Steering wheel shakes when braking at high speeds? HELP E38 Gurus!

[alpinewhite740i]

hi everyone.
i just got my car back from the shop not too long ago. i had got my steering tie rod center link and tie rod ends replaced. ive also got an alignment job done right after i had the parts put in.
I thought that this would solve my problems with my steering wheel shaking but i still have a problem while braking. When iim going 55+ mph and brake, the steering wheel shakes and the whole front of the car shakes pretty violently. do anyone know what the suspected defect part that might be causing this for my e38? I've jacked up the car on jack stands to look under it.
well im not sure if my thrust arms are suppose to make squeaking noises but it does. It also seems like the plastic mounts/bushings has play in it(not tight. maybe torn?) when i push on it. this is on my passenger side. the driver side seems to be tighter and don't make noise when i push on it.
So how can you tell if a thrust arm is bad and needs to be replaced? well looking at the ball joints where the thrust arms connect to the rotor, they both are torn or have a hole in the plastic boot on both sides. so does this mean i need to replace both thrust arms?
oh yea i also wanted to ask: how can you tell if the lower control arms are bad? looking under my car at the control arms, i can see that the driver side control arm where the mount/bushing connects to the chassis has a lot of black gunk around it. not sure if that came out of its bushing or it is my p.s. leak that got on it. but i can see that the passenger side doesnt have all that black gunk around it. so does this mean my driver side lower control arm is bad also? can i just replace the control arm's bushing? or do i have to get the whole assembly? also can i just replace one side or do i have to do both sides?
this is a B1tch but if it comes down to it, ill replace all four parts. thrust arms and lower control arms on both sides. but if i can save some money by replacing just the defected bushings or whatever so, then that would be koo too.
let me know what you E38 GURUS think.

thanks in advance

[black740ia]

How are the tires and rotors? If the boots are torn they are most definitely in need of replacement...

[Edwin NL]

Thrust arms bad, or brakes worped, or tires need balancing

[ScottyK]

First, welcome to the insanity!

My first thought runs to brakes as your describing an issue that occurs only when braking. Usually, pads and or rotors. In the past I would always replace both. If there is a pattern worn in the rotors and you only change pads soon the issue will return. Some may say turn rotors, but to each their own.

If upon review the braking system is not the issue then check out the video I linked below. Edwin has made a video to teach us all.

Hope it helps... and remember your straight jacket!

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...light=diagnose

[njdjh2o]

Or wear bearing, even it is not making any noise.

Can you tell which side the vibration is coming from. If you can jack it up and do the wiggle test.

Jack up the car and secure it on jack stands, unload the suspension (compress the spring) by a inch or so. By placing the pump jack under the control arm. (place a board on the jack before you do this). Make sure it is not on any part of the car frame.

Once done, grab the tire at 9 & 3 o'clock and try to wiggle the tire, not the car. It take practice. If you can wiggle it that way, it shows your tie rods are bad. But you just had this changed. So, if you could you have a bad new set.

Then grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock and do the same wiggle, which this will show if you have a bad wheel bearing. If you get any movrment in either test you have work to be done. It also help if you can have somebody there to do the wiggle and you get under the car to see what parts have the movement.

Also spin the wheel and if you hear any grinding, cracking are scrapping you have a bad wear bearing. But, when I did my it didn't make any noise , but the wiggle test showed it was bad, real bad.

Do your car wonders all over the road? if so, bad wheel bearing.

[alpinewhite740i]

Or wear bearing, even it is not making any noise.

Can you tell which side the vibration is coming from. If you can jack it up and do the wiggle test.

Jack up the car and secure it on jack stands, unload the suspension (compress the spring) by a inch or so. By placing the pump jack under the control arm. (place a board on the jack before you do this). Make sure it is not on any part of the car frame.

Once done, grab the tire at 9 & 3 o'clock and try to wiggle the tire, not the car. It take practice. If you can wiggle it that way, it shows your tie rods are bad. But you just had this changed. So, if you could you have a bad new set.

Then grab it at 12 and 6 o'clock and do the same wiggle, which this will show if you have a bad wheel bearing. If you get any movrment in either test you have work to be done. It also help if you can have somebody there to do the wiggle and you get under the car to see what parts have the movement.

Also spin the wheel and if you hear any grinding, cracking are scrapping you have a bad wear bearing. But, when I did my it didn't make any noise , but the wiggle test showed it was bad, real bad.

Do your car wonders all over the road? if so, bad wheel bearing.

hey wassup,
ive tested what u told me to do and my wheels are as tight as a virgin's P. They dont have any play in it and does not wiggle around or anything. ive spun the wheel and i dont hear any cracking or grinding. just the usual sound from the brakes rubbing the rotors as i spin it.
As i can recall when i got my car back from an alignment job, my car drives fairly straight and it dont wander all over the road. I guess its only on certain roads or how the road is shaped, but i would have to steer against the road.
i.e. : lets say im driving on the outside lane and the road is not leveled. so the car is leaned or tilted slightly to the right. i would have to steer against it. meaning i would kinda have to steer more to the left to keep the car going straight.
i will be posting some pics soon from under my car to let you guys see.
also i wanted to ask, where can i get thrust arms and lower control arms at? ive called a local bmw parts dismantler and they quoted me $280 + tax for both the thrust arms brand new w/bushings for the front. $200+tax for the lower control arms brand new w/bushings and the parts will arrive the next day for me to pick up. is this a good price? do i have any other options to get it from some place else?

Thrust arms bad, or brakes worped, or tires need balancing

Wassup E38 sage,

i didnt get to mention that the steering wheel vibrates and shimmy only when i brake hard and only if i was 55+mph or so. can warped brakes and unbalanced tires cause this problem also? if i dont apply the brakes hard enough, it doesnt shake or shimmy. and it will only shimmy when im braking from 55mph down to 40mph then the shimmy and shakes go away once my mph gets below 40mph.
its wierd but i hope this is more specific and narrows down the suspected defect part.
thanks in advance

[chuckc]

Well I don't know how severe your problem is but it does sound bad. I have had a similar experience and it was due to uneaven pad deposits building up on the brake rotors. May not be the case with you but I thought I would throw that out there.

More info here:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml

[alpinewhite740i]

hey what do you guys think about the karlyn brand for the uppers and lower control arms? are they any good?

http://www.bmwpartsonly.com/CatalogK...ogResults.aspx

if not, where can i get some good uppers and lower control arms for a fairly good price?

[IcemanBHE]

You want Lemforder or Meyle arms only.

Pls

K tks

[alpinewhite740i]

You want Lemforder or Meyle arms only.

Pls

K tks

where can i get those at?

[IcemanBHE]

Dunno. I get mine from BMW lol

but others get thiers from AZAutohaus or sumplace.

Do some searching

[njdjh2o]

might have hot spots on the rotors, hot spots are bluish spot that gets hotter thn the rest of the rotor and can cause the same thing.

[Edwin NL]

www.oembimmerparts.com

[kkrumrey2515]

Hey ! Before you run off replacing parts go get your tires balanced ! If your steering wheel and front end are shaking violently when you brake between 50 and 65 mph it isn't an alignment OR brake issue.... Tires are balanced on a car between 50 and 65 mph... start here first. it's your cheapest and best place to start. I had the same issue after putting a new set of rims and tires on my E38. Good luck !