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Thread: E36 M3 rear control-arm bushings replacement

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Mississauga, Ontario, Can
    Posts
    119
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3

    E36 M3 rear control-arm bushings replacement

    Hoping I haven't bitten off more'n I can chew, I'm hoping to replace the lateral control-arm bushings as a winter project (leading-edge trailing-arm bushes already done by PO just before I bought it). It's looking like the inner ends are a challenge -- what's the definitive wisdom on whether I have to shift the final drive to be able to remove the bolts from the inner bushes, upper and/or lower? Is there any way around that? Alternatively, how can I tell if the inners are tired enough to even need replacement? The outer upper joint is already disconnected, and without forcing it I can "wiggle" the arm side to side by about 2 inches each way at the outer end. Bearing in mind that there's quite a lot of leverage involved, I have no idea if that is normal or not. And the inner bush in situ is too hidden to permit visible inspection. The car has 185K on it but the PO (my brother) was not hard on it and it lived in Florida so mostly straight-line driving!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    185
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3 Coupe
    pretty sure you can reach it without moving the diff. You may have to remove the sway bar and access may be better if you remove the rear springs and come in from the side vs underneath. I just did this within the past year but i did a full rear end rebuild and its now all a blur.

    My car had 170K miles. The inners didn't look to bad and most research said inners don't wear much. I still did mine. For the price you may want to buy new lower arms with the bushing included just to save that hassle. That's what I did.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Mississauga, Ontario, Can
    Posts
    119
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3
    Thanks cashmancab. When you say you did a full rear end rebuild does that mean the final drive came out anyway?
    Interesting idea about new lower control arms. I already have the new bushes, but if the old ones are a pain to remove from the arms I might try that. Here in Canada BMW quotes C$360 for a lower control arm, while www.Germanparts.ca asks C$68 for Lemforder which is OEM anyway!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    185
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3 Coupe
    I used the lemforder control arms as well. Yes I did all the subframe bushings, Diff bushings, Welded in the RTAB reinforcement plates and replaced the ball joints, inner and outer etc. But pretty sure I accessed those inner joints when everything was put back together as well. May have been at the end of the job. Your supposed to tighten everything down once the suspension is loaded so you have no preload on the bushings. FYI - I dont think those bushings are harder to remove than any other bushing (may even be easier) but the control arm itself is a little flimsy so be careful. For the price of the arms, i just bought them. Was tired of dealing with bushings from all the others i replaced at that point. Went the easy route. Good luck. Best bet is to get underneath and check it out for access. Also remove the suspension spring and look at it that way too.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Marietta, GA
    Posts
    2,680
    My Cars
    95 M3, 87 535is
    Yes, you have to shift the final drive to remove the inner bolts to get the arm out.

    Pressing out the inner bushing is a royal pain in the butt, even with a press.
    Last edited by jayjaya29; 01-19-2021 at 07:56 AM.

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