wheel bearing hubs and brake rotors front

[Larry Looney]

Who can tell me how to change the bearing hubs and front rotors on a 1995 525i? I have vibration/shimmy and have change tierods, thrust arms, tires, wheels. What's next?

[Springfield1952]

Do you have a shimmy during normal driving or only during braking? If it's normal driving the rotors shouldn't be a problem.

Curt.

[Kalevera]

Who can tell me how to change the bearing hubs and front rotors on a 1995 525i? I have vibration/shimmy and have change tierods, thrust arms, tires, wheels. What's next?

www.bmwe34.net

also, search "Johan & Sean's E32 page" -- on the forum or google -- they've got a decent writeup.

Do a search for how to check the bearings themselves -- I've posted that info a number of times in the past, as have others. Warped rotors usually only cause a shimmy on braking. Check your shocks/strut inserts. Be certain the wheels are hubcentric and the correct (on the lower side of medium) offset.

best, whit

[Larry Looney]

The car has vib/shim at 40 to 60-70 mph. At 60-70 I feel it in my butt and a little in the steering wheel. I have hubcentric rings on all 4 wheels. The wheel hub is cut to 74.1mm. I think my hub is 72.5mm. Wheels are 17"X7.5". I don't under stand the lower side of medium off set? I don't understand the off set stuff. Could wheel bearings do this? Had front align 3 times. Every time I replace a part. Car has 82,321 miles and in Great shape, just the darn thing shakes. Could it be in the rear some where?

[632 Regal]

probably the hubcentric rings or an out of round tire.

[Beez540]

If you had your stock wheels on before and no vibration, it's gotta be wheel/tire related. Make sure you have good hubcentric rings, I got a set off ebay that were supposedly 72.5mm - 74.1mm, but they weren't doin ****. Found a local place that had some in stock and they were visibly thicker. That's more than likely your problem.

As far as wheel offset... you should be right around ET 20. Should say inside the wheel.

If your bearings are shot, you'd probably hear a scraping or grinding.

[Larry Looney]

Where do I find the thicker ones? I bought the hub rings off ebay also. They were Alum. I bought some plastic rings from a tire store.N good, put the alum over tthe plastic and put the wheel on and vib went away. So, where do I get thick ones?

[Kalevera]

Tirerack. Do a search for the part number, it's also available on Bruno's site. ~ $24 shipped in the US for aluminum ones. Call them -- they'll know what you're talking about.

[Larry Looney]

Thanks for the information. I'll try them.

[632 Regal]

where do we get the plastic ones?

(im so damn lazy, i'll look this up later and post the info)

[Larry Looney]

I got mine from Discount Tire also 1010 tires.com has them. Discount has the for $10 or at lest that is what I paid.

[ra_pro]

Tires make a big difference. I had (almost) whole front end replaced except sway bar links. The links were shot and I thought they caused my shimmy. But a few weeks ago I bought new tires, shimmy was gone even with the bad links.

[Karl]

You haven't mentioned changing shocks, after 80K original shocks would be wearing. Larger wheels have more unsprung weight and require stronger shocks.

But your first check should be tire pressure. If a tire is low you might feel it as a shimmy. Our 525 is not quite as sensitive as our old 320 -- that car would give us the shimmy characteristic of worn front bushings when tire pressure went down from 35psi to 32. It needed extra air in the front tires to ride right.

[Larry Looney]

The shocks seem to be ok but I plan to change after new year. The tire pressure is ok. I think I need a 75mm hubcentric ring. Not to change the subject but what kind of El Camino do you have. I have a 84 SS (love it)?