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Problem : Front Right Wheel

2K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Goose 
#1 ·
First of all hello to all the members of this board!

Now i'm not one that actually use's car forum's all that often, So bare with me. My name Scott and i'm 19 from Birmingham, UK.

I own a BMW 5 Series 520i from 1990, excuse the exact model i have no idea. An i'll go into that a bit more.
Basically i'm not really into cars all that much however due to the recent conditions i've wrote of my pride and Joy Motorbike. Suzuki Goose.



Any way that now looks like...




Ok Ok, very nice. In anycase a friend of mine who also motorbikes wanted the bike i inadvetidly smashed up well. (Hit a car head on at roughly an impact of 70mph).
Basically he didn't want to pay for it. But he did have a car he jokingly said i could have in exchange for the bike. :idea2 Turned round i had the car a few days after.

Anyway the car had stood for just under a year :blink: , Fired up first time and basically although very dirty and had plants growing on it and its own unique pant life around it started up and the automatic choke come on.

i decided to drive it down the motorway and home. Roughly 50 miles away. Now bare in mind this car was not used for just under a year.
A gamble i thought but what the hell. Being cococuned in a shell seemed like a sofa compared to the bike. :driving
Great thing is about the car is that the engine gave up at 250'000 miles due to bmw not attaching the coolant pipes correctly and it destroyed itself pulling a caravan up a steep hil. This was BMW's faul and they had a new engine put into it. £5000 roughly from BMW. :goodness:
All reciepts to proof.
Its had one own, full service history. Great stuff!

Anyway enough back ground lets move onto the problem. Although it needs a frigging good clean, And new front brake pads! (Anywhere online i can order them would be greatly apprciated) I feel my friend said the suspension bushings might need doing. (Which shouldn't be a problem as the old man works in a college where they do mechanics and can basically tinker with your car for practice for about £12 an hour!... although you might get a few scallys looknig through your car...)

The front wheel every now and then feels like its wobbling, sometimes quite violently and then you either have to stop or speed up to stop it. Thinking of it this morning it done it on the way to work but stopped quite quickly running along at the same speed. :pissed2

It seems to stop if you touch the brakes also. So the vibration in the wheels i have no idea, maybe its just a crap wheel, the wheels nots, but could it also be something like alighment of steering, the tracking?

I'm pretty new to car mechanics, so you'll have to bare with me. Motorbikes seems alot easier to play with. :screwy


Any help much appciated!

Thanks All

Scotty
Happier than your average man
 
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#3 ·
No i think you miss read, it was a combined total of 70mph.

And it did demolish the bike.

I'm actually believe it or not just looking for a little help on the car being quite young i'm not familier with it. And after driving it after a bike its a little slow. But very practical and a nice drive.

I'm not here to impress anyone i just thoguht people would be a bit reasonable knowing a little bit of background from myself.

But here's some other pictures to Impress you... :banghead







 
#4 ·
Bad/no wheel balance can give a real crap ride particularly on the front end - I recently had a tyre replaced and the pricks forgot to balance the wheel. At speeds between 35 - 50 the bloody thing nearly rattled your teeth out. However, above or below this all was fine.

If it stops when you brake might be a loose caliper.

You really shouldn't be driving it at present if it's been stood for a year and is giving these problems - get it on a ramp and have a bloody good look round with someone who knows what they're doing, you could learn a lot in a short time. Wish I had access to a ramp for £12 an hour I might actually consider working on my Beamer myself instead of paying others to do it.

Do a search on google for BMW parts you will find plenty of places which sell brake pads online at reasonable prices - have a good look round though and you might find you can replace the stock parts with upgraded ones such as Green Stuff of Black Diamond for a reasonable price.

www.partsgateway.co.uk may come in handy.

Model is e34
 
#5 ·
Much apprciated!
More like the kind of post i was after and some helpful sites and information on parts that will improve the car.

Yes i understand its been stood for a year and technically shouldn't really drive it, but when your only way to work is a mode of privatly own transport is the only way there then sometiems you have to push the boundries and hope for the best.

Lately it seems better and isn't doing it so much.

I will get it looked at etc, as i'm sure alot of mechanics really don't differ much from a car to a bike. Just the pure scale of the thing and possibly the electronics. Those things scare me. I'd rather stick to carbs ;)

Would a loose caliper cause the wheel to vibrate mabe one the disc gets a little hot?
Hence fractionally expanding the metal and pad so they would rub.
 
#6 ·
No but it can sometimes create vibration which feels like it - most likely not though.

Electricals are something I'm not into either but there's quite a few people on this forum who like to play around with them. Personally I haven't got the patience to work on cars anymore electrical or otherwise unless it's something very quick and easy to do - shame cos I used to love it, also it's more satisfying doing repairs/mods yourself.

There is a mountain of parts/mods out there for the e34 and plenty of people here who will give you ideas - from what I can see it's one of the most popular bmw's for modders.

Also, I know what it's like relying on a motor to get to work every day - public transport is crap, imagine trying to get to handsworth from northfield for 8am using buses!!! Just think it would be a bitch if something had rotted over the last few months only to fail while you're thrashing it up the M6.

Good luck
 
#7 ·
I have a 90 525i and it had the same kind of wheel problem. i had to either speed up or slow down for it to stop.. mine did it between 42-52 mph.. NOw i replaced the bushings and it drives like new!!
 
#8 ·
Someone did say the bushings might need doing. Lately it seems to have stopped it, but i'm putting it through an MOT to see what needs doing with it exactly.

Least that way i can find out.

In anycase i'm not one to really modify cars. I'm young but please don't think just because i'm young i'm going to "max" the car out. If anything i drive the BMW a hell of alot slower than any other car i've driven.

I don't really think i will keep the car all that long. Maily due to tax / mot / *Insurance* (being the main one) and running costs of the 5 series is just way to much for someone of my age.

So you never know... Might see a for sale post on the forum soon!


Thanks all for your help!

Scotty
very pleased
 
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