losing hope... front end shimmy can't diagnose

[ucben105]

i took off the wheel and i don't have a vernier caliper, but i took a ruler with mm and measured and it was 57.1 by my measurments, but the centering ring is plastic and it looked like the lip was rolled i'm lost, and need help

[ucben105]

also it olny vibrates when i get above about 50 then it fades away at about 65 and kinda comes back at about 80. i dont know if that helps but i figured it was just because i was picking up speed but then when it comes back at 80 it doesnt make any sense. i know its not like the rotors or anything because when i hit the brake my steering wheel vibrates but my brake pedal doesnt pulse

[Cobra Jet]

I don't see it being mentioned by you yet - but have you thoroughly checked the following parts (because you don't mention them as being replaced):

1) front control arm ball joints (2 per arm)
2) front control arm bushings (most commonly referred to as "lollipops" or CAB's)
3) inner & outer tie rods (sometimes sold as a complete unit for L & R)
4) front upper strut mounts
5) are your lugs torqued to at least 88ft lbs? I've read multiple forums and it seems on the E30's, that the proper torque spec is 88 ft lbs (apparently this was an updated torque spec).
6) rotating your tires from front to back on each side... if the tires are out of round, worn funny on the inner, outer or center - OR if an inner steel belt has shifted, you will experience shimmy/shake/vibes while driving. Also, if you move a bad tire to the rear, your front end shimmy may cease to exist, just another way of trying to confirm a bad tire/rim.


Some other members have mentioned some of the items above - you're going to have to take the front wheels off and check those parts independently... Look for ripped/opened up ball joint rubber boots, take the tie rods and try to twist them, if they can be twisted or rotated super easy, they're shot... Before removing the front wheels, try pulling on them at the 12 & 6 position and also at the 9 & 3 positions - if you get any sort of wobble side to side or up/down when doing so, then you have to really look over your ball joints, the CAB's and tie rods... Check the upper strut mount as well...

Like I said, I don't see you mentioning repairing/replacing any of those parts in your initial post, or any subsequent replies.

[ucben105]

no i haven't replaced tose parts yet, but i have tried to move the wheel and it didn't wabble. aslo i have tried moving the wheels around, and the tie rods were good when i replaced the rack, but that is all i have done. there is one more thing i have forgot to mention. when you are driving it seems to come and go. i know it sounds crazy but it seems to depend on how u turn sometimes u will go through a turn and it will get weaker and other times it will get stronger it also does the same thing on bumps. it's so frustrating I have no idea.

[thereisnoyun]

i took off the wheel and i don't have a vernier caliper, but i took a ruler with mm and measured and it was 57.1 by my measurments, but the centering ring is plastic and it looked like the lip was rolled i'm lost, and need help

wtf are you measuring... e30 hub is 57.1 you didnt need to measure that. You need to know if you hub centric right is the size of the remember's hubsize on the outter rim of the ring. .

[alpinweib30]

not to say that its NOT your prob. but i have the same issue with my car and it was like that when i bought it WITH the bottle cap BMW wheels that have no center rings. i thought it was just the tires or a bent wheel so i put my sportmaxx's on it and same thing. since then i have got a brand new set of tires and didnt go away. when i jack up my car i always shake the wheel to check for play but theres nothing, no poping ball joints either. it feels like the brake rotor is warped but it stays the same under braking.

i would say do control arms,CABs,and tie rod ends then get a GOOD alignment. or at least thats what im doing next. good luck. i will be checking back to see if you figured it out and i will let you know if i figure out mine.

[wodcutr]

I read this tread and thought I would offer a solution. I think you have calipers that need rebuilding. You need to check the boots on the guide pins and see if they are good. I have seen a lot of calipers get stuck so to speak on one of the pins because it has corosion and no grease. The caliper then stays crooked after braking and can come in contact with the rotor. This will cause vibration and feel as you describe. At lower speeds you do not feel it. You should do a brake caliper test also to see if the caliper is releasing properly. If the tire does not spin at least two times around when in the air the brakes need looking into. That is my .02!

[SuperUltraHighTekHippo]

Why dont you just swap some known good wheel/tires from a buddy or something. That will rule out any possibility of it being a balance issue