Opinion about suspension refresh between two 504i6's.

[Santaclaus4]

So, I have two 2003 540i6's. My princess I've had for years. I refreshed the suspension components (front and rear) about 50,000 miles ago.
I've recently aquired another 2003 540i6 "project" car. It has 250,000 miles and has had minimal maintenance. It needs EVERYTHING at once before it's safe to drive on the roads.
I'm gonna order the suspension refresh kit from FCPEuro.
I was toying with putting all the new suspension parts on my princess (AKA the garage queen), and moving the mid-time suspension parts over to the "project car", AKA Pea (spelled with two e's).

The question is: put all the new suspension parts on the rather haggard "project car", or put them all on my princess and move it's mid-time suspension parts over to "Pea" and basically do the suspension work all at once on both cars?

[douglawrence42]

Princess car:
Will you still own it in 50k miles or so when it actually needs the refresh, and do you think you’d refresh then?

Basically, I think the decision comes down to “when will the parts I have (1 new set and one 50k miles set) wear out, and what will I do then?” That all depends on how much you drive each car, and how long you plan to keep them. I assume there is some scenario where doing double the work now prevents you from buying another set of parts down the road. If I was in your shoes making this decision, the only thing I could count on is that all my assumptions and predictions would be wrong. Therefore, I would choose the less work option


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[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Yeah, leave it all on, replace the new cars suspension. Time, you have a ton of it? If so, that’s a different story.

[dwgates]

On the surface the suspension refresh kit looks like a big pill to swallow but it's actually pretty reasonable, especially if you've got a car that really needs the "kitchen sink" solution.
I think most of us are in the "needs a few parts" end of the spectrum so ordering the whole kit may be construed as overkill.
If you got a good deal on the tired 540i6 put the new kit into it. You might not get everything off your garage queen in good enough shape to justify the work to remove & swap it (of course if you're careful you might).
50k miles on your other suspension refresh is probably around halfway thru it's life so no harm in leaving it in place and getting your money's worth.
Of course you know what my opinion's worth...nuttin' hunny!

[Santaclaus4]

Time, you have a ton of it?

I sure the f... don't.

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On the surface the suspension refresh kit looks like a big pill to swallow but it's actually pretty reasonable, especially if you've got a car that really needs the "kitchen sink" solution.
I think most of us are in the "needs a few parts" end of the spectrum so ordering the whole kit may be construed as overkill.
If you got a good deal on the tired 540i6 put the new kit into it. You might not get everything off your garage queen in good enough shape to justify the work to remove & swap it (of course if you're careful you might).
50k miles on your other suspension refresh is probably around halfway thru it's life so no harm in leaving it in place and getting your money's worth.
Of course you know what my opinion's worth...nuttin' hunny!

Yea, I think you hit it right on the head.

[philly98540]

Also, the new stuff may not be as good a quality as the 50k used parts on your princess. Lots of reports of newer stuff being crap even from Lemforder. That risk kinda poo poos any potential gains imo.

[StephenVA]

Bottom Line: At 50K the only thing that is at the POTENTIAL end of life are the front control arms (tension strut) bushings. I would recommend and inspection of the Princess's front and rear suspension bushings and replace what is split or worn out.
On the high mileage beast, you know everything is well beyond it's end of life cycle. So if the car is worth the investment for you personally, I would install the whole front and rear kit AFTER confirming the body, interior, engine, drive train, etc has no "off road" or highway mishaps that would be a game over situation.

Swapping parts from one car to another would be in my opinion lots of effort that would provide min $$ savings as the effort would overwhelm any savings. Old suspension parts in a box are just a trash can transport item.

[Santaclaus4]

Bottom Line: At 50K the only thing that is at the POTENTIAL end of life are the front control arms (tension strut) bushings. I would recommend and inspection of the Princess's front and rear suspension bushings and replace what is split or worn out.
On the high mileage beast, you know everything is well beyond it's end of life cycle. So if the car is worth the investment for you personally, I would install the whole front and rear kit AFTER confirming the body, interior, engine, drive train, etc has no "off road" or highway mishaps that would be a game over situation.

Swapping parts from one car to another would be in my opinion lots of effort that would provide min $$ savings as the effort would overwhelm any savings. Old suspension parts in a box are just a trash can transport item.

I've decided to just put the new parts on the project car. It would be just a waste of time to do twice the work without twice the payout. If I started removing parts from "Princess" to install on Pea (spelled with two e's), some of those parts might no be worth moving to the project car. Then I'm purchasing even more suspension parts and now have two BMW's on jacks in my driveway.
I have to remind myself of a saying we have at work: "Half of the maintenance is caused by half of the maintenance".

[ross1]

Agreed with getting your $$ worth from the parts already on the princess and putting the new bit where they are needed most.

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I have to remind myself of a saying we have at work: "Half of the maintenance is caused by half of the maintenance".

^ Brilliant!