why does my front end shake so bad?

[LittleBimmer]

car is a stock 1992 325ic, bbs rx? i think wheels with spacers im unsure of the MM
my front end on the highway (60mph-75mph) shakes and vibrates (dash seats everything) so horrible, i noticed the driver side front tire was wearing quickly on the out side, so i replaced it and that side tire/control arm/bushing.
what could i try or replace in order to get this car to drive smooth?
its stock with 130k, as far as suspension and steering im almost for sure nothing has been replaced yet. it could prolly use an alignment but it doesnt really want to pull that hard to either side. would the spacers make a difference?
thanks,
-Allen

[Dirtbleed]

replace everything.

[SkinnyVT]

get an alignment, balance your wheels, check you strut hats

[StereoInstaller1]

Allen, a good way to start is to swap on a set of stock wheels/tires and see what happens.

You might need control arm bushings, maybe bad ball joints, maybe bad tie rods. What you might consider is to take it to a suspension shop where the guys know their shit and pay for a diagnosis. None of this stuff is all that hard to check, but it is kind of a pain in the butt.

[slo325i]

my car did this before i replaced the control arms with new ball joints.

[LittleBimmer]

thanks for the input r3v, my dads been a mechanic for 30 years so ill ask him to put it in the air and have a look, he's the one that told me the driver side ball joints were bad, and he had replaced them twice before on his 89 325ic, i wish i had another set of wheels and tires lol :\ i do have about 5 bottle cap wheels 4 of them with 99% shot tires lol so i wont be trying that, and my basketweeves are on my 90 325is which is currently disabled at my gf's house due to the drive shaft completely disconnecting at the guibo and also tearing the shift linkage assembly out :\ so i cant pull the wheels of it, i was thinking have the car examined balance the wheels and then drive it with and without the spacers. also i noticed it goes away at 80mph and its very less noticable when im turning slightly to the left.
thanks again guys! ill let you know what happens

[325ix]

My 88 ix has a bad shake except it's normally at low speeds

[Ruffian]

my car did this before i replaced the control arms with new ball joints.

This.

jack the corner you feel the vibration is coming from and check for side to side movement by grabbing the sides of the tire and giving it a shake. There shouldn't be any movement. Your ball joint could be bad. any out of balance in the tire will be magnified with a bad ball joint.

[MR 325]

It could be as simple as the wheels themselves or no hubcentric spacer.

[3bvert]

so how come you cant drive to your girlfriends house and switch wheels there :)

[ngcreese]

You should really replace both driver and passenger side control arms, control arm bushings and inner / outer tierods. That will eliminate shacks right off. You might also consider changing your front hub bearings as well. If you have spacers, they need to be hubcentric.

Hope this helps.