Shimmy Help

[stewsy]

Chaps,
I am having some issues with my e39 shimmying. When the car gets to 70/80 mph the steering wheel starts to wobble, not massively but enough for it to be annoying. Had the car in to my local indy and ended up having two rear bushys replaced. This helped but did not solve the problem. I had also recently upgraded from 15" to 16" wheels (official BMW turbine wheels). I swapped these back thinking it could be the tyres, but the problem is still there. I have checked all the easy stuff, tyre pressure, balance etc and also had the car back up on the ramps to check for any loose suspension bushys/arms etc. everything looks ok.

Also the shimmy does not seem to be constant, when travelling down the motorway going dead staright its not to bad. Any sterring input to change lanes causes the shimmy to come back. Sometimes feel it through the seat, other times through the steering wheel.

All the tyres are wearing evenly.
the car by the way is a 1996 e39 528i, 116000 miles.

Any suggestions guys?

[R_U_LOCAL]

One of your brake calipers could be sticking. Next time you've done a few miles, see if one of your front wheels is excessively hot. If it is, it could well be a sticking caliper.

[stewsy]

hmm, never thought of a sticking caliper. Would it not be stuck all the time though, ie constant wobble through the wheel? i will definately have a look though, thanks

[peaktorque]

stewsy said:

Chaps,
I am having some issues with my e39 shimmying. When the car gets to 70/80 mph the steering wheel starts to wobble, not massively but enough for it to be annoying. Had the car in to my local indy and ended up having two rear bushys replaced. This helped but did not solve the problem. I had also recently upgraded from 15" to 16" wheels (official BMW turbine wheels). I swapped these back thinking it could be the tyres, but the problem is still there. I have checked all the easy stuff, tyre pressure, balance etc and also had the car back up on the ramps to check for any loose suspension bushys/arms etc. everything looks ok.

Also the shimmy does not seem to be constant, when travelling down the motorway going dead staright its not to bad. Any sterring input to change lanes causes the shimmy to come back. Sometimes feel it through the seat, other times through the steering wheel.

All the tyres are wearing evenly.
the car by the way is a 1996 e39 528i, 116000 miles.

Any suggestions guys?

Mine did this, typical E39!. Renewed lower track control-arm and anti-roll bar bushes. This cured it, well worth doing

[R_U_LOCAL]

stewsy said:

hmm, never thought of a sticking caliper. Would it not be stuck all the time though, ie constant wobble through the wheel? i will definately have a look though, thanks

I'm just going from my own experience here. One of my calipers started sticking, but not enough to make the car pull to one side - it'd drive fairly normally, but was actually sticking just enough to create excessive heat in the caliper and disc. At normal town speeds, it didn't create enough heat to be a problem, but at motorway speeds it became so hot that it generated a terrible wobbling vibration through the steering.

I replaced the front nearside caliper, and sure enough, the offside one started playing up a few months later, so I replaced that together with both discs. It's been absolutely fine since.

[johnmaddox]

How are your Wheel Bearings - could the wheel change have highlighted play in the bearing ?