MattA 164 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 Hi All, Our E39 540 has started to vibrate through the steering at around 70k/h disappears again about 80k/ph it was only very minor but has got bad. Have had the rims balanced tires checked etc there is no visible damage to the rims and they all balance up. Have had the car up on a hoist and thoroughly checked over and no real results. The rims are 18" x 8.5 tires are Bridgestone Potenza? 235/40/18. The car has been lowered and have been told that this can cause similar problems, though I cannot see how as the vibration wasn't there when we bought the car 7 months ago. Does anyone have a set of 540 rims that we could trial fit to see if that is the problem? Any advice is greatly appreciated as this is seriously detracting from what is otherwise a great drive. cheers Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nz320i 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 might need a wheel alignment? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zenetti 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 does it do it under braking or when you lift your foot off the throttle? we have come across this before and it turned out to be the control arm bushes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtk540 3 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 You've got the famous E39 shimmy. I've just got rid of it but it took a while to eliminate all the possibilities. While most would say wheel balance or alignment (did both) and I also did the following: - shaved the front rotors (made no difference) - replaced thrust arm bushes (50% better but vibration was still there) - replaced front rotors with Brembos (they were poor quality not OEM and warped) You may as well upgrade the pads at the same time Another possibility is a bent rim. The US BMW E39 owners forum http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/ has many many threads dedicated to how some owners have tried to solve "the shimmy". Good luck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
btccm3 1 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 (edited) Hi matt I had a similar problem on my m3 with the rear tyres even though the wheels were freshly ballanced and alignment good also (i made my tyre guy check sevral times) it turned out to just be sh*t quallity tyres. i just spent big$$ on a new set of top of the line falkens and all seems to be fixed. Id say try swaping one tyre at a time with your spare and you may well find the culprit. I must admit though id be shocked if the potenzas were to blame as they are ment to be a pretty good tyre but all it takes is one bad egg. Edited July 27, 2007 by btccm3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattA 164 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 Hi Just checks rears are Bridgestone’s fronts are Dunlop Dizerra 235/40/18 neither of which I'd call budget tires. They've all been balances 3 times also had a wheel alignment replaced disks & pads used BMW parts, thrust arm bushes didn't seem to be worn but guess that’s the next thing to replace? The rims don't appear to be bent at all and there's minimal weights on them, would have thought that if they were bent the "shimmy" would be more consistent. It only vibrates when not under load, all good under med-hard acceleration and braking. We put 2 new tires on the fronts ran it still the same. Thinking maybe trial someone else’s rims see if that fix's if not then look at replacing all bushes etc in the front. I agree with you 3pedals doesn’t seem logical that lowering the ride height can cause balance issues, the 2 people that have mentioned it both said it wouldn't be the cause but could compound the problem due to the EDC, makes no sense to me. There is always the option of simply throw $$ at it seems to work for most things trick is getting the $$ first. Keep the ideas coming thanks for response to date. cheers matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattA 164 Report post Posted July 27, 2007 Q - what size rims will fit pcd & offset? cheers Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtk540 3 Report post Posted July 29, 2007 (edited) Bollocks, take it to some one who knows what they are talking about. My E39 is lowered , tweaked and stiffened on factory 8 and 9 inch 17's balance is fantastic, Sounds like a hard spot (compound lumps) in crap tyres. Happens a lot with old / second hand and "economy" tyres . especially Goodyear eagles so I am told. Never had the mythical E39 Shimmy in 6 years and 120,000 km of fun performance driving and 4 set of tyres Just adding to the thread from my experience and from I've read from other owners overseas. I think I know what I'm talking about as my vibration/shimmy is now gone. Just because you haven't had it doesn't mean its a figment of someone elses imagination. When your shimmy turns up just remember where you read about it and how to fix it. Edited July 29, 2007 by mtk540 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted July 29, 2007 control arm bushes are the likely culprit,take it to a place that actually works on these things on a daily basis...at least the e34 and e 39 suffer from this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted July 29, 2007 Aswell as the e32's and the e38's. This is one of the most common issues you can find. As people have already mentioned, unbalanced whees/tyres, control arm bushes, even alloys in need of spigot rings are all causes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zenetti 0 Report post Posted July 30, 2007 (edited) if you are going to try someone else's wheels make sure they are 18's or 19's also. I can just about guarantee that if you put on a factory 16, the problem will disappear. Don't ask me why but with control arm bushes it doesn't happen on 16's but does on 18's or 19's. We have come across this problem 2 or 3 times now when upgrading a car to 19's. replaced the bushes and presto! problem gone. I would also say that Direzza's or Goodyear Eagles are not budget or lower end tyres. Not everyone can justify the cost of a pirelli for the 'perceived' extra performance. PERSONAL OPINION - PIRELLI's are not worth the money. I would say that providing the tyres you bought were/are new they will not be the problem. Even an out of round tyre ( which does happen occasionally with EVERY manufacturer) would cause vibration a lot more of the time than what you have described. If they are factory wheels they should not need a locating rim, if they are aftermarket however, check that the centre bore is 74.1mm. I have found out from past experience (and we went through everything - and I mean everything!)that even a wheel with a 74.5mm centre bore can cause the problems you have described. Just another thing to check before you 'throw' money at it. It could be something as simple as a misdrilled centre bore. Edited July 30, 2007 by zenetti Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattA 164 Report post Posted July 31, 2007 Thanks Zenetti, Not sure if the rims are genuine, but they are a very snug fit on the hub. We have some rims to trial fit later this week but unsure what size, they're on a 540 import arriving today or tomorrow. cheers matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattA 164 Report post Posted August 19, 2007 Yehaa fixed.... No more shimmy we ran another set of rims made no difference so have replaced front bushes. Thanks to everone for the advice etc cheers Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zenetti 0 Report post Posted August 20, 2007 great to hear that you have fixed the problem Matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Huttey 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 Yehaa fixed.... No more shimmy we ran another set of rims made no difference so have replaced front bushes. Thanks to everone for the advice etc cheers Matt Ah it sounds like it was the "Famous E39 Shimmy", mine has just started between 75 and 80 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Huttey 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2007 (edited) Yehaa fixed.... No more shimmy we ran another set of rims made no difference so have replaced front bushes. Thanks to everone for the advice etc cheers Matt Ah it sounds like it was the "Famous E39 Shimmy", which bushes did you replace?, mine has just started between 75 and 80 Edited August 21, 2007 by Huttey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
williamh 0 Report post Posted August 27, 2007 Yehaa fixed.... No more shimmy we ran another set of rims made no difference so have replaced front bushes. Thanks to everone for the advice etc cheers Matt How much did the work cost to get done? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MattA 164 Report post Posted September 3, 2007 Hi, not sure on exact cost as had other work done at same time, but beleive the bushes are about $100 each labour wouln't be more than an hour to fit? We've just shifted so if I find the invoice I'll have a check. cheers matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
