X7 H3+ suspension issues

[jgra1]

hi all, decided to start a new post about this..

haven't actually got a lot to say about it but ...

my x7 was new to me 2 months ago, and has always felt horrible... I previously drove a steel car with 17's and also an H3+ with 17's (both felt great)

when my boss and co-worker jumped in car today, (for the first time), they noticed all was not well straight away in the office car park! neither have car knowledge, one doesn't even drive a car! ..
so I want to start to sort it out.. as I am keeping the car for now..

The symptoms are :
Car shakes all passengers side to side, over any kind of bump..
Car also yaws/pitches/rolls and just feels like a permanent handful.. I can't enjoy driving it at all..it takes all my nerve to drive it, even though it doesn't actually change direction, its a white knuckle ride at just everyday speeds on normal ish country roads..
suspension is lovely! the softest I have ever had in a Citroen.. sport mode appears to work when car is pushed on..
front strut (s) were replaced a year ago or so.

I suspect the tracking is out, I want to check the rear camber, the tyres are all good and OE make I think, the wheels are 19"
I managed to lexia the suspension tonight, and drove a little way on a lane with it plugged in.. but catching a glimpse now and again saw little except anything resembling a bumpy bit of road changes the status to 'poor road'
I also saw the rear and front ride heights, the filtered heights and so on..when I stopped.. I have these numbers in a pic..

I will do more parameter measurements - with help- on a (straight) section of road I use everyday, and that makes the car horrible.

John

edit..
in the diagnostics, there was a set of icons for the suspension (a sport icon and a spring I think) - i went into this :
but under those in the list was the same icons and the word BASHE5 or something.. this ecu couldn't be interrogated?

couple of pics of dialogue with suspension.. first one is a permanent speed receipt fault - which may not help things. (U2005)

[Sloppysod]

Did you change the wheels / tyres or was it like it when you bought the car?
The standard 17" tyre has a side wall of 124mm whereas the 19" tyre only has 58mm of side wall, less side wall gives better handling but also less side wall flex.
the car may be okay.
Have a read through this wikki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydropneumatic_suspension especially about the suspension inputs

[jgra1]

thanks SS,,. stickyfinger also was suspicious of the wheels (I drove his 17 H3+)

my 19's were on car when I got it..

I added to my post above maybe while you were writing.. car is so comfortable and soft, and works well in sport mode when pushed.. just this odd wallowing, which I wouldn't expect from the bigger wheels somehow.?

my other car, the MG, is a piece of board to drive due to suspension and sidewall height and I love it
this x7 is the nearest to magic carpet I have ever found..

I may get over to a specialist soon and pay to have it diagnosed, but was just curious what I could find really..

to be honest, if the tracking is way out, it really wouldn't help..
and for sure the inner edges of the back tyres are worn... whether due to rear camber or that they were on the front first I don't know..

from your post

# Angle of rake of steering wheel
what's that about? -

[Stickyfinger]

Hi mate

Maybe if the tracking is shown to be OK ...we need to do a wheel swap at some stage and try yours on my wheels.

Helava job but it would be a way of eliminating the question.

[jgra1]

I think we both editing at the same time

I said in my first post that tyres were good, then contradicted that by saying the inner edges of rears are worn.. but you know what I mean, they are all Mich with good tread over 90% of tyre.. the wear makes me wonder though...

[jgra1]

hi SF, yes would be very interesting.. as you say a bit of a job but..

interested to hear from VB, with his new 19's on springs.. I think they are the same wheels as mine.. I know its hardly like for like but..

[jgra1]

the car doesn't actually handle badly.. its the straight lines that are weird.. saying that its not nearly as nice and 'true' around corners as SF's car was..

[Stickyfinger]

I have the correct number of axial stands now

[jgra1]

I can bring my 6 over too

[vborovic]

interested to hear from VB, with his new 19's on springs.. I think they are the same wheels as mine.. I know its hardly like for like but..

What do you want to know regarding my wheels' swap?

[hattershaun]

Two suggestions for you;
1) Check that car's ECU is configured for 19" wheels. This can be found somewhere in the Lexia settings.
2) Check suspension sphere pressures. Low pressure in one on more spheres can give this side to side pitching/wallowing sensation.

[vborovic]

Which is it now, did you have the 19" wheels from the start, or did you swap them in the process (if I recall correctly from your topic, you got the car with the 19")? The wrong wheel configuration wouldn't impact the drive feel (like jgra is describing), only the potential driveability, if the ABS/ESP would think the car is slipping (due to the wrong size parameter), you wouldn't be able to drive past 4th gear I believe (security measure)

[jgra1]

Thanks all . Wheels came with car

Vb I just wondered of your car felt different / worse with 19's?

Shaun.. sounds like a good idea to test spheres.. presumably they all have to come off and be checked
I have never had a sphere checked before ..in fact I have avoided getting involved in hydraulics to any level except changing spheres on xantias..

Thinking about my first post last night.. I am being a little rough on the car .. it drives ok just I notice it's not quite how I would imagine really..

[vborovic]

I can't say that the car is softer with the 19", but it got a certain stiffness and the horizontal lines/ridges aren't that noticeable like before ... IMO, the car didn't loose anything comfort wise, the only noticeable difference is acoustically, the sound is differently transferred from the road to the car (wider tyres, slightly older tyres at that) ... I was ready to sacrifice some ride comfort for the sake of bigger wheels, but I don't feel like I went for the worse

[SaabC5]

Are they OE Citroen 19' wheels or aftermarket. I believe these are the only 19' wheels Citroen did for the C5.


Having driven several cars with larger 18/19 wheels i have always gone back to standard 17' wheels purely for comfort values. The additional cost incurred for bigger tyres and the loss of ride quality does not seem worth the effort for improved visual appearance in my book.