Thrust Arm Replacement 1997-2003 5-SERIES V-8 CARS

[cdb3113]

3) In view of 2) above, getting the old bushes out allows for a different approach, without use of a puller. I dropped the thrust arm as described in this thread above and then clamped it against the other arm onto which it naturally falls. I heated a 6 inch nail with a blowtorch to red hot and repeatedly drove it through a thinner section of the old OE bush to open a gap large enough to allow a hacksaw blade to pass through freely. Then cut through firstly the old rubber (which then dops out) followed by CAREFULLY cutting through the old bush housing, making sure that the blade didn't cut into the arm housing. Once 99% cut through, the bush housing collapses and falls out. Clean up and insert the Powerflex bushes according to their instructions.


The huge advantage of doing the job this way is that you don't have to disturb the Thrust arm ball joint or any other suspension joint nor invest in pullers etc. This makes it an on-car job - took me 3 hours start to finish. The downside is that sawing through the old bush is tough on the arm muscles and needs great care.

Cool! This is the way I did it too, except I used a homemade press to push out the rubber center first (it was pretty easy). Then I threaded the hacksaw through and cut carefully. See pics!

[Steve530]

I was looking at this thread again because I'm going to do this real soon now.

Anyway I followed a link to another BBS. I poked around there and found this link to another Tension (Thrust) Arm DIY. The webpage describes using a gear puller to remove the bushings on both I6 and V8 e39s.

There's other good information, like the part numbers for the BMW press sleeves and the measurements for the arms, bushings, and sleeves.

BTW, I measured the diameter of the part of the Powerflex bushing 510 that goes into the arm as 2.295 in (~57.3 mm).

[dwightpet]

Great write up on the original post,if one follow those steps you will not go wrong,i did mine on Sunday Febuary 24th 2008,i did not have a balljoint puller but i used one of those ball joint forks by hammering between the space until it was released.I actually repalced the bushing as they were the ones that were bad.Problem i had i did this job on a Sunday therefore i could not locate anyone with a press.Other comment i had a problem removing the nut on the ball joint end of the control arm bushing so i had to remove the entire suspension.It was not very difficult one must have a jack to balance it on,or second pair of hands.My shimmy is gone so i will be taking my car on a 5000k drive this spring break.If i shoud do this job in future it is worth it to replace the entire arm instead of the bushings.

[DAT240]

Great post on replacing thrust arms - the ball joint tool looks like an essential piece for my toolbox. Looking for some suspension related info if anyone can help. I need to replace the control arms on my '02 540 (bad clunk coming from the ball sockets) and I'll use the same instructions as for the thrust arms. (Couldn't find a thread specific to control arms). I'm wondering if there is a parts list available with real part numbers. I want to buy the Lemforder control arms on line and want to be sure that I have the right parts. It looks like I need L-2000-115526 and 115527's. Can anyone confirm? Bentley manual arriving by mail this week so that may help. Local BMW dealers in Toronto should be wearing masks when they sell parts - pure robbery!
BTW, my '02 is stock but a sweet ride. 6 spd man, 935 M Sport Pkg, 337 BMW AG Sport pkg. Black on black. Don't ever want to part with her!

[harvoh126]

I was reading your diy and its very good and detailed. Got one question for you. I have a bmw 528i 1998. I went to the mechanic and he said these are the arms that need replacement


Left Front Control arm ($301 part and labor)

Rear ball joints ($360 w labor)


Right Rear Control arm ($329 w labor)


Aligntment after all this is done



With your opinion do you think I should just replace all the control arms. So that means I need to replace four control arm. If I do that do I also need to replace the ball joint or replacing the control arm already replaces the ball joints. thank you. Im also going to reply in your thread so I can get other people opinion.

[Hotswimmer]

Hi, and thank you very much for your kind words. Unless you are really on a budget, I would replace all the control arms. It's not good practice to replace only one side of a suspension component. Also, the control arms come with fresh bushings and balljoints, and they aren't that expensive - a top-quality, OEM Lemforder thrust arm runs less than $160 from an online source.

Depending on the equipment and technique your mechanic uses, if you replace a balljoint, and then in a few months he has to go back in and replace the bushing on the other side of the arm, you're going to be paying the same labor all over again. Bite the bullet and just do the whole thing - maybe he'll even cut you a bit of a deal on the labor if you do them all.

[Maxim]

Did the front thrust and control arms replacement last weekend.

My friend showed me a simple way to take out the ball joints without a press.

Get a short heavy hammer (the one I had was 12lbs with about a foot of wood from the end ). Pound on the end of the control/thrust arm (the bushing end). The ball joint end will pop out. Its sitting in a conical opening, and is essentially a self locking taper (similar to machine tool tapers).

Keep in mind it takes a good bit of force, swing away.

I bought the press tool and found it to be worthless and a hammer of the right size is about the same money and much more useful.

[English]

Finished all this yesterday, and have two thoughts/pieces of advise.

#1, get the ball joint tool, but make sure the jaws on it are long enough. We tried an air chisel on the top, but no luck.
#2, And this is common sense when you think about it, but when leveling the car, drop the front back down all the way first, lift the rear up, THEN lift the front back up. I just put the wheels back on, and lowered it onto blocks. When I lifted the rear, the second the back wheels (with the ebrake set and the car in gear) came off the ground, the car rolled backward off the blocks. If you want to get your heart rate up, having a 4000lb car rolling toward you with it's rear on a jack is a good way to do it.
Other than that, this was a great confidence booster for one not so mechanical E39 driver. Hope this helped.

Jesse

[Scott S]

Maxim, when using the 'hammer' technique had you already removed the bushing bolts at this point or were they still in place? May be a stupid question but it seems like the ball joint would come out fairly easy once the bushing end is un-bolted?
I am far from a mechanic, but I want to do this repair myself and it seems fairly simple.

[OUDLES]

Well, I just finished up replacing both the front control arms and the thrust arms today and she now drives like a dream. I was having a mean "chirp" sound that was coming from any bump and was reproduceable if I were to push and pull on the caliper but disappeared under braking. Anyway, it's allll gone now

Just a few tips from my experience as I didn't order the took from ZDmak. I used a standard pickle fork to separate the ball joints on either end. The only downside of this is that you can't get the fork to separate the joint enough without removing the brake assembly. You essentially would end up pounding the fork into the nearby control arm (and that doesn't work). After you remove the caliper and rotor, the stupid dust shield is what really keeps you from accessing the prying point. I managed to slice a bit off of the dust shield so I could rotate it around the steering knuckle opening up the bottom side for the pickle fork. If you do happen to use this method, I highly recommend a sturdy "pursuasion stick". I picked up a 3 lb mini sledge this morning and it broke every joint free without too much hassle.

After finishing everything up and using this method, I must say I'd recommend getting the tool for 40 bucks. Taking the brakes off wasn't too much of a pain, but it would have been a lot easier if I didn't have to.

Thanks everyone for their advice and these write-ups. It was a huge help! One other thanks to Jared over at EAC. I know he gets a lot of praise but he deserves it. I went with the HD bushings and they feel very nice. Thanks!

[English]

May be a stupid question but it seems like the ball joint would come out fairly easy once the bushing end is un-bolted?

What would seem to be, and what is reality are polar opposites.

[topaz540i]

Powerflex dont need to be weighted before tightening either

nice write up. i see zdmack linked it to the page where the tool is for sale
"see this tool in action"
http://www.zdmak.com/wbstore/main.as...MK-1916&CTMP=1
im paying the same one you did since i know it works.

[chillax5]

About to do the thrust arm this weekend. Are the bolt and nuts reusable or need to be replaced?

[Rootskd]

I know I am a little behind the power curve. But I did this last weekend and could not have done it with out your instructions. Thanks,

Ben

[Duckman540i]

How difficult is it to press in some new Meyle HD bushings with the arms still on the car?

[Duckman540i]

Bump, I'm hoping to do this on Saturday.

[djkev]

How difficult is it to press in some new Meyle HD bushings with the arms still on the car?

would like to know this too. Also besides the vibration and having some play and movement with the rotor, is there any other test to determine that your thrust arm bushing need to be replaced?

Reason why I ask is because I recently put on OEM E39 Mpars on my touring and I'm getting vibration between 55-75mph. I've had the wheels balanced 3-4 times but no luck and my shop said my suspension was still good....

[Abracapocus]

Just replaced my bad thrust arm bushings last weekend with Powerflex urethane bushings. I had the vibration you mention, but also had a mechanical "clunk" when going very slowly (under 5 mph) over bumps. The thrust arm bushings control fore/aft wheel movement and the lower control arm controls side to side or lateral motion. The vibration you mention could be the result of a failure from either bushing. A telltale test for the thrust arm is to remove the plastic bellypan, then the plastic shields covering the thrust arm bushing (about 10 minutes). Since the factory bushings are fluid filled, a failure of the bushing will result in a "staining" on the bottom of the thrust arm below the bushing. You will know it when you see it.

If you dont see the staining on either side, check your lower control arm bushing. If it is bad enough, it can be checked by jacking the car up, removing the tire, pushing and pulling hard on the caliper inward and outward. Again, if it is bad enough, you'll feel it. A lower control arm failure can present itself in straight line vibration, vibration in corners, and vibration or instability in braking. It will not make as much of a "clunking" noise as the thrust arm.

Sorry, I should have said the thrust arms control fore/aft wheel movement, not the bushings...

[schnitzermike]

Just replaced my bad thrust arm bushings last weekend with Powerflex urethane bushings. I had the vibration you mention, but also had a mechanical "clunk" when going very slowly (under 5 mph) over bumps. The thrust arm bushings control fore/aft wheel movement and the lower control arm controls side to side or lateral motion. The vibration you mention could be the result of a failure from either bushing. A telltale test for the thrust arm is to remove the plastic bellypan, then the plastic shields covering the thrust arm bushing (about 10 minutes). Since the factory bushings are fluid filled, a failure of the bushing will result in a "staining" on the bottom of the thrust arm below the bushing. You will know it when you see it.

If you dont see the staining on either side, check your lower control arm bushing. If it is bad enough, it can be checked by jacking the car up, removing the tire, pushing and pulling hard on the caliper inward and outward. Again, if it is bad enough, you'll feel it. A lower control arm failure can present itself in straight line vibration, vibration in corners, and vibration or instability in braking. It will not make as much of a "clunking" noise as the thrust arm.

Sorry, I should have said the thrust arms control fore/aft wheel movement, not the bushings...

How do the powerflex bushings feel?

[mike2213]

Has anyone used the Powerflex bushings from Bav auto on thier E39???

[feeshta]

I tried searching for this, and didn't find anything about it anywhere. It's a bit more expensive than other solutions, but I am really not keen on replacing a part only to have it wear out again in short order. Anyone have any experience with this product?

http://www.rogueengineering.com/rogu...H/RE-FTAB.html

[f355spider]

Has anyone used the Powerflex bushings from Bav auto on thier E39???

Several have posted the Powerflex did not last, the polyurethane cracked and got torn up...they can be harsh too, as they are very hard.

Many of us (me included) are using the Meyle replacement thrust arm bushing, they are made from solid rubber...not any harsher than stock, and more durable. Just a warning, most everything else Meyle makes is garbage, including their thrust arms...only buy the bushing. If you order from EAC Europarts, they will install them in brand new Lemforder thrust arms, which is what I did.

The Rogue Engineering solution above looks very trick. Time will tell if they truly last any longer. I would suspect they may be a bit more harsh than oem.

[feeshta]

Several have posted the Powerflex did not last, the polyurethane cracked and got torn up...they can be harsh too, as they are very hard.

Many of us (me included) are using the Meyle replacement thrust arm bushing, they are made from solid rubber...not any harsher than stock, and more durable. Just a warning, most everything else Meyle makes is garbage, including their thrust arms...only buy the bushing. If you order from EAC Europarts, they will install them in brand new Lemforder thrust arms, which is what I did.

The Rogue Engineering solution above looks very trick. Time will tell if they truly last any longer. I would suspect they may be a bit more harsh than oem.

It does say in the write-up that they are much firmer than stock. That's not really a big concern to me, firmer would be fine. The last 2 cars I owned were much more sport oriented, and the rougher ride never bothered me. I just want to get rid of the clunking I have at low speeds, and not ever have it resurface.

[OsinO]

Did mine today as well, and wanted to add some advice:

IF you are replacing THE ENTIRE ARM (including new ball joint) it may not necessary to undo the pinch bolt and slide the assembly down on the shock. Undo the 22mm nut until it hits the bottom of the shock then give it another turn or two to give it some downward pressure. Hopefully your ball joint doesn't spin with the nut but if it does you can put a jack under it and give it a bit of upward pressure to stop it spinning. If your wheels are turned straighten them at this point as it will pop out easier. Spray some penetrating fluid down into the hole. Then take a ball joint separator fork and hammer it in at the bottom (see pic) and it will pop out. If it's being stubborn turn the nut another turn or two after a few whacks of the hammer or just wait a few minutes. Mine just popped on its own after a minute or two. I would buy a ball joint separator anyways to have on hand in case this does not work and you need to slide down the assembly and use it.



Also when loosening/tightening the 21mm bolt/nut on the bushing if you turn the wheels all the way to one side (can't remember which depending on what side your on) it's easier to get the socket and ratchet on there without any extensions/universal joints. See pic below.

Hope this helps others.. and it's quite a long/tedious job. Took me about 6hrs on the ground.

[mewsy]

i did mine today on my 535i

Took a total of 2.5 hours in my garage at home. I bought a ball joint tool but it was too small for the e39, so i ended up using a ball joint fork and the joint came out with 2-3 good hits. Very quick compared to using the ball joint separator tool, or at least the time i took trying to set it up.

I would not recommend using a fork if you are going to just replace the bushing only, as the force i needed to use may have damaged the ball joint.

But, i have to say, my car has never run as smooth and 'shimmy free' as it is now. Best maintenance i have done to the beast so far!