech has to look over my car now.

The dealership continues to state that this issue happened from something that is not covered by the warranty - pot hole or curb which neither has occurred.

Has anyone else had an issue like this and what advice can you give me regarding how to deal with BMW?

My car is in my service center as we speak. My shop foreman is going to look it over. My SA says that another alignment will be done and I also suggested to swap the tires from side to side as I read in the other thread that it may help as well. I also gave them a copy of the RO that is posted above for reference. I'll let you know what they find out.

[Krajo15]

Updated news on my drifting to the right....

Dealership has now called me stating that they have replaced the right front swivel bearing, rear control arm and the car is still drifting to the right. They currently have no idea why it is doing so and have called a BMW tech to the dealership. Starting to be worried about my build from Germany - the only other things that could cause the issue is something with the steering or a bent frame which we be from the factory.

I'll keep you guys updated once the BMW tech gets back to me...funny that the dealership can't figure out something yet want to try and charge me for their mistakes.

[///Mindshifter]

I have exactly the same problem. My M3 has been pulling to the right since I drove it off the lot about 3 months ago. If I let go of the steering wheel I start drifting immediately. Only takes about three seconds for me to end up in the next lane. When I'm driving normally, I feel like I'm constantly correcting the car back to center.

I went through the same process as you guys. Took it to the dealer twice. The first time, they did an alignment, swapped the tires and said they got it as close to straight as possible, but that these cars were designed to drift to the right a bit. I drove it back and noticed the same problem immediately, still as severe as it was before. It's definitely not a casual drift like they make it out to be.

So I took it back, and they drove it again and said they noticed it but there wasn't anything they thought they could do about it, and that other people had complained about the same thing but had given up trying to fix it.

So... I said screw that and took it to an independent shop. They did another alignment and got it dialed in much better than the dealership, but it had no effect on the pulling. It's still just as bad, if not worse now as I'm starting to notice it at lower speeds too.

Since I was going to get new wheels/tires and suspension anyway, the shop suggested I just try that first and see if the new tires fix it or if they can dial in the camber plates on the new suspension to make it straighten out.

I'm pretty frustrated, as I've had many cars and none of them have had a pull even close to this one, so I know it's not just a minor drift. The fact that it came like this off the lot makes it even more frustrating.

I'm curious to hear what the BMW tech has to say about this...

[Ghetto2315]

I wonder how many customers it takes to complain before BMW USA does something about it?

[heckyeahbro69]

They are aware. They called back for my alignment sheet and one other car. Equal camber fixes the problem. Once I installed my camber plates, the car no longer pulled right.

[///Mindshifter]

Originally Posted by heckyeahbro69

They are aware. They called back for my alignment sheet and one other car. Equal camber fixes the problem. Once I installed my camber plates, the car no longer pulled right.

Good to hear, gives me some hope that this will fix my problem too

[Ghetto2315]

Originally Posted by ///Mindshifter

Good to hear, gives me some hope that this will fix my problem too

Let me know if the camber plates is what they do to your car as well.

[E92VIP]

I had the same problem. It's this swivel Bearing. Ever since day one my cars pulled to the right. My car still pulls to the right. I just livd with it and going to sale car soon.

[jm600rr]

I've had my car for about 3 weeks and its been pulling to the right from the start. I was going to get it aligned anyway at the 1200 mile service since I was planning on getting springs installed so didn't think much of it. The dealer quoted me $1100 for an alignment yesterday when I was scheduling my service. Wish I read the these threads before getting the springs installed so I could have had the dealer look at it under warranty. The pulling to the right is the same now as it was before getting it lowered. Will be taking it to an independent shop to have it aligned and hope it takes care of the issue.