BMW 528i E39 Wobble at speed issue
Discussion
Hello all,
I have been running my bargain 5 series for around 5 months now, it has been great. I do around 500 miles per week, over half of that on the motorway. I would like to sort it out a bit and keeping it for longer, while I search for an interesting replacement which fits the bill for higher miles.
When I bought the car I could feel the front left wheel bearing wasn't in good shape so replaced both front wheel bearings. This improved the feel no end, but was still not right. There was some vibration coming through which was very apparent at around 70mph. I had an alignment and wheel balance done but this didn't solve or even improve it. It's quite an obvious wobbly vibration which comes through the whole car. You can feel it sitting in the back as much as you can holding the steering wheel. It is there at lower speeds but gets really bad at motorway speeds.
There's lots of stories online about vibration coming through the wheel, and people chasing it round replacing various components to try and solve the issue.
Does anyone have experience with this specific issue?
Could it be something in the drivetrain like a prop shaft bearing etc? It would be great to replace just one part and solve it. I don't want to spend lots of money on the car as I paid £750 for it, just as a short termer. Though I have grown to love it. The only thing that is stopping me keeping it longer term is that 29mpg though good is not great when doing high ish milage.
JP
I have been running my bargain 5 series for around 5 months now, it has been great. I do around 500 miles per week, over half of that on the motorway. I would like to sort it out a bit and keeping it for longer, while I search for an interesting replacement which fits the bill for higher miles.
When I bought the car I could feel the front left wheel bearing wasn't in good shape so replaced both front wheel bearings. This improved the feel no end, but was still not right. There was some vibration coming through which was very apparent at around 70mph. I had an alignment and wheel balance done but this didn't solve or even improve it. It's quite an obvious wobbly vibration which comes through the whole car. You can feel it sitting in the back as much as you can holding the steering wheel. It is there at lower speeds but gets really bad at motorway speeds.
There's lots of stories online about vibration coming through the wheel, and people chasing it round replacing various components to try and solve the issue.
Does anyone have experience with this specific issue?
Could it be something in the drivetrain like a prop shaft bearing etc? It would be great to replace just one part and solve it. I don't want to spend lots of money on the car as I paid £750 for it, just as a short termer. Though I have grown to love it. The only thing that is stopping me keeping it longer term is that 29mpg though good is not great when doing high ish milage.
JP
Get the balancing re checked, sometimes it doesn't work as well as it should. If the tyres are newish they might need 'wearing in' a bit. I had some a few years ago that needed to be wheel spun a bit to get rid of manufacturing intolerances. Also had it when the discs were replaced and the hubs not cleaned off properly meaning they were not sitting properly.
Other than that I can only think of a worn bush giving some play.
Bit vague I know but I hope it helps.
Other than that I can only think of a worn bush giving some play.
Bit vague I know but I hope it helps.
E30M3SE said:
Get the front thrust arms checked for play in both the ball joints and the bushes.
This first. Not actually very expensive to fix. E39/E34 front end is /exactly/ the same, except the E39 6cyls use a rack&pinion steering setup rather than the steering box of the E34s. But that single chnage doesn't affect the symptoms of unhappiness.
So - while the E34 'speed wobble' is well-understood as an easily solved problem, for some reason no-one ever looks in the same place on the E39s... If the tyres are A-1 and pressures are correct /then/ check Upper control arm bushes, then lower control arm bushes; dampers; disc run-out; ball joints; idler arm bearing on the V8s. Pretty much in that order.
Huff said:
E39/E34 front end is /exactly/ the same, except the E39 6cyls use a rack&pinion steering setup rather than the steering box of the E34s.
It's not exactly the same, the E39 was one of the first (if not THE first?) production cars to use an aluminium front suspension setup, whereas the E34 does not. I've chased shimmy around my E39 for some time - 30-50mph shimmy and shimmy under braking was the front control arms, 60-80mph shimmy was wheel balance (Right after new tyres, too!).
No shimmy now but for how long is anyones guess
My brothers E39 has a similar issue, it’s an R reg 523i.
When driving in a straight line, you can feel it veer left and right even if both hands are on the wheel, it only really happens above 40mph while going in a straight line. The steering wheel doesn’t pull left or right, it doesn’t even move, it just veers left and right but only a small amoont until you have to turn back or straighten it out. When driving in a straight line, if you move the wheel left and right, there’s no movement.
He took it to get tracking and balancing and the problem is still there, mechanic doesn’t know what it could be but they said the suspension, bushes, droplinks etc are all in good condition, it’s only done 90k miles.
The steering was pretty heavy and unresponsive for a while but he topped the power steering fluid up and it went back to normal. Now it’s doing something completely different and the power steering fluid is the same. Anybody have any ideas?
When driving in a straight line, you can feel it veer left and right even if both hands are on the wheel, it only really happens above 40mph while going in a straight line. The steering wheel doesn’t pull left or right, it doesn’t even move, it just veers left and right but only a small amoont until you have to turn back or straighten it out. When driving in a straight line, if you move the wheel left and right, there’s no movement.
He took it to get tracking and balancing and the problem is still there, mechanic doesn’t know what it could be but they said the suspension, bushes, droplinks etc are all in good condition, it’s only done 90k miles.
The steering was pretty heavy and unresponsive for a while but he topped the power steering fluid up and it went back to normal. Now it’s doing something completely different and the power steering fluid is the same. Anybody have any ideas?
PTF said:
When they balanced the wheels/tyres did they use the centre holes or did they secure the wheel using the stud holes? I've heard of issues with balancing where the wheels have a VERY slight inaccuracy with the centre hole location
I’m not sure of the details, my brother told me it didn’t fix it so I thought I’d ask you helpful lot. I’ve driven loads of old cars and some cars pull to the left along with the steering wheel, it’s not exactly unsafe and a common issue but I’ve never encountered something like this before, mechanics either don’t have a clue or they can’t be bothered as it was towards the end of the day when he took it in.
Chestrockwell said:
My brothers E39 has a similar issue, it’s an R reg 523i.
When driving in a straight line, you can feel it veer left and right even if both hands are on the wheel, it only really happens above 40mph while going in a straight line. The steering wheel doesn’t pull left or right, it doesn’t even move, it just veers left and right but only a small amoont until you have to turn back or straighten it out. When driving in a straight line, if you move the wheel left and right, there’s no movement.
He took it to get tracking and balancing and the problem is still there, mechanic doesn’t know what it could be but they said the suspension, bushes, droplinks etc are all in good condition, it’s only done 90k miles.
The steering was pretty heavy and unresponsive for a while but he topped the power steering fluid up and it went back to normal. Now it’s doing something completely different and the power steering fluid is the same. Anybody have any ideas?
Wow! Holy Thread Resurrection When driving in a straight line, you can feel it veer left and right even if both hands are on the wheel, it only really happens above 40mph while going in a straight line. The steering wheel doesn’t pull left or right, it doesn’t even move, it just veers left and right but only a small amoont until you have to turn back or straighten it out. When driving in a straight line, if you move the wheel left and right, there’s no movement.
He took it to get tracking and balancing and the problem is still there, mechanic doesn’t know what it could be but they said the suspension, bushes, droplinks etc are all in good condition, it’s only done 90k miles.
The steering was pretty heavy and unresponsive for a while but he topped the power steering fluid up and it went back to normal. Now it’s doing something completely different and the power steering fluid is the same. Anybody have any ideas?
Re the 'shimmy'; the front and rear upper suspension arms need to be checked, as well as the tyres themselves and the alloys need a good look over too, could be a buckled alloy or a duff tyre
Usually the E39s suffer with their suspension arms and bushes, they'll need to be replaced as whole units and on both sides, makes sense
Meyle and Lemforder suspension components are as good as they get IMO; all can be sourced via BMWmotormec or C3BMW, both on eBay
Use RealOEM to get the part number and search on eBay and then go from there. Avoid Eurocarparts crap
However, has the car had a proper wheel alignment done, if not, it might be worth souring a local Hunter Alignment place near to you and asking them to get it set up properly on their systems, could be that it's all to cock!
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