:help Just bought a 2002 530i. Steering shakes 50-65mph. 24000 miles a little early for control arm bushings? shake goes away on braking. Dealer says tires, I say they are waiting until warranty expires. HELP???

Probably the tires. What tires do you have? If it's like mine, you'll be replacing the tires soon anyway.

Continental from the factory.
What type are the least likely to shake?

bent rim perhaps?

Continental from the factory.
What type are the least likely to shake?

Good question. Whe I got my 530 about a year ago, it had a new set of Dunlop FM90s. The rear tires were worn out in 10000 miles. :( And it's not like I'm doing burn-outs, the 530 doesn't have the torque. I got a pair of Fuzion tires on the back now, waiting for the Dunlops on the front to wear out.

Anyway, if you got decent tread on the tires, have them balanced. They can tell you if the rims are bent then, too.

^^so why did yours shake? :confused

^^so why did yours shake? :confused

I assume you mean me.

Mine don't shake. But AFAIK, shaking is linked to soemthing out of balance. Even if the wheel is bent or the control arm bushings are worn, the wheel will not shake until the tire is worn out of balance.

I had a lot of trouble with this on my previous car, an early Porsche 944 with manual steering. Seems Porsche ahd a design problem with that. The only solution was to re-balance every year.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the e39 has that sort of problem. But if Rick has 24000 miles on the original tires, a re-balance may well slove the problem until the tires are worn to the point of replacement. That'll give Rick a chance the find the problem and deal with it.

balance every year? damm, that sounds like a pain in the neck to deal with.

balance every year? damm, that sounds like a pain in the neck to deal with.


Yes it was a pain. And it was actually more often than that. But it was one of two serious problems the 944 had. It was solved in later models.

The other huge desing problem was the placement of the heater hoses. They were located just above a hole in the bellhousing used to set TDC. When one broke or the heater control valve started leaking, it soaked the clutch and washed the grease out of the pilot bearing, which meant you had to spend 3 or 4 days changing out the clutch. And the hoses to the heater core went through the firewall and were attached to the core inside the cabin. So you had to remove the dash and console just to get to a hose clamp to replace a $3 hose. I guess the Porsche people hadn't quite figured out the water-cooled stuff in 1983.

Sorry to stray so far off topic.

E39's have a known issue with front control arm bushings and thrust bushings (same?). These wear out quickly (my dealer said 30k is when to start looking for it), and are considered a wear item. If balancing doesn't take care of it, look into those bushings. Do it yourself if at all possible.