The dreaded shakes

[winfred]

not to be a dick but at the moment i am running completely unballenced front tires on the 535, i just mounted up two new kumho 712v's for my trip to va friday and i like to ride on the new tires a couple days before ballencing, at 90 i can detect no shimmey at all (i have a tire machine but don't have a ballencer) 225/55/16" on e38 750il rims

im going out to the barn right now and see if maybe my rims have any slop centering them to the hubs.

another point that just popped into my head is this:

are these *******s balancing my wheels and yours by centering them on the machine from the back or the front??? If on my baskets their doing it from the front (which Im sure i saw them do) their balancing an out of round assembly. RIGHT?? the front isnt machined its a casting where the back isnt.
RIGHT?

I want more infor for when I return AGAIN...I should count the visits I have made over the last year.

[632 Regal]

not to be a dick but at the moment i am running completely unballenced front tires on the 535, i just mounted up two new kumho 712v's for my trip to va friday and i like to ride on the new tires a couple days before ballencing, at 90 i can detect no shimmey at all (i have a tire machine but don't have a ballencer) 225/55/16" on e38 750il rims

[KenB]

Received my plastic hubcentric rings from Tire Rack yesterday and had them put on today. Problem solved, shakes and shimmy gone. Thanks again to everyone here.

KenB

[Mobius]

Received my plastic hubcentric rings from Tire Rack yesterday and had them put on today. Problem solved, shakes and shimmy gone. Thanks again to everyone here.

Huh. Fancy that [looks at John K].

Tire Rack sells plastic ones? That's probably where my old ones came from then. Just be careful when remounting the wheels - tire shops have a habit of brute forcing the wheels on and more than a couple times they've snagged and bent up the plastic rings - too much of that and they quickly lose their purpose.

It's always nice to have a big problem turn out to be something really inexpensive like that.

[The Melmaan]

[
I removed the front driver side wheel from my E34 5series car the other night trying to fit wheels that I bought from the net (did not know it was from a 3 series), in other words, it was hitting the strut tower and the ball joint. Removed it again and replaced the old tires. When I took the car back on the road, I noticed the shakes at 50 - 60 mph which I did not have before. I'm just about to remove the tires again and I noticed this tread----GREAT I'm not alone. I was suppose to remove and reinstall the tires and see if the shakes will go away. Now I will be checking the Hubcentric Rings. B.T.W., to be able to install the new wheels, I will have to buys a hubcentric wheel adapters (cost a lot of moolah). I have to clear at least minimum 15mm. The adapters that I'm getting are about 23mm. Will update you guys the next story line. I did not know that my Bimmer is so sensitive.
The Melmaan

[632 Regal]

so whats the problem causing my 80 mph vibration?

good call! debates like these are the reason for forums, everyone can voice oppinion. more than one way to skin a cat etc...

Im glad that solved HIS problem.

[andyman32]

Well... glad to read ALL the various things that might be wrong here. On a trip up to D.C. to look at cars, I discovered to my incredible dismay that I have the 50-60 shimmy. BAD. BAD-BAD. Actually, it's perceptible from about 52mph to 64mph.

I did just lower the tire pressure; I usually keep it high (46#) but lowered them to 40 all around for smoother highway cruising. I'm pretty certain I did them very evenly all the way around. I'm paranoid/fanatic about my tires being off even by 1#, esp. from L-R. I check pressure quite often (esp. as the temperature is changing).

Now, when BRAKING from high speeds to slow speeds, there is a HORRIBLE, breath-stopping shudder when dropping through 60-50-40. The wheel jerks back and forth and the whole car shakes. I thought maybe a balance problem had warped the rotors, so I already ordered cross-drilled rotors (good excuse: wanted 'em anyhow) and ceramic pads. But the wobble is gone when braking at lower speeds, so I don't think it's warped rotors.

Now, after 2 or 3 times slowing down from high speeds and experiencing that horrible shudder, the ASC light appears to be on for good. I'll start with the sensor but I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense.

I haven't heard of hubcentric rings before I read this thread, but i'll look for them on BMA when it starts working again - it's been dead since yesterday afternoon. Anyone have any theories about why this shudder would occur when BRAKING through the 50-60 region, or why it would cause the ASC system to malfunction? (Why) could it have anything to do with me lowering my tire pressure?

[silverz06vette]

Stock wheels on my 94 540. Shimmy at 55-60 and also on the way down (same speeds) when braking.

Car has 164k, all arms and suspension was replaced back at 112K. Bilstein sports and H&R lower springs. Not sure what arms I got back then, I think the crappy ones.

I just talked to someone at tirerack about the rings, they said what wheels are they for? I said stock wheels, he said they are not for the stock wheels only aftermarket.

Where else can I get the rings?

Would like to try them out before I replace the thrust arm bushings.

The bushings look fine to me, but what the hell do I know?

TIA!

[632 Regal]

sounds like thrust arm time again. These things do wear over time and at that mileage since replacement wouldnt surprize me that they are worn. If you had shimmy all over the place I would tell you to look elsewhere but the thrusts mostly shake at 50-60. Make sure they are torqued with the full body weight on them and maybe you can get at least the same life out of a new set.

[andyman32]

Yeah, I had ordered Meyle 540 arms from BMA. When I talked to Yves on the phone, he said, expect the shitty bushings to last for all of a year or two. If you want a semi-permanent solution, go for the Lemforders with 750 bushings.

Good enough for me! I got the arms. Say, winfred, Jeff, do you guys think I should take these to my indy to put on? As you know, I don't have a garage, and my tool set is good, but doesn't include a compressor or torch. I'm worried about ripping apart the suspension if I'm not sure I can complete the job.