[purp_le28]

Tonight I was going down the road and hit a pothole and blew out my front driver side wheel and had to get my father to bring me my stock 328Xi wheels. It is late and freezing outside so I only had the time to change my FRONT two wheels and the back two are still my aftermarket wheels.

After everything has been changed, I got back onto the interstate and noticed my vehicle was driving strange. At high speeds when I stepped onto the pedal my vehicle would feel like it's dragging and a symbol popped up onto the dash. Here is the symbol :




If I remember correctly it occurs even when I do slow sharp turns.

Few things that ran through my mind that may have caused this problem :
- It could have been the impact when I hit the pothole, it damaged something in my braking system.

- Maybe the two different sets of wheels I'm temporarily running?

[M3inMG]

I dont see the pic. ?
Nevermind i see it you will have an answer soon

[purp_le28]

Thanks!

Another member said that it may be because I have two different sets of wheels. Hmmm, any inputs?

[Quasimodem]

That's the Dynamic Stability or Dynamic Traction Control symbol symbol, it means the computer is controlling the braking. That happens when you start to spin out and the computer takes over to apply the proper braking to avoid a loss of traction on one side and too much traction on the other. If another symbol is combined with it and it is on steady, then it could signify damage to the braking system. Are you old tires worn?

[purp_le28]

The symbol only occurs when I step on the pedal to speed up at a high speed, usually around 60+ MPH or so. It was dark and I can't remember how much tread was on my stock wheels but I will check on that tomorrow morning!

I wonder if the impact of the pot hole could have damaged my braking system/components?

[catherineanh]

Originally Posted by purp_le28

Thanks!

Another member said that it may be because I have two different sets of wheels. Hmmm, any inputs?

i had this sign come up to when i was running two different brands of tires because of a nail. my fronts were continental and backs were michelins. could be a possibility!

when i took a curve, i would feel my car losing traction.

[purp_le28]

Originally Posted by catherinelam

i had this sign come up to when i was running two different brands of tires because of a nail. my fronts were continental and backs were michelins. could be a possibility!

when i took a curve, i would feel my car losing traction.

I feel like mine loses traction as well. I'm going to put all four stock wheels on tomorrow after my classes and see what happens from there.

[catherineanh]

Originally Posted by purp_le28

I feel like mine loses traction as well. I'm going to put all four stock wheels on tomorrow after my classes and see what happens from there.

that should solve the problem! good luck! drive safe

[apme123]

You can cause serious damage to the AWD system of the vehicle if you are using different wheels or tires of a different diameter. Thats why on a lot of AWD vehicles the tires must not be worn out, otherwise the system try's to compensate. You may have caused irreversible damage to the awd drivetrain. Read the owners manual.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Not good to be mixing wheels with AWD. Hopefully your aftermarket are VERY VERY close to your stockers.. also is there is a big difference in wheel width maybe that is a factor?

While turning, your aftermarkets may be grabbing much more than your stockers to throw the traction control light on.

[purp_le28]

I hope I did not do any damage. I will switch the tires back to all stock after class and will drive it VERY easy

[BlackE93]

When my rear passenger tire blew out I had this warning and a bunch other and driving I would hear a noise and wasn't the same as driving before. I swapped out all tires back to stock and now working perfectly

[mike-y]

it's caused by having a different tire size in the front vs the rear. the rear tires are spinning at a different rate than the fronts, so the computer thinks that there is traction loss.

If your car is AWD, your center diff may be under a lot of stress trying to compensate for the difference front vs rear. if the difference is beyond a certain point, you can damage the differential and the transmission.

[///M3NACE]

God how long did you drive on that? My friend with her e90 did the same thing. When she called me I told her to put all of her aftermarket wheels on and tow it to the dealer. She was under warranty and transfer case was done with. 3-4k worth of damage w/out warranty they were saying. They kept asking did you get a flat or something I kept telling her not to say a word and just say its acting funny.


AWD I think its a 3% diff in rolling diameter I believe...Dont quote me on that... It can vary even with different brand of tires and if you throw new ones vs old ones it can throw it off....

Lesson learned. Have it towed or get all 4 on.

I just got my fathers transfer case done and his drive shaft ( horrible design on the e53 and very common fail) and it cost me a pretty penny.

[purp_le28]

I drove literally less than 25 miles on it like that. I replaced all tires back to stock this evening and everything is back to normal. Thanks guys!

[apme123]

if you notice any kind of vibration, binding, or noise double check the transfer case. Don't do it again!

[Quasimodem]

Boy, this makes me much happier I have RWD. One would think if you were to pay extra for AWD it would come with a button to allow the fronts to freewheel normally in the event the car has to be driven on a spare or something.

That reminds me of an Australian trick. If you use up your four spare tires (we are talking Australia here) and you have another blowout , instead of continuing on a single blownout tire and a good one, you need to deflate the opposite tire and you will drive further because if you drive with a blowout on one side, your differential will be destroyed faster than the rim you are grinding.