Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 00:04:45 GMT From: "Todd Matsubara" <toddmnopsamhlink.net> Subject: Re: Can Misalignment Cause Shimmy?
Sometimes BMW's can get the rotors warped when an impact wrench is used to tighten the lugs. This is because they use bolts instead of nuts. You can change the rotors over and over too, it'll just keep happening if they keep doing this. One other area you might want to check is that the wheels fit on the hubs properly. Sometimes if the wheels are changed, they won't index on the hubs, causing vibration at the speeds you mentioned. One other common cause (which you seem to have taken care of) is tires. Sometimes a brand new set of tires is all that can fix this. Virtually all vibration-type problems like this are related to some type of component that rotates with speed, rather than a static piece like a bushing. This is not to say that it's not possible, but usually not probable. Things like bad bushings usually just cause twitchy, inconsistent steering problems and odd tire wear. Todd Matsubara TM Engineering http://www.tmengineering.net "Wyatt Burp" <b_veritynopsameja.com> wrote in message news:d4735374.0108231527.6f01a235nopsaming.google.com... > It's always been my understanding that steering wheel shimmy > happened when a wheel (or wheels) was/were out of balance. > But I read the other day that it can be due to misalignment. > (I read this in a Reader's Digest article about keeping your > car in shape, when it casually mentioned that a shimmy means > the car's out of alignment--I took this with a grain of salt.) > > I've had a shimmy from about 45 mph up to about 70 mph--it lessens > at higher speeds--ever since I bought my used car ('98 BMW). > I've posted about this prob. to the BMW NG in the past > and I didn't get much useful feedback, so I thought I'd check > with some other auto groups. Balancing and rotating the wheels > doesn't solve the problem, and the tires are nearly new Dunlops. > The former owner had the same problem with other tires, apparently. > Anybody have any ideas what the problem could be. My dealer > says it couldn't be bushings because this model didn't have > problem bushings like some of the other BMWs. I'd just like > some more info from some of you guys who might know before I > go somewhere to get the problem looked into. Thanks a bunch! > > -- > WB >
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