E30 Zone

replaced everything bar the idler arm....... upper/lower control arms, link rods, steering tie rods. feels tighter but shakes at 60mph and powers out about 75 80mph, had tracking done and wheels balanced anyone got any ideas as it is a violent shaking did the work myself so anything i could have done wrong please let me know thanks.

got alpina replicas or aftermarket "multi fit" type alloys?

no it has ronal deep dish like the m3 saloon alloys on it but it never shook before i did the work it just wondard like mad!

e34's don't like 17's! the suspension needs to be mint for it to be ok on them

new shocks and springs allround

E34's do drive like a double bed on fat 17 inch rims. That's why the M5 has different bushes, springs, shocks etc. I bet the car would drive okay with the original 15 inch BBS back on.

first things first have you checked that everything is tight? 2nd while you replaced the parts did you hit or apply pressure i.e lever bar etc to anything on the front end? Could it be a wheel bearing? Is it definitely shaking from the front end? If no its a whole new ball game.

yes to all

jamie325isport wrote:did you hit or apply pressure i.e lever bar etc to anything

This a very very bad move on E34's

I have seen one so bad the whole front end moved up and down while turning the wheels lock to lock!
The car had previously had work done on the front end, possibly engine removal, I dont know, but the front sub-frame was mullered from where some muppet had been levering off it!
Due to the steering box and idler arm mounting on the sub-frame this is purely a c*nts trick. Any deformation of the sub-frame in the wrong area and your steering will never forgive you.

Oh, they are also a ba**ard to change, they locate on 12mm dowels into the chassis rails that are near enough an inch long, add to that 12 to 18 years of weather/corrosion and you will not be impressed

Try putting the original 15' BBS or 16's back on...My E34's on 17's and the suspension is pretty decent, but it still hates the 17's; a mate at work has a 525i on 15's, so we swapped wheels and drove both for a jaunt down the M4 spur; his one shook like mine did, and mine didn't shake at all.

I'm lookin for a set of 15's or 16's now out of desperation...the 17's are a nightmare.

i have 17 inch bmw rims on mine...no probs.....once i fitted the spigots...they were e39 rims originally.

Center drag link and or disk runout ? Definate possibles. I've had a few e28's (I believe e28's, e34's and e32'2 had a very similar steering box array) and am kinda familar with the little foibles my e28's had. Maybe wear/play the steering column pinion within the steering box with higher mileage. Runoff in a disk or both disks will be made quite violent with a worn center drag link - the steering wheel has more than say, 3 cm rotational play at any angle is a reasonable symptom of that.

If the steering wheel feels tight and there is minimal play then it is more likely to be disk runout alone. 50 to 55mph seem to be the worst speeds, yes ?

Ignore me if you know I'm wrong. I'm NEVER above being wrong.

Mox3d, when you say disk runout do you mean warped discs ?

Basically, yes. ATE's do it, Jurids and BMW brand disks too. They can all go wobbly. Although the jury's still out on exactly what progates it, like what moment or condition etc in the past triggers it. A hotspot on the disk at standstill after some heavy use or one heavy stop has over the years seemed to be the most likely general cause of initial runout, and once theres a warp in the disks we can go to full on caliper seizure (or vice versa, partial calieper siezure can bring on the wobblies) and/or excessive wear to the steering idler bush and center drag link.

As I say though, if you know at all for a fact that I am barking up the wrong tree just tell me shut up.
But thats just what I've consistently seen a lot of in the past on e3's, e12's, e28's, e32's and e34's. It's a finnicky setup on these models, specially older higher mileage one's with more generous play in the system.