FS: 96+ M3 front lower control arm bushings

[LEVOC///MPower]

I have a pair of brand new 96+ m3 front lower control arm bushings for sale. These are the non-offset bushings.

I had initially bought these for my 328 as they will upgrade the steering feel of the car.

The stock bushings have large voids to allow the rear of the L-shaped control arm to move in the cross-car direction. These solid bushings reduce the cross-car movement, thereby reducing the fore-aft movement of the ball joint (and the resultant change in caster).


I am asking US$45 shipped for them.

[LEVOC///MPower]

What's amazing about these M bushings (compared to my old worn non-solid ones) is that the car is now much *less* harsh. Whereas the old bushings made me feel a lot of the road texture, it almost seemed like they "talked too much nonsense." There would be some vibration after bumps which made me think something was loose. The differences are felt most over sharp bumps like lane reflectors, going onto or off of a slight parking garage ramp, and also going up and down these ramps that have horizontal slits in them. My steering used to vibrate as I went down these ramps, and now it is very stable. My first impression was that I had lost some tire pressure up front, but I don't think that's the case because the cornering behavior is about the same. I'll check pressures in the morning. There is just seemingly much less harshness. Over speed bumps, it almost feels like my front spring rates or shock compression rates have gone down. That was a big surprise. Perhaps my old bushings were just deflecting way too much over these bumps, or they had a lot of friction in them to cause the harshness. The most unexpected improvement was actually in the behavior of the rear of the car. I could not believe it, but those sunken manholes and bumps that used to make the rear end twitch hardly upset the car anymore! I'm still surprised by this, so I purposely went over the roughest parts of the pavement I could find and over my familiar "upsetting" roads. I cannot give an explanation for this other than that the front of the car is now staying planted instead of being affected by the rear and instead of letting the rear end move too far out of place. I used to think that I may need various new bushings at the rear and that the static toe-in and camber thrust may have been upsetting the car on single wheel dips, but that concern is much reduced now. I find the car far more confident on mid-corner bumps, almost like the E46 courtesy car I had about a year ago and much more like the car when it was, when I was confident going over these bumps. I'm just surprised that the one pair of good, new bushings will do so much. I now have to recommend this bushing change to anyone who's going with a stiffer suspension setup or heavy/large wheels. Without the good control of bushings, I think the ride will be a lot harsher and a lot less precise. No wonder BMW put these on the M3. I wonder why they didn't go on the regular E36 as I don't think they add any harshness at all. I will probably increase the rear tire pressures now that the rear doesn't feel as skitterish as before.

[medik212]

will these work on a 94 325? Thanks!

[goyongj]

92 325is? please email me asap
goyongjae@yahoo.com