1990 525i e34 vibration / shaking at around 80km/h (50mph)

[stonedewok]

Hi there everyone,


First of all, I'd just like to say i'm a newbie to this forum and to the BMW community, so go easy on me please!

And yes I have checked numerous posts/forums regarding "shakes shimmeys and vibrations"...


Recently I just purchased a new set of wheels/rims (225/60R15) off a new 5 series (e39 i think?). I had them put on my 1990 525i e34 WITH hubcentric rings to account for the e46/e34 diameter difference.

I also had a wheel balance and alignment done.


While driving it on the highway I find the steering wheel and generally the body of the car shakes VERY BADLY at around 80km/h (50mph). At first i just accelerated and hit 100km (65mph) and it wasn't that bad....but later after braking a few times...I just couldn't get past 80km/h again. It literally felt like the wheels would fly off.

Strangely enough, when i drive any speed under 70km/h (around 40mph) the car drives smooth as silk.



Now for a bit of history, I bought the 525i (with 100K miles - 169K kilometres) about 2 weeks ago with stock wheels (205/60R15), the tyres were unevenly worn (hence the alignment) and thread low. Even with these tyres I could do around 65mph with a little vibration in the steering column. THis new shake / vibration is terrible.



Because of this I doubt it is the suspension ( a friend of mine who knows BMWs and has driven my car says the suspension is fine), driveshaft, brake pads and rotors (checked by a mechanic not too long ago), or upper thrust arms...all commonly attributed to shaking on highway conditions. I also doubt it is the guibo...


So right now I am completely stuck.

I have a brand new set of wheels all fitted to go, but I can't figure out this shaking problem.


Can anyone help me with this problem at all? Any feedback is appreciated.


Cheers,
Matt.

 

[epj3]

Wait what about the hub ring from an e46??? E46 wheels don't fit E34's, at all (without HUGE spacers).

If you're driving with an alignment so bad it is wearing tires unevently, there will be extra unwanted stress on the bushings. The bushings on the front of the e34 are really finicky, and you WONT have ANY IDEA if the suspension is fine by just looking at it. It would be the thrust arm bushings that would cause this, but the shimmy from the thrust arms usually aren't so bad the wheels feel like they are falling off.



BUT, what I ABSOLUTELY 100% think it is......
Either the hubcentric rings aren't the right ones, or your tire's belt is broken, or slipped. My drivers front tire actually had a belt break last week, which casued it to shimmy so bad around 45 and higher that you just couldn't go any faster. I'm MORE than willing to bet this is your problem. Whoever mounted the tires probably screwed up and broke the belt. I could drive under 45 and it would be smooth as silk. After about 3 or 4 more miles, it was so bad that even 5 mph would make the whole car feel like it was driving over basketballs.

 

[stonedewok]

hi there epj3,

You're a genius mate,

turns out they put the WRONG HUBCENTRIC RINGS! idiots...

as far as them damaging the tyre belts i bloody hope not...
i watched them every second they were fitting the tyres so i dont think they did anything dodgy...


anyways, briefly hit 55mph down my street and the problem seems fixed.

will try highway tomorrow.

thanks for your advice!

 

[B M W]

Wrong hubcentric rings? That's pretty blatantly stupid of them.

 

[thebodab]

Glad to see someone has had the same problem that I did on my 525I. I have purchased another BMW but I did a couple of things to fix the problem on my old one. I had the suspension checked but nothing was found wrong with it. I had the same problem as you.. high speed low speed better. Certain speeds and road surfaces effected it. I decided to go the new tire route. I had the new tires put on but I still had the problem. I took the car to be aligned and the guy doing the alignment said that he could not do an alignment because the new tires I purchased were out of round. What happens is that when tires are produced if they do not allow enough time for the tires to cool before they are taken off the mold they can become out of round. I went back to the tire shop and at first they did not want to change them. They were at the max or just over what they considered to be bad depending on the tire. After getting a little angry about it they replaced all of them and after I had the new tires balanced and the car aligned the car drove great.