Rear sway bar link replacement

[s8ilver]

I can't imagine that designers would depend on fiction to keep the link in place. ... Basically, I used the bottom mount of the spring, part of the trailing arm, but it depends on the size and shape of your prying tool. I used a flat roofing-nail type of crowbar. I would have pushed anywhere safe, maybe used a block of wood if needed as a spacer. Also, I grabbed the link with my other hand, so I could wiggle it and keep it going on straight.

I imagine mine will keep self-removing unless it's adhered. Man, I need a good power wash.

20210124_170025.jpg

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...g-off-sway-bar

https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/r...-itself.81930/

I hope they rely on fact.

[KBH22102]

How's your dish soap method holding up? Bar still connected? I was thinking more the alcohol or Windex approach, as I don't think it'd take me but a few minutes to slap in both new springs and shocks and get the car back on the ground.

Funny you should ask. I looked at the passenger side a few days ago as I was wrapping up some work on the front end and the link was about half way off the end of the sway bar. When I looked a little closer, the whole sway bar had slid a few mm towards the driver's side. I remembered I had loosened the two mount points on the chassis when I was inspecting those bushings last fall. I loosened them slightly and tapped the bar a bit back towards the passenger side and then reseated the swaybar link. The car is going to be off the ground for another two weeks so I will need to do this again right before I lower it back down.

[s8ilver]

Funny you should ask. I looked at the passenger side a few days ago as I was wrapping up some work on the front end and the link was about half way off the end of the sway bar. When I looked a little closer, the whole sway bar had slid a few mm towards the driver's side. I remembered I had loosened the two mount points on the chassis when I was inspecting those bushings last fall. I loosened them slightly and tapped the bar a bit back towards the passenger side and then reseated the swaybar link. The car is going to be off the ground for another two weeks so I will need to do this again right before I lower it back down.

I am entirely curious if the bar is even required. Mine has been disconnected for over FOUR years and the grip is fantastic. I read (on the internet of course, so who knows?) that unless I have very stiff rear springs, I should definitely run the rear bar. Well, installing the H&R rear springs currently, which aren't all that stiff, so made me wonder more if I should get that reconnected. I also considered cutting threads on the end of the bar and adding a fender washer and a locknut. How hard could it be?

[KBH22102]

I have posed the question of disconnecting the rear sway on the ZSCCA FB pages. I am running 700lb rear springs on my TCK SA suspension (550 front). I am also planning to swap to a 245 square setup for the upcoming auto x season. No definitively clear answers except "see how you like it". Our local BMA CCA is scheduling a "Test and Tune" autocross session for April. Hopefully the pandemic situation will allow this. The race location is about 90 minutes away so I plan to drive out there with the bar connected and do a few runs, then jack it up and disconnect and do more runs and then drive home gently.

[solimans]

My basic understanding is that the more bar you have the less grip you have. No bar is max grip...

Opposite of what I thought.

If you have oversteer for example less bar in the back or more bar in the front might help


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[cyberman]

I just replaced rear sway bar links on my 98M today. I was going to wait until replacing the springs, which I'll be doing soon, but I figured I could do it without removing anything else. I was right. ... I took the old ones off with channel lock pliers. I put a small nut on the end of the sway bar and pushed it down enough to wiggle them off. I put a very small amount of grease on the new ones, then pushed them on using a small crowbar, prying against nearby surfaces. ... Took about an hour including putting the car up on jack stands.

I just may have a pair of new springs for you (or someone). Lesjofors's catalog steered me to a set of springs that aren't applicable to my little 96, but are applicable to later model, 6-cyl models. After first claiming I had the right springs, they are referring it to an application engineer and admitted they use a third-party catalog company for the US (English language) listings. But, just to get them to admit that, I had to do a full-bore load test to spec (300 lbs. of passenger weight e.g. six 50 lbs. bags of cat litter, 50 lbs. in the trunk e.g. one 50 lbs. bag of bird seed AND a full tank of gas). But we'll find out since these seem too stiff and strong even for the added weight in the rear on the 6-cyl. models. I'm sure the springs fit some Z3 models, but the question right now is: which one(s)?

But as for as the sway bar links (and bushings), I also just did them. Maybe the links I purchased were too tight as I had a devil of a time pushing/twisting them on even with generous amounts of lube. I used P-80, but regret not getting the gel version of the product as it was thin as water.

I went by instructions in the TIS (picture below):

Sway bar links.png

I approximated the 74 deg. angle by eye. I can't figure out why they specify the 42 deg. angle since even when torqued down, it's free to rotate as it has an inner sleeve. If anyone can answer, clue us in.

Other than trouble pushing the link in, the main bushing I purchased were a tad large and I had to squeeze the metal "clamp" a bit on both sides to get it to reattach properly. Why didn't they just use two bolts, as they do on other E36-based machines? Frankly, the "rubber weld" approach to affixing the links to the sway bars seems a little third world country to me.

[zellamay]

Somebody educate me, please. Those instructions say "stabilizer link can no longer be rotated", as if that is a permanent position. But ... it must rotate as the suspension moves while you're driving the car. So that 76 deg angle is constantly changing. I don't see any need to establish those angles before assembly. Just put it in the car. They will be whatever angle is established by the sway bar and the trailing arms. .... And thanks for the offer of springs, but I have some lined up already.

[JoshS]

They shouldn’t rotate. They are basically glued in place. The angle change when the suspension moves will be absorbed by the bushing. If they are able to rotate, then they are also able to slide off.


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[Corellian Corve]

OK so I literally just did this job on my 2.5. The older links were coming out and if they are self-removing, they need to be replaced. As others have stated you can't lube them either.

It's nearly impossible to do this with the bar on the car if you're going to do it right, but if you drop the spare tire and cover, pull out the sway bar, you can press the new endlinks on in 5 seconds with just a little windex for 'lubricant' which will then dry off and leave the bar link tight to the bar.

My process was

1. Remove spare tire
2. Remove tire carrier (2 10mm bolts)
3. Remove sway bar
4. Press on new endlinks with Windex
5. Install new bushings too since everything is out.

This sounds like a lot of work but it's a :30 min job TOPS and you won't bust your hands trying to get the links on.

[Hoyt Clagwell]

with just a little windex for 'lubricant' which will then dry off and leave the bar link tight to the bar.

I've got end links to install. Windex sounds like a brilliant idea. I'll definitely try it.

[kolosy]

OK so I literally just did this job on my 2.5. The older links were coming out and if they are self-removing, they need to be replaced. As others have stated you can't lube them either.

It's nearly impossible to do this with the bar on the car if you're going to do it right, but if you drop the spare tire and cover, pull out the sway bar, you can press the new endlinks on in 5 seconds with just a little windex for 'lubricant' which will then dry off and leave the bar link tight to the bar.

My process was

1. Remove spare tire
2. Remove tire carrier (2 10mm bolts)
3. Remove sway bar
4. Press on new endlinks with Windex
5. Install new bushings too since everything is out.

This sounds like a lot of work but it's a :30 min job TOPS and you won't bust your hands trying to get the links on.

yeah, if you're able to pull the sway bar without having to touch the exhaust, that's definitely the easier (and official) way to go. on the Ms, you can't get it past the exhausts without dropping them which changes the pain in the ass equation a bit.

[s8ilver]

I want to know what they mean by 76deg-3deg. I've been an engineer the majority of my entire adult life and never came across that one. I could understand +/- 3 degrees. If between 73 & 76, why not list it as 74.5+/-1.5?

Unless they mean that the 3deg is through the longitudinal axis, aka looking down the sway bar shaft. But, the geometry of the bar would set that angle, or that 3 degrees is the preload you have to apply to get the chassis bolt in.

Or it does mean +/- and the "-3" is some BMW jargon for within 3 degrees.

Either way, I'm going to eyeball it.

[Corellian Corve]

yeah, if you're able to pull the sway bar without having to touch the exhaust, that's definitely the easier (and official) way to go. on the Ms, you can't get it past the exhausts without dropping them which changes the pain in the ass equation a bit.

Yeah the M is a whole different problem.

That said - dropping the rear boxes is still probably easier - at least they come off one side at a time!

[zellamay]

I want to know what they mean by 76deg-3deg. I've been an engineer the majority of my entire adult life and never came across that one. I could understand +/- 3 degrees. If between 73 & 76, why not list it as 74.5+/-1.5?

Unless they mean that the 3deg is through the longitudinal axis, aka looking down the sway bar shaft. But, the geometry of the bar would set that angle, or that 3 degrees is the preload you have to apply to get the chassis bolt in.

Or it does mean +/- and the "-3" is some BMW jargon for within 3 degrees.

Either way, I'm going to eyeball it.

Tolerances are given to state preferences. 76 +0/-3 is not the same as 74.5 +/- 1.5. True, acceptable range is the same, but the target dim is not. The first states 76 as the nominal, the second states 74.5 as the nominal. But, as you point out, why are we discussing this, when one will simply eyeball anyway.

[s8ilver]

Tolerances are given to state preferences. 76 +0/-3 is not the same as 74.5 +/- 1.5. True, acceptable range is the same, but the target dim is not. The first states 76 as the nominal, the second states 74.5 as the nominal. But, as you point out, why are we discussing this, when one will simply eyeball anyway.

Good stuff. I pulled up an old cut sheet of some rails we had fabricated for an oil sands processing plant. Surely enough, xxx-0.x was specified on the detail. Clearly, I'm not a machine engineer!

[cyberman]

Tolerances are given to state preferences. 76 +0/-3 is not the same as 74.5 +/- 1.5. True, acceptable range is the same, but the target dim is not. The first states 76 as the nominal, the second states 74.5 as the nominal. But, as you point out, why are we discussing this, when one will simply eyeball anyway.

+1 it's not that critical. I've seen some old-school drawings dimensioned that way. It's implied 74 +0/-3 (at least I vaguely recall). I got my ME degree in 1990 when I was 35 years old, and it's been 10 years since I've practiced in the profession. If you're off by 5 degrees it will stretch the rubber more than tolerance and probably lead to premature failure (so what? I'll keep and eye on it). The draftsperson really sucked, never dimension an angle off an oblique view (or so I was taught) and looking at the geometry as it sits once installed, it almost looked like he flipped the drawing and the dimension should be the other way off vertical. But drafting aside, I've done a lot of work with linkages and the whole rubber welding idea seems Rube Goldberg to me. I also still can't figure out why he put the other dimension on it unless for reference. Of course, he may be a she and draftsman should be draftsperson, or in modern lingo, they're now called "designers" in most shops.

[Colorado Z3]

All this engineering logic reminds me of working on the Z with my son who is an aeronautical engineer. He would review the Bentley manual, arrange all of the wrenches and tools for the job, he knew all the torque specs, and the exact process to complete the job. It was his first car and he wanted to learn why we were doing the repair beyond just doing the work.

Me being a Sales guy, I just read a couple forum posts and jumped in and did the job.
We made a great combination of getting the job done in a timely manner but done right. I really appreciated his detail when we replaced the top.

[CoconutPete]

All this engineering logic reminds me of working on the Z with my son who is an aeronautical engineer. He would review the Bentley manual, arrange all of the wrenches and tools for the job, he knew all the torque specs, and the exact process to complete the job. It was his first car and he wanted to learn why we were doing the repair beyond just doing the work.

Me being a Sales guy, I just read a couple forum posts and jumped in and did the job.
We made a great combination of getting the job done in a timely manner but done right. I really appreciated his detail when we replaced the top.

Ha! Great contrast!

[s8ilver]

Windshield washer puller worked great on the old links. Windex did the trick on install, but I did end up pulling the bar and using my bodyweight to seat them at 76 degrees, more or less. Hope they hold!


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[solimans]

Looks good, Sir

Aftermarket h&r bar has a bolt that holds the bar to link...


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