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This will be my fourth set of UCAs and for me it's been the bushings that cause the shimmy. I've tried stock bushings and the 750 style and they all wear out. The bushings in the UCA's I just replaced (which were either Meyle or Lemforder, I can't remember) had splits in the rubber. Based on what I've read the Powerflex bushings have better materials and a better design than the Grunts. It'll be interesting to see how they hold up.

I seemed to have much worse shimmy problems than most. I had maybe, maaaaaaybe 1/16" play in the UCA ball joint, only detectable when chucked in a vice, my 16" channellocks didn't seem to budge it, but brand new UCAs with perhaps Meyle or 750 bushings in it made it the best it ever was. YMMV.

Yep, the pattern for me is they start off perfect with no shimmy and then stay that way for probably two or three years. Then one day I'll be braking on an off ramp and will get a touch of the shimmy and I'll think, oh boy, this again. Then it will get worse over the span of a year or two, and then finally I'll replace them. The arms I just replaced stayed on the car longer than previous sets because of complications related to a move, and as a result they were in terrible shape -- well beyond just the shimmy and into lurching behavior when braking. These Powerflex bushings are in the perfection phase for now but we'll see how it goes. I think it will come down to the resilience the material and specifically how well it resists having that central bore loosen up, along the lines of what you mentioned.

Edit: I just realized the slight play you mentioned was in the ball joint, not the bushing. That's another bit that's interesting about these new arms. They're Delphi brand which have gotten good initial reviews but are still a bit of an unknown in the balljoint department.

I've had the Powerflex UCA bushings for several years now and they still are in great shape. Not more than 4K miles per year though.

Well that's good to hear. Lots of people seem to have them and I see lots of positive comments in the archives. I've only seen one report of an early failure (6k miles). I've seen speculation that the design doesn't articulate as well as rubber or spherical bushings when dealing with off-axis forces but I haven't seen confirmation that it's a real problem. BTW, Powerflex now offers their softer street compound in a charcoal grey color (rather than purple only) so they look stock.

again.

Annual state inspection so took the old girl out. Speedo was totally not working for a while and it seems to work again after a little bit, warmed up or something. This was after I took it out the dash this past winter to fix the odo gears, so may be the connections weren’t super tight or something. Then I noticed ful level is a bit below full even when I just topped up the gas. I did leave the tank completely empty for about two weeks before the fillip today in an effort to exchange the old gas in there every couple of years so may be the float sensor got a little sticky. Otherwise, a flawless run, nice drive, I almost forgot how fun these cars are to drive.

I made an thing...

I feel like I haven't posted in a while.

I drove it to work, as I do many days.

My current punch list looks like:

- install radiator (have an OEM ready in the trunk)
- install air filter box (would like to get rid of K&N and restore to factory, have the bits...but maybe from a 6 series?)
- wiper fluid low pressure
- driver door card is lose around bottom (should be easy)

- steering column telescope is stuck (do I actually care?)
- blower motor intermittent (switch relay?)
- diagnose rear window defrost (broke after window out repaint, worried something is catastrophic with window)
- diagnose rear passenger window chatter (goes down nice to about the 50% mark, then start chattering down...is chatter the right word?)

topher800 wrote: Sep 16, 2024 9:38 PM - driver door card is lose around bottom (should be easy)

As long as the clips aren't broken, it should pop right back in with a hearty smack.

topher800 wrote: Sep 16, 2024 9:38 PM - diagnose rear passenger window chatter (goes down nice to about the 50% mark, then start chattering down...is chatter the right word?)

Probably old crusty schmoo in the window track. Remove the door card, clean old schmoo out of the window runner, re-lube. Dispose of old schmoo in accordance with local regulations.

e28Sean wrote: Sep 17, 2024 7:47 PM

topher800 wrote: Sep 16, 2024 9:38 PM - diagnose rear passenger window chatter (goes down nice to about the 50% mark, then start chattering down...is chatter the right word?)

Probably old crusty schmoo in the window track. Remove the door card, clean old schmoo out of the window runner, re-lube. Dispose of old schmoo in accordance with local regulations.

If "the track" is the same felt channel that goes all around the door top, those were all replaced about 6 years ago. And if they extend down into the door body, perhaps they were never lubed down low.... I did all the visible part with the dialectic grease.

I parked my car for the winter today. The weather is still mild here but it will get cold with a possibility of snow this week so it was time. I have my e30 325iX to drive during the winter so I still have a fun car, and I can look forward to driving the M535i again in the spring, it's like getting a new car every year.

Weekend job (finally!!) changing the cracked dashboard on my 525i. Tricky steps in the air ducts, but the rest pretty easy.

Aldo525 wrote: Dec 12, 2024 11:02 AM Weekend job (finally!!) changing the cracked dashboard on my 525i. Tricky steps in the air ducts, but the rest pretty easy.

Now that's an upgrade. Well done!