front end help

[slupregime]

on my 1990 535i when you get up to 65-70 mph the front end starts to sway or wander whatever you want to call it ...is it the stablizer bar or the trust arms it just had a wheel alingment with new tie rod ends

[BillionPa]

is there vibration?

[Yiorgos]

I read somewhere ages ago when I was researching on whether to buy an E34 or not and what to look for, if the car starts to wander around at high speed it's probably suspension bushes.

[Ausmpower]

Could be any of the following:

caster rod bushes

The ball joints in the lower control arms

Stuffed front struts

Steering box with too much free play

stuffed front wheel bearings

It could even be the rear end bushes or mounts....

[mistermofo]

i am having similar problems with my 525i
at first i used to get a knocking noise from the underside when i hit slight bumps
and the car was vibrating vigourously during braking between 50-60mph
also got a similar vibration but not as violent whilst driving at those speeds
and also got a horrible violent vibration and left hand turns at moderate speeds

now after replacing the upper thrust arms and bushes, sway bar links, lower track arms (wishbones), all the track rod ends and tubes, as well as 4 wheel laser alignment and wheel balacing and to go as far as replacing the tyres so tyres from either axle match patterns ( i have two makes of tyres on the car)
and replacing the front discs and pads. the wheels have also been checked for buckles etc

the car no longer vibrates under braking and the knocking sound has gone completely , but it does vibrate badly on the left turns but not as often and only at higher speeds but the vibrations dont seem as bad as before at least i can hang on to the wheel.

the main problem i am having now is that the car seems to wander at motorway speeds and snatches occasionally on left bends it feels like the front end of the car digs in and snatches which can be very unsettling at motorspeeds 70mph+. the annoying thing is no one can seem to find a fault with the car it passed an anual MOT check two days ago (legal requirement here in the UK) and i can fly into right handers like there is no tomorrow it just dont like left handers

i am starting to run out of ideas the car is 17 years old but since i have had it i have virtually rebuilt the top half of the engine after a blown headgasket. and now almost completely rebuilt the front end of the car and it has got the the point where selling the car is a no no i'll only get about £600 for it.

so i am going to carry on the quest to sort this car out once and for all
is there anyone out there who can shed some light on the situation i am in bearing in mind the parts which already been changed.

i am thinking on the lines of a new sports suspension package maybe koni or spax with lowered springs and probably the supension bushes while its all off the car

any insight to tyhis problem would be greatly recieved
TIA:)

[Claude]

Based on my experience what you describe make me pinpoint the rear subframe bushing
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/suspension/subframebushing.htm

[slupregime]

i just had the tires balanced found out the sway bar links are bad it did get better with the balancing he also said from the poor alignment from before the tires were wearing from the outside in..meaning tapers from the outside and wore more to the insidae all the way around which can cause my problem all tie rods ball joints etc. for steeering are new so hopfully this will fix it

[fujioko]

Let’s see…. Swaying at high speed and a clunk…hmmm… I would say rear subframe bushings.

Theses bushings locate the subframe square to the body. If they are NFG then the subframe will pivot on its rear center mount and track independently of the body.

Effectively the rear frame is steering the car.

I would say half of the folks on this forum have already replaced theirs… and the other half probably needs to have them replaced. It’s a very common problem.

That’s my 2 cents.

[slupregime]

ok the clunking is up front which i dig. as the stablizer bars now as for thewandering it happens from 60-75 mph then it goes away....???

[HDhandyman]

ok the clunking is up front which i dig. as the stablizer bars now as for thewandering it happens from 60-75 mph then it goes away....???

I'm not understanding. When you say "wander", do you mean "stray" as in alignment, or "shimmy" as in the 50-60 shimmy which can vary in speeds?

Have you read through the threads in the suspension section of the forum?

[slupregime]

stray or wander but like i said everything for alignment up front is new

[slupregime]

for the subframe bushings i aam seeing that there is a special tool needed . i went to auto zone and a couple other places and they dont have it , but from what i can see it looks like a glorified gear puller?