Safe to drive with sway bar links removed?

[brettmarl]

Have a rattle over uneven terrain coming from front end drivers side. Bushings all look OK - only suspicious things are upper sway bar link joint has broken seal and is quite crusty (assuming this is the culprit) - and main strut cover is loose at the top (not sure if this is normal or torn).

Can I remove the swaybar link and go drive to car to see if the rattle goes away? Should I remove both links before doing this and/or secure the swaybar temporarily somehow?

2006 X3-E83 with about 120k miles.

[richardodn]

If you're just going for a quick test drive and aren't going to push the handling, just the one is fine. For a prolonged test, remove both.

[brettmarl]

If you're just going for a quick test drive and aren't going to push the handling, just the one is fine. For a prolonged test, remove both.

thanks! test drive complete, 100% the problem - new links ordered.

[dukedkt442]

Replace thrust arms too; it's cheaper/easier to replace the entire arm (Lemforder) than just the bushings. It takes less than 10 minutes to replace the entire thrust arm on an e83. The thrust bushings take the brunt of road impacts and can be bad while "looking" good. They're hydraulic bushings and can only be replaced 1-2x irrespective of their arms anyway, as per BMW. Remember to check the lower ball joints by shaking the [elevated] wheel in several planes.

Also if replacing the sway bar links, replace the frame mount bushings too. The thing with suspension components is that they usually have similar life expectencies with failure of one part shifting wear/failure to others.