Fooled again by a tire

[DanDombrowski]

I've been fooled many times by tires. In your case, it may be a combination of both.

On my 525i, when I got the 17" style 32 wheels put on, I developed a front end shimmy immediately. Assuming that it had to be the wheels because that was the only thing that changed, I had them rebalanced on a different machine. When they were done, the shimmy was NEARLY gone. I'd say probably 90-95% better. Over the next few weeks though, it came back slowly to the point where it was much worse than it started. Multiple rebalancing of the wheels didn't help.

In my case, it was a combination of weak TBushings with a slightly out of balance wheel. Correcting the wheel balance helped the shimmy, but eventually the play became more evident.

What size wheels are you running? I wouldn't be surprised if the tbushings start showing some more play in the next 6 months.

[DanDombrowski]

haha, I wish I had a set of rims I could test out on my car. Unfortuantely, I'd need spacers (I'm in an E46 now, remember?), and they wouldn't clear my brakes.

Of all times, I wish I didn't have staggered rims, cus then I could rotate the tires and see if it moves with the tires. Front tires are perfect, theres nothing going on in the steering wheel (for my E46). What I posted in response to your thread was when I had a shimmy in my E34.

[DanDombrowski]

Also, does the vibration feel like a side to side in the steering wheel, or an up down? I had a busted belt in a tire once (actually posted about it, 632Regal guessed it right), it had a low speed vibration at about 20 mph and it was a definite side to side shimmy.

An out of balance wheel or a bent one usually causes an up/down vibration. Of course, this doesn't help you narrow it down between the tires and the control arm bushings because theyll both give you a shimmy, but maybe it will help as you test more things.

Also, 15" wheels are much less likely to shimmy with bad UCABs. My money is on the tire.

[Ross]

Immediately after rotating the tires on my '89 535 it developed a severe front shimmy. Worse on braking and sometimes at highway speed would begin to shake the wheel violently with seemingly no provocation or it would ride just fine sometimes.
Had I not just rotated the tires I would have sworn it to be a thrust arm bushing issue.
Rotated the tires back to their original position and all is well. There is MINOR "imbalance" detectable from the rear that has been there since these tires were put on. Not enough that I even bothered to correct it.
A visual examination of the tires gave no clue.

Previously I have had tires that cause noises that would make you think a bearing was on the way out.

Time to investigate the Nokian warranty.

[whiskychaser]

Had a Honda once that pullled to the left. Thought one of the kids had kerbed it but never found the fault. Till one day I got a flat. Had tyre insurance so thought WTF they can replace it. They did and the pull disappeared. Apart from the nail in the sidewall there was nothing wrong with the tyre.

[Ross]

Stock 15" BMW wheels. I rolled 'em, they didn't wobble(high science), they look fine, there isn't much weight on 'em and the rims show no evidence of being damaged.
Tires and rims came on a different car I bought. I used them all winter and LOVED the traction, noticed nothing other than a little vibe from the back at highway speed.
I spoke with a fellow at Nokian who suspects a slipped belt but they need to be inspected of course. Now I get to deal with a retail tire store.

Dan, How about we put these babies on your car to further confuse your issue??