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Car Forum / BMW Cars / November 2006

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1997 E36 Back End "Wobble"

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Tom Sanderson - 14 Nov 2006 14:46 GMT
In the last two weeks or so, my 1997 E36 has started to "wag it's tail."

From about 15-20 mph, the car wobbles...not very technical, I know, but
that's the best way to describe it.  It feels like one of the wheels is
eccentric, like those little kids toys where the center of the wheel isn't
where the axel is mounted.  There is very limited feedback through the
steering wheel, so I suspect the back end, but I'm not positive.

It appears to be some kind of resonance between the drivetrain and the
suspension, since it goes away above 20 mph, comes back around 35-40, then
is gone until you get up over 65.  It gets really bad at 80+.  It scales
with wheel speed, not engine RPM, so I know it's something downstream of the
transmission.

At first I thought I'd thrown a balance weight off one of the wheels, but
that shouldn't have so pronounced an effect at low speeds (I think).  I
haven't had any collisions or bumps with anything that might have bent
anything.  The only thing that's a little off with the car at the moment is
my rear tires are overdue for replacement (they're starting to look like
racing slicks), but it's uniform wear without any flat spots or anything
like that.

Any ideas?  Wheel bearing?

Thanks,
Tom.
Dodgy - 14 Nov 2006 15:25 GMT
>In the last two weeks or so, my 1997 E36 has started to "wag it's tail."
>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>Thanks,
>Tom.

Well it could be many things from a buckled wheel, worn rear bearing
or shot damper, but my immediate thought is the damper top mounts.
They're quite well known for going, and can make the back end feel
incredibly vague when they're worn.

They're not expensive, and they're very easy to change (unless your
boot/trunk is as full of stuff as mine was at the time!).

Dodgy.
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Fred W - 14 Nov 2006 17:02 GMT
> In the last two weeks or so, my 1997 E36 has started to "wag it's tail."
>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Thanks,
> Tom.

Drive shaft misbalanced?  guibo shot?

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-Fred W

Rex B - 14 Nov 2006 17:27 GMT
Could be any number of things. Might be a bad suspension bushing or
broken link.

Have someone else drive your car while you follow behind, and watch how
things move around as it corners and goes over bumps or dips.

> In the last two weeks or so, my 1997 E36 has started to "wag it's tail."
>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Thanks,
> Tom.
Pashlipops - 14 Nov 2006 19:20 GMT
My E36 suffered from worn suspension bushes on the rear trailing arms.
It still felt stiff cos of the mass of the car, but it made banging
sounds.  You could see it was worn as the wheels had quite a camber and
the tyres we wearing funny.  The handling didn't change notably when
they were replaced, that is to say the wear did not give handling
problems.

> Could be any number of things. Might be a bad suspension bushing or
> broken link.
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> > Thanks,
> > Tom.
Jack - 15 Nov 2006 00:55 GMT
The most common fault that causes the symptom you describe is tread
separation on one of the tires.  If you get your tires rotated so that your
back tires are placed on the front it will also cause the steering to pull
to one side.  If you let it go for a while longer you may also start to hear
a slapping sound at high speeds.

> In the last two weeks or so, my 1997 E36 has started to "wag it's tail."
>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Thanks,
> Tom.
John Burns - 16 Nov 2006 11:33 GMT
> From about 15-20 mph, the car wobbles...not very technical, I know, but
> that's the best way to describe it.  It feels like one of the wheels is
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> with wheel speed, not engine RPM, so I know it's something downstream of the
> transmission.

An E36 I bought recently did something similar. It reminded me of my old
E36 318iS after it was mildly rear ended by a blind woman in a Renault.
In both cases a four wheel alignment fixed it, the rear trailing arms
were slightly out of position.

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