Re: E28 shimmy

[Jerry Chyo <jerryc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:21 PM 11/13/98 -0500, Drew wrote:
>I noticed a slight shake in the steering wheel that would become more
>pronounced under light braking at ~45 mph.  Also, the Anti-Lock light would
>come on if I exceeded ~65 mph. I decided to take in to a local (NY/NJ) dealer
>to inspect the brakes & front end.  (Although the local dealer shall remain
>nameless, it's the only one I know of in this whole WIDE WORLD that
advertises
>an 18% discount to BMW CCA members in the Roundel)

Pretty common for these cars.  Check the archives of the Digest and you
should find a mention of this about every 3rd post :^).

>Anyway, the tech guy called me & advised that the following parts were worn
>out and needed to be replaced:
>Front: upper & lower control arms, center link, thrust rod bushing, Idler
arm,
>tie rod ends - $1,150.00, parts & labor
>Rear control arms - $280.00
>Transmission mounts $(lost quote)

Usually not a bad idea to replace the front suspension components on this
car.  I haven't heard of replacing the rear control arms (I've never even
heard of them called this.  I thought they were trailing arms) but the
tranny mounts do go.

I would request a change of tie rods and all bushings.  I've never
understood why you would replace control arms, idler arms or center links
unless they were bent or broken.  Although some models only sell the
bushings already pressed onto the control arm.  That's probably why.  Just
replace the connecting parts in between them.  Go with the E32 thrust rod
bushing thats been turned down (call Steve D at the Ultimate garage)

>He also said that they were unable to duplicate the Anti-lock light coming
on,
>but that all 4 wheel hubs looked like they could use replaceing, too.  $780
>parts & labor.

What does he mean "looks like"?  The front bearings are a component
attached to the hubs.  These go out around 100k miles but may last longer.
If you hear any humming that goes away when you turn or klunking or humming
coming from the back, then you may need bearings or sub frame bushings (I'm
not sure if this is what you call them.  Someone will correct me...you can
count on it).

Usually the shimmy is from warped rotors.  If he checked the run-out and it
was within spec, then the next culprit is probably the thrust rod bushing.
If it is, then it's probably time to change all of the before mentioned items.

If you've never worked on cars, then this may be a bit much to bite off on
your first try.  You'll need a good bit of tools and some specialty tools
besides.

Hope this wasn't a ramble.  Ping me offline if you have more questions (or
if I confused the heck out of you and you want to trash me in private :^).

Jerry Chyo
'88 M5
'72 tii

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