csnow

Gman,
I feel your pain.
After rebuilding both control arms, new struts/strut mounts, new brakes, steering dampener, swaybar bushings, and repacking/adjusting bearings, I found that my Idler arm has substantial play.
Of course, it would have been hard to notice this with so much slop in the other components. I bought an idler arm rebuild kit from Importec for about $20.00, so no big loss, but another weekend day on the driveway was not in my plan.

Many performance tires are unidirectional. I would not be surprised if that would cause vibrations, but your toubles are very likely to be related to that idler arm play.

In every case I have seen, the sidewall of the tire indicates the proper direction of rotation. Swap them around, and see what happens. That fix costs nothing!

techbike

Any vibration you feel on the steering wheel and seat between 60 and 80 are almost always atrributable to wheel balance. The directional tires DO NEED to be mounted properly as well. Find a wheel/tire specialist with the Hunter GSP9700 machine (go to site: )
and fine one near you. That and a new steering dampener will probably solve the problem. MOST tire shop techs don't even know the difference between static and dynamic balance switches on the computerized machines. The fact that your tires,which are clearly marked for rotation direction, were mounted wrong is a clear indication that these guys don't know what they're doing and will have you changing all the front end components before long!

Turbo][

I seem to have a similar problem, however I can only feel this at about 85. Once pass it it goes away till I hit 92. Once the car above 100, it will feel this really bad vibration all the way up. What might this problem be?

techbike

At speed above 100, vibration could come from a simple loose bumper panel. If you feel it in the seat of your pants, I'd guess it's wheel alignment.

Gman91932

Today I get the idler arm fixed and bilstein shocks, tomorrow the place that put the unidirectional tires on backwards will change and balance them again (for free) Though I will have little money now until the 15th for play, I hope THIS FIXES THE PROBLEM!
I am in San Diego and I want to move on to tinted windows and good detailers for that showroom shine. Alas one thing at a time. Lets get rid of that darn shimmy!

techbike

...let me save you a little aggravation. The E class window channels are very abrasive and any dirt caught in there will definitely scratch your tint material. They'll show up immediately the first time you roll those windows down and put them back up. If the installer is a good one, they may have "moleskin" replacements that are kinder to the plastic. Have them replaced; otherwise, you'll have ugly vertical lines on all your windows. Also, wax the insides with a teflon-based wax like Gliptone, and occasionally clean the channel "scrapers" with a flat, chamois-wrapped tool.
I can't find moleskins around here so I just keep my windows up all the time

Gman91932

in the words of BB king "the shim is gone, the shim is gone away, the shim is gone, the shim is gone away"

suginami

Well, finally your problem is solved.

I guess putting the tires in the right spot and balancing them did the trick.

Gman91932

No it was a combination of the idler arm (the big culprit) and the tie rod on the passenger side. I have not had the tires re-balaanced and put in the correct direction yet. I am to do this, this morning.

suginami

I knew it. My first post to you on 5/16 suggested the tie rod. A worn out tie rod end bushing on the drivers side was the cause of my tire wobble.

BIG RON

I had a similar problem in my 240D and found out it was a worn or cracked flex disc. It's located just behind the tranny ( on the front of the drive shaft) and may be difficult to see if it has a minor crack. Not to diffcult to replace and costs about $40. Big Ron

john1189

I had or have the same problem with my 300E. Also when I turned the wheel all the way to the left it made a loud "clunck" that sounded like the wheel was falling off. I put it on a lift and decided I needed to replace the outer tie rods. In the process the inner tie rods also needed to be replaced. Then I noticed exactly what was causing the "clunck" sound. The rod above the steering damper was being held on by one twist of the nut. This caused the rod above the damper to ride on top of the damper itself. When a turn is made it falls off the damper and when the wheels are straightened out it has to fight its way up on top of the damper again. This is a 1990 and the nut was removed with one turn by hand. The bolt had worn itself smooth so the nut could not be retightened without replacing the rod. I think my shimmy is gone now I will check tomorrow. I replaced the rear shocks, the inner and outer tie rods, and the rod that sits above the steering damper. The parts cost about 400 bucks and I did it with the help of a friend. Learning as we went along. I may need a new steering damper but do not know how to tell if this one is bad. It has resistance in both directions unlike a shock. Does anyone know if this is how it should work? Hope this helps someone out.