fatboysam

What kids of wheel balance do I need? my tries have 30k miles on them.... I talked to some indy shop, they said they will only do road force on new tires and not on old ones... they said they can do conventional wheel balance on old tires.... does that sound rite ?

TU2TLE

Go to any tire shop. Ask them to balance your front wheels. It could very well be a balancing issue. Rule that out first. Dealer is mistaken about a bushing not leaking. There is no leak that comes from a bushing. Now on the boot on the other side of the control arm can leak if it lost its seal. Balance your wheels and have the tire shop look at your bushings while your tires arr off. They are easily visable behind the rotor. Mine were bad at 60k. It all depends on how you drive your car, when the bshings give.

RTR

+1 on the balancing.

But e60 control arm bushings are fluid filled and can indeed leak.

fatboysam

So I drove the car for 1 day after wheel balancing...it has improved significantly but it's still there above 65Mph...the steering wheel goes left and right..... what next now ?

KyleB

put the car on a lift, have a look at all of your suspension components. especially front tension strut bushings where they connect to the subframe. at 60K, they're probably worn out.

fatboysam

Do I really need a ramp for this OR I can work with Rhino ramp from link below:

KyleB

you need the car on a proper two post lift so you can grab each wheel, move it back and forth, and see what, if anything, is worn out. you can certainly see everything with the car on ramps, but i like to be able to wiggle each wheel by hand. everyone does things differently though.

i would strongly suggest finding an independent mechanic you trust, and pay him a few dollars to put the car on a lift and check your suspension for you. let me preface this by saying i do not mean any disrespect by this...but if you are not aware that a brake backing plate is supposed to look like that, you won't know what you're looking for with regard to your suspension components, and diagnosing your issue is likely beyond your mechanical abilities.

good luck with the car, please update this thread when you solve your problem, as it will help others in the future when they encounter a similar issue.

Car_Almond

BMW dealership just inspected my 07 530xi ( 93,000 miles) and indeed the lower fluid-filled front suspension control arm bushings were said to have cracks in them. A weakness in this car.

fatboysam

What are the symptoms you were having while you were driving?

Car_Almond

Car does have a slight vibration of the steering wheel that I thought was a little front brake rotors warping, a typical condition. I'm not sure if the control arm bushings are really leaking yet, so the vibration might be brake rotors after all. Other than that, car feels just fine steering.

Symptoms of a collapsed (fluid gone) control arm bushing might be a clunk noise heard when hitting bumps or using brakes. Certainly look for any loose feel in the front suspension when driving. Wheel balance problems show up synchronized to wheel speed, and this bushing problem would not wobble faster as speed increases.