[HerrGruyere]

Hi All,

I get a pretty noticeable shimmy when I'm braking. It's subdued under hard braking; but, normal traffic it's annoying. It's readily apparent around 38mph and above.

I'm guessing it's my rearward control arms - the ones that stretch back toward the firewall and have a ball joint. I replaced the other control arms, but that didn't help much. However, I'm just wondering: could it be my tie rods or my struts/strut mounts? I have 156K on the clock, so I'm sure it's any one of those. I reckon the struts are original. There was not a lot of play in the control arm bushings.

Just wondering! Any thoughts? Thanks!

[NiNeTyOne]

It's the thrust arm bushings. Replace the bushings with Strongflex yellow ones for about $50. Easy fix if you have a press, if not, pull the arms and most shops can press them out and press the new ones in for you for $20-40.

Whole job takes about 3 hours.

[HerrGruyere]

I figured it was those. Thanks!

[tclippinger]

I was told by Turner Motorsports Tech, 100,000 miles is typical life span of our oem suspension, bushings, and component. If you don't have a plan to replace or upgrade, the little things turn into big things, $$$$. I.E. Front end shaking under braking, NiNeTyOne is spot on. $$ option is also replace the component with the new bushing already attached.

[soybmw]

I currently have this problem, too. I get a decent amount of "judder" when braking between 60-40 mph. Over 60, braking is fine. Under 40, braking is fine. I was thinking about replacing pads and rotors all around. Do you guys think control arms would be a better place to start? I've gotten under the car and there doesn't seem to be any play in the arms, though.

[floydarogers]

While it's certainly plausible that the bearings/bushings are worn out at that mileage, the usual cause of judder is pad deposits on the rotors. Replacing pads and rotors obviously will correct that problem, but that's an overkill, when liberal application of emery cloth/paper should remove the deposits.

I'm glad to see that no-one has mentioned "warped rotors", as that just doesn't happen on non-track cars.

[Sheagaffney]

Originally Posted by HerrGruyere

Hi All,

I get a pretty noticeable shimmy when I'm braking. It's subdued under hard braking; but, normal traffic it's annoying. It's readily apparent around 38mph and above.

I'm guessing it's my rearward control arms - the ones that stretch back toward the firewall and have a ball joint. I replaced the other control arms, but that didn't help much. However, I'm just wondering: could it be my tie rods or my struts/strut mounts? I have 156K on the clock, so I'm sure it's any one of those. I reckon the struts are original. There was not a lot of play in the control arm bushings.

Just wondering! Any thoughts? Thanks!

I'm having this exact same issue. Did you end up figuring out what it was?