I have '91 535 5-spd. It has a nasty front end shake in the 40-60mph range. It become a violent shake when braking. Steering heel shakes back and forth
The front end shakes like it's got a bent wheel or a very out of balance wheel. I have verified that it is not the wheels (happens with 2 different sets of wheels.) I have verified it's not the tires. (again the change of wheel thing) I have replaced the tires as well. New pads/Rotors. I have also in the past few years replaced a control arm. I have looked it over and a shop I go to have looked it over. The bushings all "appear" to be in good shape. I don't want to just start to replace parts for the sake of replacing them...

Anyne have any suggestions/experience with this?

im having this problem also. :mad

plus, i've already changed out the lower 2 arms with lemforder and the thrust with m5 bushing lemforders. i now feel like i should've went with 750iL bushings instead...

Having SAME PROBLEM as well and also have changed the trust arm bushings with the 750i verions, also in becomes very bad during braking.....

Check the center link, tie rods, and idler arm.

If the thrust or control arms were replaced and the parts weren't OEM lemforder, it's possible that the ball joints are bad. Fairly common to get 10k miles out of OCAP and similar quality parts.

There are also multiple manufacturers of the "750" thrust rod bushings, likely due to the hype around that upgrade, but only one is OEM quality.

Take it to a BMW specialist.

the center link and tie rods seem fine..no wear there, no boots ripped, etc. how can you tell if the idler arm is worn?

I just rebuilt the entire front end on my M5 a couple weeks ago with the help of a good friend and my front end vibration/shimmy got worse. So knowing all the components were good I got the car back on stands and have been slowly working my way one by one through these items - pitman arm to steering box, steering box properly torqued to subframe, steering box adjustment and that 32mm splined nut on the steering column shaft.

For the past month I have spent an hour or so each weekend trying to resolve it and have done the following followed by a couple days of driving before chasing further. Each was a very noticeable improvement.

1/2 turn on 32mm nut - eliminated quite a bit of play at footwell area
steering box vertical bolt to subframe was not up to torque
pitman arm pinch bolt to steering box spline shaft needed about a quarter turn to get up to torque

and just yesterday did about an 1/10 of turn on the steering box. I have yet to drive it and I don't want to overtighten so I am just going to make small adjustments to be safe. I am pretty sure this was the first time the steering box has ever been adjusted. Car has 107k miles.

Each of the following has eliminated an amount of vibration at the shifter and the shimmy is almost gone now at 65. Once I fully resolve I will post a write up.

Hope this helps.

I don't notice it more when I brake then when driving. I do notice that when in a turn it is less than on a straight run.

If it is fine but only shakes when braking.. pretty good bet it is your rotors.

Don

Any updates? Getting ready to do mine to eliminate my shimmy.

Tyres could be the problem, get your wheels balanced front and rear, check tyre pressure. i had same problem one front tyre was slightly lower on pressure think it was 30 while the other was 32, i in flated the other to 32 and problem disappeared

Tyres could be the problem, get your wheels balanced front and rear, check tyre pressure. i had same problem one front tyre was slightly lower on pressure think it was 30 while the other was 32, i in flated the other to 32 and problem disappeared


I run at 40psi all the way around. This is to somewhat combat uneven tire wear, but i also noticed what little shake I did have from the front from 45-50mph dissappered as well. To bad it didn't cure the clunky ball joint as well

I do wonder though, It seems you never hear many complaints from people running the stock wheels in 15, or 16, Not that I would ever want those 16's, But I have considered the stock 15's.
If someone would buy my alpina reps I would do it in a heartbeat. The 17's look nice and all, But they are a pain to keep clean, expensive rubber and they are nothing but all show and no go on my 520, sorta like the M-tech three spoke
If it didn't have them though, I wouldn't have spent what I did for the car...Not that it was all that much. Funny creatures we are.
But suspensions seem to last with the stock wheel sizes.

But suspensions seem to last with the stock wheel sizes.

That's why I've decided to keep my 535i as a daily driver...if I could just get over all the bushing installation issues. :)