93 525i shimmy

[startingate]

Could a worn ball joint induce front end vibration? Starts at 55 and gets worse on up to 80. Just had four wheel alignment, replaced all four controll arms, new shocks and springs. Tried two sets of wheels. Got under it and could squeeze drivers side ball joint with a large set of channel locks and get some play. Could this be the culprit?

[joshua43214]

There is no such thing as a 4 wheel alignment on an e34.

If they aligned the car without verifying allthe suspension and steering parts are good, they stole your money, which they did any way since you think you got a wheel alignment.

Never take your car to a discount alignment shop or a major chain like Goodyear.

Yes a bad ball join could cause a front vibration but so could tie rods, wheels and tires. Up and down movement is an indicator of a bad ball joint on most cars.

[E34 530]

There is no such thing as a 4 wheel alignment on an e34.

If they aligned the car without verifying allthe suspension and steering parts are good, they stole your money, which they did any way since you think you got a wheel alignment.

Never take your car to a discount alignment shop or a major chain like Goodyear.

Yes a bad ball join could cause a front vibration but so could tie rods, wheels and tires. Up and down movement is an indicator of a bad ball joint on most cars.

then you don't reccomend getting my car re-aligned after the loweringh springs and shocks are installed??

[joshua43214]

then you don't reccomend getting my car re-aligned after the loweringh springs and shocks are installed??

The e34 has only one adjustment for alignment and that is toe in. The rear is non adjustable altogether.

Ride hight directly affects camber, Camber directly affects toe. So after you change the ride hight, you must get the toe re-aligned. Any shop that tells you that they did a 4 wheel alignment on your car just walked away with your cash.

If you want to adjust the front camber/caster or rear camber, you must install adjuster plates or eccentrics in the rear.

[E34 530]

The e34 has only one adjustment for alignment and that is toe in. The rear is non adjustable altogether.

Ride hight directly affects camber, Camber directly affects toe. So after you change the ride hight, you must get the toe re-aligned. Any shop that tells you that they did a 4 wheel alignment on your car just walked away with your cash.

If you want to adjust the front camber/caster or rear camber, you must install adjuster plates or eccentrics in the rear.

alright, sorry, I'm a newb, let me know if I'm understanding this correctly. So in order to adjust the fornt end of an e34, the only thing you can do is buy a camber kit to adjust the toe-in?? Is that neccesary to do after the spring installment??

[Bleeding_Knuckles]

you relaced the thrust and control bushings? The arms come with new balljoints. I dont follow. Did you have all the front parts inspected?

[632 Regal]

no, all you CAN do is align the toe.

alright, sorry, I'm a newb, let me know if I'm understanding this correctly. So in order to adjust the fornt end of an e34, the only thing you can do is buy a camber kit to adjust the toe-in?? Is that neccesary to do after the spring installment??

[632 Regal]

any other play will cause a shimmy like loose parts, loose steering box, even the nut behind the wheel will cause it if loose.

[joshua43214]

Toe can be be adjusted with the factory parts. If you don't go too far with lowering, it will be ok to not use camber plates, You may experience some extra uneven tire wear, but many of members run lowered cars and have no complaints about it.

see this thread for a breakdown of inspecting the front end http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=19973&page=4&highlight=suspension

[E34 530]

Toe can be be adjusted with the factory parts. If you don't go too far with lowering, it will be ok to not use camber plates, You may experience some extra uneven tire wear, but many of members run lowered cars and have no complaints about it.

see this thread for a breakdown of inspecting the front end http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=19973&page=4&highlight=suspension

thanks for letting me know joshua. Here's my problem. Last summer I put the e39 style 32's on my car. I never had the shimmy w/ the stock wheelsbefore that, but with them on, I noticed the shimmy at about 55mph and it stops at about 65 mph. When I canged my brakes a few weeks ago, I put the stock rims on the car to see if the shimmy would go away. It did take away about 95% of the shimmy, but I still get a bad shake of the steering wheel when I hit a pothole when the front end of the car is pointed (lets say on a ciruclar on-ramp.) I just revieved new hub centric rings in the mail because I believe that was a problem with thstyle 32 wheels. Do you think my thrust arms are bad??

[E34 530]

I'm not lowring it too much, just about 1.2 inches as mentioned for the eibach pro-kit springs.

[632 Regal]

sounds typical of thrust arms yes.