Steeringwheel shakes Left to Right

[vping]

Well the "Bimmer from the Black Lagoon" is coming along. The wife got it registered and I drained all the old gas and added new. It smells and runs much better now. We took it out for it's first run in 5 years of dormancy and it pulls along nicely with the transmission shifting nice & solid. Normal braking is ok, but then again there was a little surface rust on the rotors which is about 98% gone. Hard braking on the other hand is not too good. It will stop fine but the steering wheel shakes real bad back & forth. I climbed under there to have a look and eveything looks solid. During normal braking there is also a hint of shaking.

The only weird thing I found was there was some deteriorated foam type bushing in the lower plate of the strut. I also feel like one strut is shot as that side (passenger) bounces a lot when I hit a bump. Not sure if this is related but I figured I post about it.

Go easy on me as I am not sure of what all the components are down there and I may ask more questions. I do not have a Bentley manual yet and can only refer to whatever pictures I can find in Bavarian parts catalog.

Speaking of catalogs, are they the only supplier of BMW parts?

Vince

[vping]

Here are a few pics of what's going on under there.
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i87/vping/5-04-08-FrontEnd001.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i87/vping/5-04-08-FrontEnd002.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i87/vping/5-04-08-FrontEnd003.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i87/vping/5-04-08-FrontEnd006.jpg

[e34.535i.sport]

Well the "Bimmer from the Black Lagoon" is coming along. The wife got it registered and I drained all the old gas and added new. It smells and runs much better now. We took it out for it's first run in 5 years of dormancy and it pulls along nicely with the transmission shifting nice & solid. Normal braking is ok, but then again there was a little surface rust on the rotors which is about 98% gone. Hard braking on the other hand is not too good. It will stop fine but the steering wheel shakes real bad back & forth. I climbed under there to have a look and eveything looks solid. During normal braking there is also a hint of shaking.

The only weird thing I found was there was some deteriorated foam type bushing in the lower plate of the strut. I also feel like one strut is shot as that side (passenger) bounces a lot when I hit a bump. Not sure if this is related but I figured I post about it.

Go easy on me as I am not sure of what all the components are down there and I may ask more questions. I do not have a Bentley manual yet and can only refer to whatever pictures I can find in Bavarian parts catalog.

Speaking of catalogs, are they the only supplier of BMW parts?

Vince

Hey Vince, thats good news on the Fuel situation...

In terms of the brake shimmy, could be that your upper and lower control arms need changing. After that amount of time sitting I would guess the bushings may have 'dried out'... Easy enough to change and not too expensive. Best to get the 750i bushings pressed in them though if you want them to last. (the upper contorl arm is the big thick snakey item in the background of your second picture, the lower control arm goes in a similar direction but its lower [hence the name!]). A good way to see if the lower control arm is loose is to jack one corner up and leave the wheel on - get your hands at 3o'clock and 9o'clock and try to wiggle the wheel. Mine had a lot of give and when I got someone else to do it I looked underneath and could see that the control arm balljoint had gone as well as the bushing.

If this doesn't sort out the shimmy it could be warped brake discs...

The foam thing you found was probably the rubber 'bump stop' that should sit at the top of the shock... I found mine in peices when I changed out the rear shock mounts so replaced it with a new one.

Its funny because what you describe about the passenger side bouncing a lot when you hit a bump because I have exactly the same thing. Mine bounces up and down violently for a second or two... I think I need new front shocks pronto... Its second on the list!

The tie-rod is looking old there in the last picture, you should check it for play... I could move mine freely with my hand even with the car on the ground! If the steering wheel's moving about it may be worth checking the centre tie rod (big bar that attaches to the tie rod you pictured) and the two arms that come off it (idler arms) for play!

This looks like a good project! :)

[vping]

All the bushing "seem" nice & solid. When I grabbed one of the wheels and gave it a shake, there was no play at all. I was contemplating the brake rotors but they visually look fine and spin true. My suspect is the bushings however. Is this an expensive or compicated project? How will I know exactly which bushings to buy and from where.

The car is really coming along. The paint is getting there but I need to compound it three times before I get the desired shine.

[e34.535i.sport]

All the bushing "seem" nice & solid. When I grabbed one of the wheels and gave it a shake, there was no play at all. I was contemplating the brake rotors but they visually look fine and spin true. My suspect is the bushings however. Is this an expensive or compicated project? How will I know exactly which bushings to buy and from where.

The car is really coming along. The paint is getting there but I need to compound it three times before I get the desired shine.

You'll have to post some pic's of it!

With the rotors, a visual inspection won't tell you if they're warped unless its BAD as far as i'm aware... A cheap(ish) fix if they are warped and a nice job to do yourself.

With the bushings you can only really tell how bad they are until you get them off... I had a few that looked alright until I dropped them and they definitley had seen better days. :p