e36 shaking at 100+kph

[Incantation]

hi guys..

i'm a 5er but my friend has an e36 318 and she says he car starts to shake at 100+ kph.. is this the same problem as the e34 shimmy at 55mph? upper control arms? or something else?

[Bruno]

Nannn, E36 are different, he has to check his ball joints and there is only one bushing, it is the control arm bushing.
Very easy to check and access.

[Incantation]

thanks

[94is]

When my control arms were shot the shimmy would get violent when I hit the brakes at higher speeds. If it doesn't change, it might be the tires? <y e30 has violent shimmy at around 80mph due to misbalanced tires.

[Guido]

I would first check out the balance on the front wheels to make certain they roll true. Next I would check the struts to make certain they are not worn out and bouncing. It might be bushings, but every time I had a shimmy that only came on at a certain speed it was a wheel balance. Usually when this is the case it will roll smooth up to that speed and then begin to feel like a shimmy when often times it is the feel of wheel hop and once you get up to a higher speed, say 110 to 125 kph it will slowly fade as your speed increases. The bummer is that by the time it feels nice and smooth again, you`re breaking the speed limit hahaha.

My 325 had a shimmy feel to it, but only during braking, it was caused by a warped rotor. A slightly warped brake rotor will give this feel during braking only, but over time the tire gets cupped and begins to get out of balance as well and will shimmy at a particular speed also over time.

If all four wheels and tires are the same size, try swapping the front ones to the rear and vice versa, if this makes a difference in the shimmy, then you have found the problem. Tell your friend, Good Luck, Brian

[Ricvee2006]

When I first purchased my E36 320i,it had a slight shake on the steering wheel at 100km/h. The front tyres were within legal limits,but a bit worn for my liking,so I replaced them and had the alignment set. Problem solved!