Replacing control arm (wishbone) bracket/bushing

[lthomas]

Greetings,

I have a 2001 330Ci w/sport package.

With only 60K miles both of the wishbone bracket bushings have gone bad. The symptom is a really bad shaking (almost like the wheel is hopping up and down) during turns (left and right) at highway speeds.

I bought the factory service manual and parts manual on CD (sold on eBay for about $20) so I have a good starting point to do the repair. BTW: someone posted a question about this - My opinion: The factory manuals are pretty good, and because you can print the pages you can have the printouts with you while you work. This was helpful during the f/r brake job I completed last month.

Since the bushing is pressed on to the wishbone control arm I will take the arm to the dealer to have them pressed on. They charge about $45 for the bench work and $125 for the parts.

My question is to this group is to ask if anyone can share their experience doing this repair.

Thank you!


-Lee

 

[Bimmerlife]

This is a big problem on E30, E36 and E46. In this case you should go with the solid M3 bushings.

 

[Zchild]

I've got the same problem and considered for a minute to DIY but I've decided to let my car guy do it for $440.00 total cost. I have nor the time or inclination to do a job that can only partially done on my own. The preesed in concern told me that I did not want to tackle this one. Happy Motoring and good luck... [driving2]

 

[ronskal]

I just did this job on a 86 535i. I did the upper and lower control arm bushings. I assume the 330 is similar.

Since I didn't have access to a press, I removed the arms, bought bushings from Bavauto and took them down to a local front end alignment shop. Any competent machine shop/auto shop can do this. No need to take to a BMW shop if you don't want to. Or if you have access to a press, do it yourself. Cost me $60.

If you go to a upgraded bushing (harder material), expect your ride to become harsher.

On the 535i, the manual says to weight down the car with people before you tighten the bushing bolt so as to not preload/twist the bushing rubber. What I did was lower the car on the ground with the front tires on 2 x 4's so I could reach under and tighten the bolts while pulling down on the bumper as hard as I could. See what the manual says about this and get some buddies to sit in the car.

Go for it!

 

[aNoodle]

I'm at 110,000 on my E46 and I'm on my second pair of control arms and my third set of bushings. The two points that don't go into the bushing are part of the control arm, so when they go, you need new control arms. I have never thought to try to do that work myself. Wish I felt more confortable raising the car and doing that. I hadn't thought to take the arm and bushing to the dealership or an independent to just use their press.

I also stayed away from the aftermarket polyeurethane bushings, I suppose they'd last longer, but I've heard the ride is considerably harsher.

Let us know how it goes. Pictures???

 

[lthomas]

I'm at 110,000 on my E46 and I'm on my second pair of control arms and my third set of bushings. The two points that don't go into the bushing are part of the control arm, so when they go, you need new control arms. I have never thought to try to do that work myself. Wish I felt more confortable raising the car and doing that. I hadn't thought to take the arm and bushing to the dealership or an independent to just use their press.

I also stayed away from the aftermarket polyeurethane bushings, I suppose they'd last longer, but I've heard the ride is considerably harsher.

Let us know how it goes. Pictures???

Wow...Your second set of control arms AND bushings...??? Wow, that's not good. I wonder why they wear so quickly.

Any BMW mechs out there that know of a longer lasting solution? Someone posted a suggestion about using M3 bushings or some type of after-market. The dealership wants to replace both control arms and bushings. They say this is "standard practice". Any thoughts?

Thanks for all of the replys!


-Lee

 

[epj3]

BMW's don't use wishbone type suspension -- they use MacPherson-type suspension. Sorry, I'm just nit-picking.

bushings can be worn easily by how hard the car is driven and the conditions it is driven in (IE very dry conditions.)

Buy the urethane bushings from www.bavauto.com and get them pressed on by a machine shop or mechanic. You can get it all done for about $40 and then put it on yourself. Also, get an alignment or you'll be very sorry.

 

[lthomas]

BMW's don't use wishbone type suspension -- they use MacPherson-type suspension. Sorry, I'm just nit-picking.

bushings can be worn easily by how hard the car is driven and the conditions it is driven in (IE very dry conditions.)

Buy the urethane bushings from www.bavauto.com and get them pressed on by a machine shop or mechanic. You can get it all done for about $40 and then put it on yourself. Also, get an alignment or you'll be very sorry.

The lower control arm is a wishbone type control arm. It mounts in three places and it's called a "wishbone control arm" in the parts manual... The wishbone connects under the MacPerson strut.

Also, the bushings are an issue for the 3 series and are known to fail prematurely...