1995,525i Vibration/Shimmy

[Larry Looney]

OK folks I need some HELP. My 95, 525i (82,300 miles) has a vibration that is driving me Nuts. I have replaced both front tierods, upper thrust arms, new tires (P235/45R-17 Mich Pilot Sport A/S), new wheels, hub rings on all four hubs for better fit on wheels, front alignment twice and still VIBRATING. So what else could it be? It is more of a shimmy in the stearing wheel and felt in the legs and seat. Starts about 45mph up to 60ish then smooths out some what. Could the drive line do this? Could it be a flex disc? Could it be front disk rotors? Could it be wheel bearings? Can some one shed some light on this perplexing problem.

[Paul in NZ]

what about the thrust arms and or bushings.....i get confused between the upper and lower control arms.....but you dont mention the bushings which are ussually the problem

[Incantation]

when i changed from stock 15" rims to 18"s, i had the shimmy; my left wheel bearing was in need of change.. replacing it made the shimmy worse. i had the thrust arm bushings done too.. but it has never fully gone away.

the only thing that seems to make a difference now is the amount of care i put into fitting the wheels back on after removing them(i have hubcentric rings)

[Larry Looney]

Yep, replaced the thrust bushings along with the arms.