Car unstable, jerking left and right, swerves

[125mph]

Last week my wife was driving the 2017 I3 on the freeway and the steering became really unstable like she got a flat.. She pulled over and didn't see anything wrong. She continued to drive and same thing happened. After calling the SOS, they told her try turning traction control off. So she went to settings -> Traction -> Traction off. It was on "Normal" before. She was able to drive home in the back roads at lower speeds without any issues.

We tried to make an appt to the dealership but they are so backed up, next available in Feb.

Today, I tested the car. Drove fine for10 minutes at lower speeds on the freeway (55-60MPH). Then it happen to me as well. Truly scary to feel the car jerking left and right multiple times. I think it happen as I was trying to make a turn into the exit. Car is so unstable when this happens, I would be afraid to drive this car in the high way.

Anyone know what this could be?

 

[eNate]

I don't know for sure if this is the culprit, but the 2017 (and perhaps other model years, I don't know) had a known power steering defect that was addressed with a software update in November 2019. Usually this fault manifests with the perceived loss of power steering in one direction only, and is usually sporadic and reset with a restart of the car. It would be good to verify that your car has this latest software installed.

 

[frictioncircle]

The first thought would be to check the suspension to see if any components are in obviously bad shape. I had a control link on my 2014 that developed a crack – fortunately it was caught early.

A few other questions:

When the jerking began do you recall if there was any accompanying sound?
This would help in identifying a possible cause.

Could you feel the shaking through the steering wheel, the seat, or both?
"In the steering wheel" implicates something in the steering system, "through the seat" suggests something in the suspension or chassis.

Do you know if this i3 has the auto-parallel park feature?
Parking Assistant can turn the steering wheel without driver input.

Are you or your wife the original owner?
If not, has the previous owner installed / modified the car to enable Traffic Jam Assist? (search for Quizdel TJA for more information).

Do you have an OBD-II code reader?
If so, you can look to see if there are any obvious error messages. (BimmerLink is one of a number of Android / iOS apps that can do this).

 

[Neil]

Did turning off the traction control fix the issue under the problematic road conditions? Did you happen to change tires recently? It's probably like something mentioned above but I ran into an issue with the traction control unexpectedly kicking in after I changed only the rear tires on my i3 since I couldn't source new fronts at the same time.

 

[eNate]

...the traction control unexpectedly kicking in after I changed only the rear tires on my i3 ...

Say what now?

Doesn't every i3 owner change only 2 tires at a time?

 

[125mph]

I think this is starting to make sense.

SO my wife said before this happen that day, she was driving and heard a loud pop. She thought maybe she ran over a nail and it hit the tire. When she got home, the tires looked fine and the tire pressure was normal. Then she used the car again and that's when it happen, the jerking left and right.

Also, when I mentioned turning off traction control.. I did the "traction off" command, which actually shows that "Dynamic Traction Control Activated" text on the dash screen. Not sure what that means. It seems to have stopped the issue but we havent used freeways since this is quite dangerous to drive the car.

So the big question, can this be fixed at our local tire shop if its an alignment or suspension issue? BMW service appointment is still a few weeks away.

 

[spartacus68]

I think this is starting to make sense.

SO my wife said before this happen that day, she was driving and heard a loud pop. She thought maybe she ran over a nail and it hit the tire. When she got home, the tires looked fine and the tire pressure was normal. Then she used the car again and that's when it happen, the jerking left and right.

Suspension wise - it likely to be one of two things.

The ARB suspension link - could have broken - that links to the anti-roll-bar, so yes with speed you're going to notice excessive play under speed and load, as the point of the link is to provide equal torsion force from the opposite corner at bends.

Secondly - the front coil springs. Again - with age, corrosion or if you've hit a pothole it can break. Normally you'll hear a twang on hard lock to hard lock, plus the car will drop slightly at that corner as they invariably lose a few inches height.

There's nothing that a garage won't be able to undertake that the main stealer would likely charge you double for. There's no electronics on the suspension other than ABS sensors, etc.

If it is the coil-spring, then I'd renew the suspension top mount as a matter of course as the integral bearing tends to seize (could actually be the culprit for the spring friction) and the rubber dust boots, seeing as the suspension has to be disconnected and it can lean out from the wheel arch to fix. More details here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4uJneROckI

Keep us posted as to the outcome.

 

[frictioncircle]

125mph –

Apologies for the basic tech tip, but if your i3 has been recently wrenched-upon, it might be wise to confirm that all wheels have been correctly torqued!

 

[125mph]

The problem is the real axel suspension is broken. Wonder how this happen.

Close to $1500 to fix and get a realignment. They took a video. Here's the still image

 

[frictioncircle]

125mph –

If you're the original owner of your 2017, I'd ask your dealer if BMW NA will extend "goodwill" warranty coverage.

Thank you for sharing your results!

 

[spartacus68]

$1500. :shock: What are the fitting - a solid gold axle?

That's the camber link (18). Literally a $70 part. Yes there's some toe in or toe out adjustment once it's fitted, but that's a crazy price. Was the wheel replaced too?
https://ibb.co/h92JbNq

What did it? I doubt it's corrosion, unless you live in a rust belt and even then that's highly unlikely. Suspect that's a pot-hole or kerb knock at speed. That will be a pressed steel part. Actually surprised to see it's broken if I'm honest.

 

[125mph]

The itemization is:
REAR AXLE 1241.28
*4 WHEEL ALIGNMENT 240.00

I probably shoulda taken it to my local car shop that does my toyota... they have a fair price.. But I thought maybe some electronic issues and they wouldn't know how to fix it.. Too late now..

 

[125mph]

125mph –

If you're the original owner of your 2017, I'd ask your dealer if BMW NA will extend "goodwill" warranty coverage.

Thank you for sharing your results!

So my car was a CPO and it has this warranty here.. is it good for this repair? The BMW place just gave me a price so I assume they checked and it wasnt covered?

"Certified Pre-owned (5 years / 999,999 miles)" in "Hyeract" status.

 

[frictioncircle]

125mph –

As a CPO owner, you've bought into the BMW family directly (as opposed to someone that's acquired their BMW through a private sale). If you're still under your CPO warranty (basic or extended) I would think that you'd be covered for such a suspension failure.

If your warranty coverage has expired, I would ask either your BMW dealer or your BMW area representative for goodwill coverage (post-warranty support). Though they're not legally obliged, I've found BMW NA to be accommodating in these situations.

 

[125mph]

125mph –

As a CPO owner, you've bought into the BMW family directly (as opposed to someone that's acquired their BMW through a private sale). If you're still under your CPO warranty (basic or extended) I would think that you'd be covered for such a suspension failure.

If your warranty coverage has expired, I would ask either your BMW dealer or your BMW area representative for goodwill coverage (post-warranty support). Though they're not legally obliged, I've found BMW NA to be accommodating in these situations.

Looks like its a no go. This is what the BMW service center said:

"Unfortunately the replacement of the right camber arm would not be covered under your CPO warranty. There is physical damage to the arm it self and it would not be covered under the CPO warranty. It looks like at some point something had hit it on the road and caused it to become broken."

 

[Arm]

So what does the CPO warranty cover? Pretty much absolutely nothing? Seems to me they just claim their used cars have extended warranties to get people into their used inventory. Otherwise it seems like a whole lot of BS.

 

[alohart]

"It looks like at some point something had hit it on the road and caused it to become broken."[/i]

This seems reasonable to me. These suspension parts haven't been breaking due to a manufacturer's defect, so it's very likely that an impact broke or weakened it until it broke. Comprehensive insurance would likely cover it.

 

[jja530]

125 mph-
Thank you for posting this issue online and what the resolution was. The same thing is happening on my car, and my wife and I heard a “twang” spring like breakage noise yesterday just before the steering noticeably changed. And then the scary jerking left and right today.
At least now I can give some direction to the repair shop for what to look for.

 

[jja530]

Not that anyone is actively looking at this discussion, but as a follow-up to my prior post on July 9, 2023, after an independent BMW shop failed to identify any issues with the vehicle, I took my i3 to the local BMW dealership.

They immediately identified the issue in this video:
https://api.mykaarma.com/video-walkaround/details?inspection_uuid=64b6c4873b479b02f90423ff&fileType=video

The estimate provided stated this:
REPLACE LEFT REAR CARRIER, BEARING AND 3 LOWER ARMS (UPON VEHICLE INSPECTION FOUND IMPACT DAMAGE TO LEFT REAR CONTROL ARMS HAVE IMPACT FORCE DAMAGE (BROKEN)).
Total cost: $4,600

I tendered this to my auto insurance company as a claim.

 

[frictioncircle]

Interesting to see this thread return!

I took another look at 125mph's picture of their cracked control arm on page 1 and that looks exactly like what happened to my (now sold) 2014.

My dealership's technicians found it during a routine service (I didn't notice any unusual changes in drivability) and they suspected road damage but BMW NA covered most of the cost to replace it with a new part under goodwill.

Reading here about other folk having similar outcomes I wonder if these parts were under designed.