$1200 repair quote!?! E34 Gurus HELP!

[ILoveMPower]

Alright, well, I've had my 1990 535iM for about 8-9 months now. Everything was fine, until I got my snow tires mounted and balanced. I noticed a very slight shimmy/vibration at about 45-35mph when deccelerating. I kept putting this off, as it was ever so slight and could usually be prevented by simply using the gears to slow me down.

Then my temp gauge stopped working. Since I had a brake linings warning that WOULD NOT go away even after replacing mint pads and mint sensors, I figured I'd take it to the pros (Bergeron, hell, they even have M-stripes painted on their wrecker) for some quick fixes.

Well I arrived home today to a phone call stating the estimate was $1200.

They said I need 2 new control arms, 2 center link arms, and 2 idler arms.

Now I understand BMW's have very sensitive/delicate suspension components, but this seems a bit excessive considering how slight the shimmy is. Are these guys trying to rip me off? Is there any way you could easily tell visually that these need to be replaced?

I assumed at most this was going to be the common thrust arm bushing problem... any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
-Jeremy

[SC David]

Thrust arm bushings and allignment fixed this shimmy problem for me. They could be trying to rip you off by making you buy parts you don't necessarily need. Get some 750iL bushings put in, have it realligned, and see how it drives. If the problem persists, then maybe they were right all along

[ILoveMPower]

I was tempted to just get the bushings... however these guys specialize in BMW's are have been around for 20yrs in my small-ass hometown. I can't imagine they would just make up something like this... but it could be the case.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Done a front-end job, you'd probably spring for replacing as many parts as you could afford and find.

With all the work required to replace just the arms or bushings you could go all the way while its all apart and have it done completely.

[632 Regal]

time to do it yourself, thats probably an average price for taking it in.

[Jjcarr]

Well I arrived home today to a phone call stating the estimate was $1200.

They said I need 2 new control arms, 2 center link arms, and 2 idler arms.

Now I understand BMW's have very sensitive/delicate suspension components, but this seems a bit excessive considering how slight the shimmy is. Are these guys trying to rip me off? Is there any way you could easily tell visually that these need to be replaced?

I assumed at most this was going to be the common thrust arm bushing problem... any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
-Jeremy

Your shop is taking the classic BMW repair approach of replacing everything around the offending item. Like if you get the brake pads replaced at the dealership they want to replace the disks and everything.

The shop might be right, and I have no doubt that replacing all of those items will fix the problem, but you might get away with replacing just one or two of those items. Also, if you're willing to DIY it, then you can save a TON. I think the parts on all of those items comes out to around $450 (correct me if I'm wrong). I just did the thrust ams on my 525it and it fixed me up right. My total cost was $220 (Lemforder arms w/750 bushings).

You can try to do the thrust arms, see if that fixes it, if not then do more. Or, you can take the approach outlined by other members of "do it right" and replace all of the items your shop quoted.

Either way you'll save a bundle by doing it yourself and the front end suspension parts are pretty easy to do.

James

[DanH]

There is only one center link and one idler arm that I'm aware of in the front end. Maybe you misquoted the parts they said need replacing.

You could buy a whole new set of front end parts and some tools for less than 1200 and do it yourself and be done with it, since once you replace one part, another will go shortly after. Its fractionally more labor to do it all at once, but a lot more to do everything a couple months apart.

Get these parts:
2 thrust arms w/750i bushings
2 control arms
2 tie rod ends
1 center link
1 idler arm
2 stabilizer links

I did it a couple years ago along with new springs and shocks and it was much nicer afterward, and cost less than $1200.

[glocati]

Overall mileage on the vehicle would shed some light as well. If the car has over 125K, it would be reasonable to replace items beyond just the bushings. FYI, replacing just the upper contol arm bushing on my 95 525ia with 100K eliminated a horendous shimmy.

[jjdickm]

I just bought a suspension pack off ebay for around 300$ with 750i bushings and m5 control arms everything. although there are trick to installing everything correctly. you can easily do the control arm bushing at least and there is only one idler arm on my 525i I am having a mechanic help me install all that stuff I will let you know if the problem persists

[Derek A.]

Keep in mind - that a good shop - does not want a customer comback. If you take your car in and pay to have it fixed and 2 weeks later its acting up again you are going to be pissed. So they are going to quote the job to get it done right the first time.

If he is doing a center drag link - its going to need an alignment as well to re set the toe. I assume those costs were figured into the $1200 price.

D.-

Your shop is taking the classic BMW repair approach of replacing everything around the offending item. Like if you get the brake pads replaced at the dealership they want to replace the disks and everything.

The shop might be right, and I have no doubt that replacing all of those items will fix the problem, but you might get away with replacing just one or two of those items. Also, if you're willing to DIY it, then you can save a TON. I think the parts on all of those items comes out to around $450 (correct me if I'm wrong). I just did the thrust ams on my 525it and it fixed me up right. My total cost was $220 (Lemforder arms w/750 bushings).

You can try to do the thrust arms, see if that fixes it, if not then do more. Or, you can take the approach outlined by other members of "do it right" and replace all of the items your shop quoted.

Either way you'll save a bundle by doing it yourself and the front end suspension parts are pretty easy to do.

James