E39 shakes at highway speeds

My 2001 525i starts to shake once i hit about 65 mph. When I reach around 80 or so the shaking stops. What could be the cause of this and what should I look for "under the hood"

Thanks

Jason

Reply to
Jason
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Simplest, cheapest and most obvious thing to check: out-of-balance tires.

Alan Brooks

Reply to
Alan Brooks

Out of interest, has it got the original alloy wheels it came with?

Reply to
Bear

How many miles? If 50K or more, also consider the control arm bushings. Very common failure.

Reply to
Bob Koller

i have 82k on the car now. It was just in the shop last month for rear ball joints and brake pad with rotors. i also got that alignment they said was needed once you got the ball joints put on.

Reply to
Jason

My 635 had a shimmy problem. Turned out it was a sticking caliper. The pads heat up...then the car starts-a-shaking. I could hear the front pad rubbing just by rolling the car in a parking lot with it turned off.

So...maybe have the calipers checked out.

Wheel balance is a pretty obvious one. Figure you know what that feels like. The other thing is a possibly bent rim.

Best! Dru

Jas>i have 82k on the car now. It was just in the shop last month for rear ball

Reply to
Dru Abrams

Under the hood? Nothing.

I'd focus my attention on the wheel weights first.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

No, don't look under the hood... Look under the car. What you describe is a classic symtom of wheel misbalance.

Reply to
Malt_Hound

It's most likely to be, in order, a) wheel balance (not the same thing as alignment, or "tracking") or b) control arm bushes. Both cause a distinctive "shimmy", usually in the 50-90 range, though of course it doesn't have to be over the entire range.

Reply to
Bear

yeah what i ment was looking around the wheels. I can feel it in my pedal sometimes. I did realize a problem coming from the front left wheel. When i hit a bump, i get a LOUD rattling noise. So i took a look at it. I found out where the noise is coming from. Dont get me on the technical stuff i'm not

100% sure but on the back side of the brake pad/calipiar? there's like this little metal bar that moves back and forth. If i push up on it, it hits the top of the pad and makes the clicking noise. I compared it with the other pads and it seems like some type of anti- raddle thing is in place but it's not on this pad? I see how it works and all but can i just buy this metal part that goes around it or do i have to replace the entire brake pad?

Reply to
Jason

Look at the parts break down here:

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Reply to
Malt_Hound

Start off with the car cold, then drive about 10 miles or so. Pull over then (carefully) put your hand near the front brake disks one at a time - if the problem is the caliper, one of the brakes will be clearly a lot hotter than the other.

This happened about 4 months ago to my wife's 328 with about 95k (miles) on the clock. The caliper was changed and it's back to driving as it should - I'd had the wheels/tyres checked out twice before I realised what it was.

Good luck

Reply to
dengue_dude

i did that it still happens it's not hot. I just had my brake pads and rotors changed per BMW. and of course it's still happening. Where else could this shaking be coming from?

Reply to
Jason

I think we need a little more information. Is the vibration accompanied by the steering wheel shaking? How many miles on your tires and how often do you rotate them? Is the suspension stock or has the car been lowered?

Reply to
Jack

My steering wheel used to shake until i got my pads and rotors put on. now i can just feel the "body" of the car shake. i have about 20k on my tires. and i just got them rotated about a week ago along with balance. The suspension is stock...nothing changed with the car.

Reply to
Jason

It's also quite common for the liquid-filled bushings at the ends of the thrust arms to leak, which causes a shake/shimmy that occurs right around the 50 to 70 MPH range. More common in I6 models than V8's, I think - the entire front end is quite different in a 6 than it is in an 8.

The ends of the thrust arms can be seen from under the car. If they've been leaking, you can see the trail of fluid. If you have (or have access to) a copy of the ETK and/or TIS, it becomes quite clear where to look.

Tim/

Reply to
Tim H

I dont see any fluid there. Is supposted to be an obvious leak?

and i did just have ball joints replaced in the rear 3 months ago. is it a chance that they were installed incorrectly?

Reply to
Jason

Well, it's obvious in that you can probably see where dust and dirt have been attracted to the "damp spot" created by the leak. There is not a lot of fluid involved here, so you will not see a drastic leak.

As far as incorrect installation of ball joints - depends on who did it and how competent they are. I'd like to assume that any dealer would be able to do this with no problem, and 100% correctly, but mistakes do occur. You might take the car back to whoever did the ball joints, and tell them you've got a shimmy problem that started after they did the work.

Tim/

Reply to
Tim H

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