Ball joints and integrated links

[nsticka]

getting ready to make the purchase but these are from Meyle-Febi/Bilsteins.

whats the consensus for them? are they better than Lemforders or about the same? worse?

anyone have suggestions for other brands or stay with true BMW OEM parts.

[CSMBlack-540i]

Does Meyle/Febi-Bilstein make ball joints/links for a 07- CX-7?

[nsticka]

Does Meyle/Febi-Bilstein make ball joints/links for a 07- CX-7?

idk

[Jason5driver]

I like Febi-Bilstein .
I think the reliability is probably better than Lemfoerder right now, but that's just my opinion .
Where are the Febi-Bilsteins made ?

[nsticka]

I like Febi-Bilstein .
I think the reliability is probably better than Lemfoerder right now, but that's just my opinion .
Where are the Febi-Bilsteins made ?

I haven't called oembimmerparts to find out but hope its Germany.

Ill even buy Lemforder parts if they are made in Germany but the few parts I did buy that were Lemforder and made in China, I returned them.

[StephenVA]

I have rebuilt three E39 suspensions using lemforder, they fit and perform perfectly.

[Chedley]

I'd stick to Lemforder's integrated control arms , ball joints and bushings.
As to where they are made, many of these oem "german" brands actually manufacture their wares in China. But let's not start another trade war now.!!

[nsticka]

so I called oembimmerparts and was told meyle-febi/bilsteins are made in eastern europe and asia.

But I found genuine BMW ball joints for a good deal and did get Lemforder integral links.

now to get a ball joint tool.

[Aubergine]

I did Lemforder ones about 8 months go and they have been great.

[Ed CT]

now to get a ball joint tool.

You can actually use the threaded rod from a strut spring compressor and "borrow" the receiver cup from AutoZone or Adv Auto. The receiver cup has a cutaway in the side to fit over the knuckle hump. It's the receiver cup for a Honda, IIRC. I used this set up and it worked great, and much cheaper than buying a tool for something that I'll hopefully only do every 5 - 10 years.

[nsticka]

You can actually use the threaded rod from a strut spring compressor and "borrow" the receiver cup from AutoZone or Adv Auto. The receiver cup has a cutaway in the side to fit over the knuckle hump. It's the receiver cup for a Honda, IIRC. I used this set up and it worked great, and much cheaper than buying a tool for something that I'll hopefully only do every 5 - 10 years.

thank you for suggestion. I did find a nice ball joint removal kit from amazon.

[BMW4RE]

FWIW, I just bought a rear suspension refresh kit made by Lemforder. I was happy to see that 8 of 10 parts were made in Germany. The exceptions were the two integral links, which came from a Chinese factory. If I do this job myself, I really don't want to do it twice, as I'll probably be too many years older. Just how much stress to the integral links contend with relative to the control arms, etc.? How hard are they to replace relative to the CA's, etc.? Thanks.

[StephenVA]

The links are a simple connector not a high stressed area of concern. Never heard of one failing. Wear out Yes, fail no.

Easy replacement process.

[Jason5driver]

The links are a simple connector not a high stressed area of concern. Never heard of one failing. Wear out Yes, fail no.

Easy replacement process.

Well , I wouldn't say " easy " replacement imo ... lol .
The big long bolt that goes through the arm and the link is under stress , and and can be a pain to remove .
Also , having the better press tool to remove the ball joint would help .
I had a generic C-clamp tool , which made removal tricky , trying to align everything ( attachments ) just right ...

[StephenVA]

Well , I wouldn't say " easy " replacement imo ... lol .
The big long bolt that goes through the arm and the link is under stress , and and can be a pain to remove .
Also , having the better press tool to remove the ball joint would help .
I had a generic C-clamp tool , which made removal tricky , trying to align everything ( attachments ) just right ...

Ignore Jason as he is a whiner..

Buy the tool listed in my suspension fresh post, you will be happy. The long bolt has a torque requirement to remove that will require an impact gun, a long breaker bar, or Godzilla arms.

The process is easy with long punches, extra floor jack and some patience.
see this post: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...6-Wagon-update #14

[Jason5driver]

Ignore Jason as he is a whiner..

Buy the tool listed in my suspension fresh post, you will be happy. The long bolt has a torque requirement to remove that will require an impact gun, a long breaker bar, or Godzilla arms.

The process is easy with long punches, extra floor jack and some patience.
see this post: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...6-Wagon-update #14

lol , you sound like my wife ... lol .

[StephenVA]

Ha ha ha....

The ball joint is easy, takes longer to get everything in place then it is to Remove and reinstall when cleaned up and lubed. Just like your wife said!

[BMW4RE]

Thanks, gents. At this stage in life, I'm all about using the right tool for the job. That might be different if I had a full lift in the garage.

I'm familiar with the type of tool that I'm sure that @StephenVA is referring to. I recently replaced CA's in my Jeep. The biggest pain bushing is one that is pressed into receiver that is incorporated into the front axle tube. Guys use torches, punches, all sorts of crazy tools in fighting to get the busying out. I bought the tool for ~$100. This enabled me to do the job without completely destroying my back by spending hours writhing, contorting, cursing, etc., under the car. Unfortunately, this tool isn't the right size for the E39 ball joint bushings. I kick myself for not purchasing the Schwaben tool last month when they were on sale. I wasn't sure I'd be doing the rear suspension refresh at the time. Oh well..

I'll check out the link in your post, StepenVA. Cheers.

[KeysCoupe]

For what its worth, I have new (not yet installed) Lemforder front control arms where you can see where the BMW logo and a portion of the part number was ground away with a die grinder. Obviously Genuine parts sold off-label in my case.
-Donny