Shaking down the road

I've got an awful shake in my front end between 50-55 mph. It occurs when I accelerate and more violently when I brake...but only between 50-55 mph. I have balanced my wheels twice and my brakes are completely new. The shaking was going on before the brake job. I bought the car 4 months ago.

I'm clueless as to what this could be. Control arms? Shocks?

I sincerely appreciate any and all help.

I am almost sure that your thrust arms need to be replaced. It is such a common issue with the E38 that it was nicknamed "the 55mph shimmy". They are not hard to replace and I think there is a write-up on www.E38.org which should help you out if you want to do it yourself.

I believe they are also called traction struts, but "thrust arms" and "traction struts" are referring to the same part.