Relationship Problems – Can’t live with em, can’t live without em

[talltorontoguy]

Fellow Bimmer.info members I’m having some difficulty in my relationship and I’m sure some of you can identify. I spent the evening thinking about things last night after some very frustrating times recently.

Maybe it’s because our differences are too great (she’s black and I’m white). Maybe I’m a bit jealous. I often see other guys look at her with admiring gazes and wish they could be with her – she’s got quite a body.

The hardest thing to manage is that she shimmy’s in public almost every time we go out. She doesn’t seem to care how I feel about it and she’ll shimmy just about anywhere without shame. She especially loves to shimmy around fast company, usually when we’re on the highway!

It’s an expensive relationship to maintain. Basically I have to keep buying her things to keep her happy! I even brought her to a special place to get her balanced and to bring her back into line, it cost me plenty!

She’ll stop shimmying for awhile, but then she’s soon back to her old tricks again until I buy her something new to placate her.

Some days I think “that’s it I’ve had enough!”… I’ll replace her with something better… and make her stay in the garage for a few days, giving her the silent treatment.

But then I look into her sparkling angel eyes (they’re such high intensity) and see her pretty smilies and I think about how much I love being inside her and driving her really hard. She gets so hot when I do that.

How could I ever leave her? I would pay anything to be with her.

My baby, my darling… my E34.

Guess I’ll have to learn to shimmy right along with her.

(I think I've completely lost it).

Can anyone help me cure my baby's shimmy?

R

[632 Regal]

shimmy shimmy coco bot

[tim]

Maybe you could get her a vibrator or something to go with the shimmy (when the 5'ers-a-rocking, dont come-a-knocking)

Seriously, every unexplained shimmy I've come across has been a result of either alignment(which you've ruled out), worn suspension components like bushings(which you've ruled out), or finally, a bad match on tire/rim sizes. Especially with big/wide in the back and narrower in the front. You never hear about a shimmy with the stock 15's. Have you ruled this out?

[632 Regal]

2 sets of tires and road force balance...I have accepted it and will live with it. The only thing left is rotors perhaps being out of balance or out of round tires but Discount tire wont take any responsibility and blame the car. Yes everythig has been replaced too.




Maybe you could get her a vibrator or something to go with the shimmy (when the 5'ers-a-rocking, dont come-a-knocking)

Seriously, every unexplained shimmy I've come across has been a result of either alignment(which you've ruled out), worn suspension components like bushings(which you've ruled out), or finally, a bad match on tire/rim sizes. Especially with big/wide in the back and narrower in the front. You never hear about a shimmy with the stock 15's. Have you ruled this out?

[talltorontoguy]

Here's what I replaced...

-Thrust Arms
-Control Arms
-Stabilizer links
-All new springs / shocks / mounts
-New rotors front end
-3 sets wheels / tires all freshly balanced
~17" style 5 w/falkens (worn)
~15" steel w/artic alpins
~15" baskets w/MXVs
-Balanced present wheels/tires twice at different vendors (15" baskets)
-Wheel alignment (turns out steering link sleeve?? is seized, joint good - guy said it was really close on alignment)

The only things left in the front end are:

- the steering links (cause vibration?)
- the wheel bearings. (The bearings aren't making any weird noises that I can tell... no droning or weird sounds while turning - could it be???)

One other possibility is that all three sets of tires are messed up due to running them on a messed up suspension... but that's pretty unlikely.

Sigh...

I hate/love my car.

Rod

[Bill R.]

most likely possible causes that you normally would check first off...






Here's what I replaced...

-Thrust Arms
-Control Arms
-Stabilizer links
-All new springs / shocks / mounts
-New rotors front end
-3 sets wheels / tires all freshly balanced
~17" style 5 w/falkens (worn)
~15" steel w/artic alpins
~15" baskets w/MXVs
-Balanced present wheels/tires twice at different vendors (15" baskets)
-Wheel alignment (turns out steering link sleeve?? is seized, joint good - guy said it was really close on alignment)

The only things left in the front end are:

- the steering links (cause vibration?)
- the wheel bearings. (The bearings aren't making any weird noises that I can tell... no droning or weird sounds while turning - could it be???)

One other possibility is that all three sets of tires are messed up due to running them on a messed up suspension... but that's pretty unlikely.

Sigh...

I hate/love my car.

Rod

[632 Regal]

discount tells me that its the car because this is my second set of tires. You can see that they are out of round on the balancer but they still say they are fine. I simply give up.

[talltorontoguy]

most likely possible causes that you normally would check first off...

I hear you about the parts that you mentioned. However they've been checked and none of them seem to be worn.

Everthing I've read seems to indicate that these parts may cause problem with sloppy steering, but would they also cause problems with straight line vibration?

Rod

[Bill R.]

rotors.





I hear you about the parts that you mentioned. However they've been checked and none of them seem to be worn.

Everthing I've read seems to indicate that these parts may cause problem with sloppy steering, but would they also cause problems with straight line vibration?

Rod

[talltorontoguy]

Well... I guess that's why you're the "Grand Master"! :)

I guess I'll get on the phone to BMA...

Any parts that are more likely to be cause than others?

R

[Qsilver7]

most likely possible causes that you normally would check first off...

Dang Bill R, I was thinkin' the same thing you were, then I scrolled down to your reply and it said the same thing that was on my mind. :D

The upper/lower control arms are attached and connected to the "steering linkage & tie rods" thru the steering arms (item #1 in pic below). The bushings in these parts also deteriorate over time and can transmit vibrations to the steering wheel, too.

Front steering linkage parts in diagram below:
- tie rods (left/right)- item # 3
- center tie rod - item #9
- idler arm/bushing - items #14 & #15
- pittman arm - #10 ( you probably can get by without changing this one because the bushings associated with it are connected to the center tie rod)
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/images/d/146.png
*********************************************
*********************************************
The parts you did change...the upper control arms (#7 in diagram below) and lower control arms (#2 in diagram below)...as you can see are attached to the steering arms which are attached to the steering linkage parts I posted above. (I hope this is illuminating to you) :)
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/images/s/137.png

[Bill R.]

raise the front end up and check for yourself, have someone wiggle each front wheel left/right grabbing the sides of the tire while you watch each tie rod for play, if you dont' see any then put your hand on the tierod where it connects to the steering knuckle while they wiggle it and see if you feel any play then..The knuckle and tierod should only move together, you shouldn't feel one move and then a fraction later the other. Same thing with the ball joints at the center link and there shouldn't be any play in the idler either.







Well... I guess that's why you're the "Grand Master"! :)

I guess I'll get on the phone to BMA...

Any parts that are more likely to be cause than others?

R

[callen]

Had slight shimmy....replaced all my front end parts...all of it with quality parts..and continued...put some Michellins on and it stopped. Tires need to be perfect......

[talltorontoguy]

Wow,excellent information... and great diagrams. Maybe this portion of the thread should become a sticky????

Thanks

R



Dang Bill R, I was thinkin' the same thing you were, then I scrolled down to your reply and it said the same thing that was on my mind. :D

The upper/lower control arms are attached and connected to the "steering linkage & tie rods" thru the steering arms (item #1 in pic below). The bushings in these parts also deteriorate over time and can transmit vibrations to the steering wheel, too.

Front steering linkage parts in diagram below:
- tie rods (left/right)- item # 3
- center tie rod - item #9
- idler arm/bushing - items #14 & #15
- pittman arm - #10 ( you probably can get by without changing this one because the bushings associated with it are connected to the center tie rod)
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/images/d/146.png
*********************************************
*********************************************
The parts you did change...the upper control arms (#7 in diagram below) and lower control arms (#2 in diagram below)...as you can see are attached to the steering arms which are attached to the steering linkage parts I posted above. (I hope this is illuminating to you) :)
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/images/s/137.png

[talltorontoguy]

Bill, thanks for this diagnosis procedure. I'll try it out to see what's got play and what doesn't.

Thanks again,
Rod






raise the front end up and check for yourself, have someone wiggle each front wheel left/right grabbing the sides of the tire while you watch each tie rod for play, if you dont' see any then put your hand on the tierod where it connects to the steering knuckle while they wiggle it and see if you feel any play then..The knuckle and tierod should only move together, you shouldn't feel one move and then a fraction later the other. Same thing with the ball joints at the center link and there shouldn't be any play in the idler either.

[Hector]

If what has been suggested does not cure the shimmys then you should resort to more drastic measures like the driveshaft and tranny mounts. The center bearing may be on its last legs or it may need to be pre-loaded again. Or you could have a bit of runout at the driveshaft/tranny flanges. These are speed dependent as you describe.


Fellow Bimmer.info members I’m having some difficulty in my relationship and I’m sure some of you can identify. I spent the evening thinking about things last night after some very frustrating times recently.

Maybe it’s because our differences are too great (she’s black and I’m white). Maybe I’m a bit jealous. I often see other guys look at her with admiring gazes and wish they could be with her – she’s got quite a body.

The hardest thing to manage is that she shimmy’s in public almost every time we go out. She doesn’t seem to care how I feel about it and she’ll shimmy just about anywhere without shame. She especially loves to shimmy around fast company, usually when we’re on the highway!

It’s an expensive relationship to maintain. Basically I have to keep buying her things to keep her happy! I even brought her to a special place to get her balanced and to bring her back into line, it cost me plenty!

She’ll stop shimmying for awhile, but then she’s soon back to her old tricks again until I buy her something new to placate her.

Some days I think “that’s it I’ve had enough!”… I’ll replace her with something better… and make her stay in the garage for a few days, giving her the silent treatment.

But then I look into her sparkling angel eyes (they’re such high intensity) and see her pretty smilies and I think about how much I love being inside her and driving her really hard. She gets so hot when I do that.

How could I ever leave her? I would pay anything to be with her.

My baby, my darling… my E34.

Guess I’ll have to learn to shimmy right along with her.

(I think I've completely lost it).

Can anyone help me cure my baby's shimmy?

R

[tim]

sot:

Ever think about a 540i? It's an unbelieveable incarnation of the e34.

You'll never go back to that bitch.

(of course, I'm kidding)

I'll take an e34 with a shimmy over most new cars out there.

But don't listen to me, I like working on cars.