Bushings; replace them or not

[350Zimo]

Hi, I picked up a 96 M with 110k miles. It has a few mods but nothing really special. The suspension is pretty good (struts+springs), but it still has that initial mushy feeling as if the bushings are at the end of their life and they have become just too soft and allow play. Anyways, I'm think of replacing basically all possible bushing such as front control arms, motor/tranny mounts, rear trail bushings, subframe and diff. Do u guys think all this is necessary or am I going a little overboard?

[propcar]

Probably great to do! Don't forget the Guibo.

I went with E9X motor mounts... basically that's the factory replacement mount anyways.

[350Zimo]

I am leaning towards the 80a poly and kinda wanna do solid diff mounts. Had solid diff mounts on my 350z and loved them. A little rough on decceleration but great for track and stuff. I am a little intimidated by the subframe and diff bushings, but I think it will be worth in the end

[jayjaya29]

I am in the final stages of a complete bushing overhaul, its a lot of work but I expect the payoff to be huge.

Solid diff bushings are great, I went with 75D diff bushings, will see how they turn out.

[RatedM3]

Needs to be done at some point. If you have the money and time, go for it. And a well known debatable topic; but i would avoid Polyurethane. Local race shop agrees and said they prefer original rubber in most places and spherical or delrin where allowed by classing rules on their E36s. No in between.

[typeS4]

Definitely worth it. Night and day difference.

[350Zimo]

ok, thanks for the input! I got them all priced and it will run me almost 700 bucks. I have a press and a lift. Also been looking at some DIY threads for the diff bushing, and that is perhaps the most challenging one. Once I drop the subframe, I should be able to push them all out with help of a second person. It seems like pretty soon I am gonna have a pretty long weekend

[scooper]

I'm on the tail end of a total suspension bushing overhaul. New bushings for diff, subframe, inner upper and lower, ball joints for outer upper and lower, rtabs with shims, new tie rods, new shocks and struts, fcabs. Totally worth it but it's going to cost some money and some of your time. Do eeeeeet!

I have an excellent reinforced rear M3 subframe with bushings and upper control arms for sale, among lots of other items if anyone is interested for little down-time when replacing bushings.

[350Zimo]

I'm on the tail end of a total suspension bushing overhaul. New bushings for diff, subframe, inner upper and lower, ball joints for outer upper and lower, rtabs with shims, new tie rods, new shocks and struts, fcabs. Totally worth it but it's going to cost some money and some of your time. Do eeeeeet!

I have an excellent reinforced rear M3 subframe with bushings and upper control arms for sale, among lots of other items if anyone is interested for little down-time when replacing bushings.
do u have a for sale thread where I can see all the items? or simply send me a pm with all the items you have so I can sort out and see what i need. Thanks

[Captain]

Yes replace them...its about time.

As for going with Poly's, do your research. Some bushing are good to switch to poly, others are not. In some places the added strength/hardness will cause NVH that is tolerable to some, but not to others. Replacing with stock rubber will be more than adequate when you are done. Now that i did this, I haven't been able to push my car past its limit cause it can just hanlde everything you throw at it...i think i'd have to be driving like an unsafe maniac to push a refreshed e36 past its abilities...its truely amazing what these cars can handle with refreshed rubber and aftermarket suspension. :alright :eyecrazy :buttrock :redspot

edit: oh, and shop around!! While i saved up some cash for the install, i did my research to find all the parts at the cheapest prices. I ended up using 3 vendors, but it was well worth it. If i were to buy all of the parts i did JUST from Pelicanparts.com, it would have cost me $584 for OEM($501 @ thebmwpartstore.com), by shopping 3 vendors i got all the same OEM parts for $408 to my door. :D

if going with generic parts it could be as low as $330. I should also mention that i bought all new bolts with the above mentioned purchase that cost $90.45.

[RatedM3]

I'm on the tail end of a total suspension bushing overhaul. New bushings for diff, subframe, inner upper and lower, ball joints for outer upper and lower, rtabs with shims, new tie rods, new shocks and struts, fcabs. Totally worth it but it's going to cost some money and some of your time. Do eeeeeet!

I have an excellent reinforced rear M3 subframe with bushings and upper control arms for sale, among lots of other items if anyone is interested for little down-time when replacing bushings.


Hey scooper, I've been meaning to text you about the subframe. I don't think I'll have the cash before you have another potential buyer so please don't wait on me. Thanks for the offer though.

To others, scooper is an awesome seller and cool guy.

[Schultz28]

yea i would at least replace the fcab's rtab's and guibo.

the engine/tranny mounts and subframe/diff mounts shouldnt need replacing.

btw i think uuc and rogue engineering have some good deals on bushings.

[Captain]

If you have your eyes on anything from UUC join their mailing list and wait for a sale. They aren't all the time, but often enough to wait for the expensive purchases.

And in response to your pm, i will send you a spreadsheet of who and what I got from each vendor. I used FCPEURO.com only because they had a 15% discount sale, but their prices are only comparable or lower with a similar discount sale. I also used pelicanparts.com and mostly thebmwpartstore.com since they usually have the best pricing on everything.

My recommendations for multiple vendor shopping would be thebmwpartstore.com, autohausaz.com and pelicanparts.com. Will send you my pricing sheet shortly.

[scooper]

noted RatedM3. How are the fixins coming along? Likewise, RatedM3 is an upstanding guy...who has patient non-BMW friends...lol

OP, click on my name and my threads. I have most of the items listed but I'll be putting up bilstein sports, hr sports, 95 m3 strut mounts, m3 endlinks up for sale too this weekend. Ask for any parts you can't find. I also do have new inner upper and inner lower bushings for sale, the upper ones of which I can press into those upper control arms for sale (though the current bushing still seem good).

Btw, I'd replace your bushings with stock rubber if your car is a DD. Only places where I have deviated from stock rubber bushings is motor mounts, trans mounts, fcabs, center diff bushing, and I'm running stock e36/46 rtabs with delrin limiters. Btw, I have no poly on my car!

[Schultz28]

If you have your eyes on anything from UUC join their mailing list and wait for a sale. They aren't all the time, but often enough to wait for the expensive purchases.

And in response to your pm, i will send you a spreadsheet of who and what I got from each vendor. I used FCPEURO.com only because they had a 15% discount sale, but their prices are only comparable or lower with a similar discount sale. I also used pelicanparts.com and mostly thebmwpartstore.com since they usually have the best pricing on everything.

My recommendations for multiple vendor shopping would be thebmwpartstore.com, autohausaz.com and pelicanparts.com. Will send you my pricing sheet shortly.

my friend just ordered all the bushings/mounts from uuc within the last month and got everything pretty quick. i think the rtabs were the only thing that took a little bit longer but due to the wait and their good customer service they gave him a little more of a break on the price.

[AirBizzKit]

I recommend the poly bushings but be prepared for more noise, depending on the weather/temperature.

[Schultz28]

I recommend the poly bushings but be prepared for more noise, depending on the weather/temperature.

if they are greased right they should make any noise. rogue engineering actually had poly bushings that arent supposed to make any noise to start with...

[336motorsports]

If you have your eyes on anything from UUC join their mailing list and wait for a sale. They aren't all the time, but often enough to wait for the expensive purchases.

And in response to your pm, i will send you a spreadsheet of who and what I got from each vendor. I used FCPEURO.com only because they had a 15% discount sale, but their prices are only comparable or lower with a similar discount sale. I also used pelicanparts.com and mostly thebmwpartstore.com since they usually have the best pricing on everything.

My recommendations for multiple vendor shopping would be thebmwpartstore.com, autohausaz.com and pelicanparts.com. Will send you my pricing sheet shortly.

Do you mind posting that info, or sending it to me in a pm? Im looking to do this as well...

Thanks!

[RatedM3]

noted RatedM3. How are the fixins coming along? Likewise, RatedM3 is an upstanding guy...who has patient non-BMW friends...lol

OP, click on my name and my threads. I have most of the items listed but I'll be putting up bilstein sports, hr sports, 95 m3 strut mounts, m3 endlinks up for sale too this weekend. Ask for any parts you can't find. I also do have new inner upper and inner lower bushings for sale, the upper ones of which I can press into those upper control arms for sale (though the current bushing still seem good).

Btw, I'd replace your bushings with stock rubber if your car is a DD. Only places where I have deviated from stock rubber bushings is motor mounts, trans mounts, fcabs, center diff bushing, and I'm running stock e36/46 rtabs with delrin limiters. Btw, I have no poly on my car!

Already on the track, see new sig :D Had the oil pan baffle installed and the pan tapped for temp sensor in the back of it. Good as new.

OP, no need to "upgrade" RTABS. I run the oem RTABS with limiters as well. You do not want to go poly here. If you do, plan to reinforce the pockets while you're in there.

[350Zimo]

Already on the track, see new sig :D Had the oil pan baffle installed and the pan tapped for temp sensor in the back of it. Good as new.

OP, no need to "upgrade" RTABS. I run the oem RTABS with limiters as well. You do not want to go poly here. If you do, plan to reinforce the pockets while you're in there.
Limiters would certainly be easier to install. How bad is the diff mount? and is solid really worth installing on it?

[RatedM3]

Rubber for street, solid for race. Going solid on the diff mount will definitely introduce some NVH.

[Captain]

Cant seem to attach my excel spreadsheet. Any ideas or should i just email it?

and i warn you, although i tried to make it as easy to read as possible with all the different information, it may take a second to understand.

Basically, thebmwpartstore.com was best for bushings and bolts, pelicanparts.com was best for the expensive ball joints and links, and FCPeuro.com cannot compare without a discount.

Again, i reccomend price shopping at thebmwpartstore.com, autohausaz.com and pelicanparts.com

[GRGibson]

I also just finished doing the works, and I'm glad I did. If your car has over 100k miles and 15 years old, the rubber is going to be getting old, weak, dry-rotted, etc. I was afraid if I only did some of it, I would kick myself later when I had to go in and do the rest, or if I had some mystery thing going on. You can definitely save money shopping around, not to mention you'll probably want certain things from specialists. For example, I went with 80a motor, tranny, rear subframe, and front diff mount bushings from AKG, which I'm really happy with, but I wanted to stay with OEM on all the other suspension bushings/ball joints. There is a bit more NVH, but it's just the visceral sort of feeling you want with an M3, without just wearing you out. Anyway, I discovered several failed or failing items, so I'm very glad I decided to go for broke (no pun intended). Plus, then you only have one trip to the alignment shop.

[Captain]

my thoughts exactly...do it all at once and drive your brand new handling e36 away!

[350Zimo]

I just did rtabs, and fcabs. The bump steer is definitely less, and steering feels a little heavier but more crisp and precise. The car had tranny mounts done. Found that after I bought a set. I will do motor mounts next and I will have shop do subframe and diff mounts. Thanks for the imput guys