Lower control arms - Shimmy potential ??

[Derek A.]

I am running out of ideas on this front end shimmy. Did thrust rod bushings this week - still no resolve.

At 55mph I get this ever so slight vibration - its amplified with the 17" wheels.It almost feels like its in the seat/shifter not the steering.

I know that the lower control arms are original on the car - they are not clunking but at 200,000 miles I wonder if they could be causing the shimmy.

D.-

[Ross]

If you are feeling this in the seat then yes, your problem is likely in the back.
Does the ass end seem to squirm around at speed? What about when on and off throttle?

[Derek A.]

No - everything about the car drives ok. I have already done sub frame bushings, rear rotors, rear half shafts and a drive shaft. The only things left at the rear are the shock mounts. diff mount and the diff itselt. There is no clunking anywhere in the car.

[Ross]

Is it a shimmy or a vibration? Felt at the wheel? seat? Shifter?
Same frequency in all gears? What do you mean amplified with the 17" wheels?

[RobPatt]

...along w/the driveshafe/driveline you do have a center support bearing and a guibo... but w/those miles lower control arms wouldn't hurt...in fact they cleared my shimmey AFTER having installed new Lem upper arms... but now... about 10K miles later, my shimmey has started again, ever so slight... could also consider tie rods, etc, but if you think it's not in the front may look elsewhere as you've already done.... good luck, wish I could be more conclusive.

[bfd]

Have you checked your wheels to see if they're balanced? Similarly, have you checked your tires to make sure they're "round?" Both could cause vibration or shimmy.

[Derek A.]

4 sets of wheels and tires on the car. Last set fully balanced before they went on the car. Right at the 55mph mark - you can just start to feel something. Tech says the front end feels fine. I am just suspect on those control arms as they are still factory.

[632 Regal]

replace them and you will have no doubt

4 sets of wheels and tires on the car. Last set fully balanced before they went on the car. Right at the 55mph mark - you can just start to feel something. Tech says the front end feels fine. I am just suspect on those control arms as they are still factory.

[pingu]

I had front shimmy, coming through the seats (not the steering wheel), and new front brake discs fixed it. If your brake discs aren't spanking new then you might want to try changing them.

[Derek A.]

I had front shimmy, coming through the seats (not the steering wheel), and new front brake discs fixed it. If your brake discs aren't spanking new then you might want to try changing them.

Was that only under braking ?

[Steve-o]

Did you get the problem fixed ? I just had my lower control arms replaced. It helped, but did not totally resolve the vibration. I have a '95 530i with 90k miles. I'll let you know what else that I find.

I am running out of ideas on this front end shimmy. Did thrust rod bushings this week - still no resolve.

At 55mph I get this ever so slight vibration - its amplified with the 17" wheels.It almost feels like its in the seat/shifter not the steering.

I know that the lower control arms are original on the car - they are not clunking but at 200,000 miles I wonder if they could be causing the shimmy.

D.-

[genphreak]

Did you get the problem fixed ? I just had my lower control arms replaced. It helped, but did not totally resolve the vibration. I have a '95 530i with 90k miles. I'll let you know what else that I find.When my LCAs were dead (they last 2x as long as the thrust arms) they faulted most when braking lightly at speed going downhill. On the flat everything was fine. When the thruast arms went it was just obviously bad all the time...

[Derek A.]

I got newer arms on. It helped. But there is still an ever so slight vibration around the 55mph point. At this point I am just going to live with it. Its think I have become to "tuned" to it.

[Visions]

Recently on my 92 735i I left the shop from having upper control arms put on, while driving down the highway around 55 m/h I started to get a shimmy.... it would go away and start back up around 55m/h... Thought damn I just fixed this and I thought the shop had messed up... lucky i wasn't far from home because it got worse... got home and I smelled something burning.... Turned out that the front left caliber had been going out and that day it locked up... I had brand new crossed drilled rotors on it too and they had to turn my new rotor... Now that I look back this had happened before but I thought it was the upper control arms that I knew needed to be changed that was making the shimmy... I remember pulling into a friends driveway and smelling something burning but we couldn't figure out where that smell had come from... I actually smelled it down the street before I pulled into the drive but couldn't smell it again once I got there...