I like many of you have had a shimmy in my car for about a year. That means it started at 70k or so. I had the 18" rims balanced to rule them out. Also, when the 18's were new, I had an alignment. About 7k later you could see that the front tires were not wearing evenly.

imho it's not wheel alignment or balance--I hate to have to put the stock rims back on, do an alignment and balance just to prove they are not the cause. In reading through all the maintenance on these cars, anyone think it is time for wheel bearings??? I've learned to live with the shake, but everytime I rent a car for business it makes me realize how the shake is pretty unacceptable, especially at 85k. Thx.

 

Could be wheel bearings, but it's more likely a worn tie-rod end.

Bad bearings wouldn't necessarily cause a shimmy - you're more likely to notice a cyclical humming (early stages) and then screeching (later stages) that changes frequency according to wheel speed if a wheel bearing is going bad. In later stages of wheel bearing wear, you could feel a shimmy, but at that point, it would almost certainly be accompanied by the audible symptoms described above.

(I had a wheel bearing go bad @ 85k mi, so don't feel too bad if that's it.)

Do the DIY test for bad wheel bearings and/or for loose/worn steering components. (Should take you 10 mins). Search if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Good luck!