Front Thrust Arm Bushings Replacement DIY-Pics

[PENER]

Recently I posted rear swing arm ball joint replacement DIY. here I have for all of you little DIY about front upper control arm (called also thrust arm) bushings replacement.

Note: steering wheel shimmy is very often associated with worn thrust arm bushings. well, it cured mine nicely.

The challange: lack of
1. BMW (control arm/outer tie rod end) ball joint puller and
2. BMW bushing removal/replacement tool

The first problem is how to remove control (thrust) arm from the car. on BMWs, unlike other makes, the ball joint studs are inside kind of a tubes. these tubes are then pressed inside steering knuckle. you can't use fork lift or typical ball joint puller from parts stores like AutoZone, to separate control arm (or outer tie rod end) from steering knuckle. you need BMW puller.
To go around this, I had to take off the car whole steering knuckle, WITH outer tie rod end and both control arms ATTACHED to it.

The second problem and actual bushings replacement was solved by taking such steering knuckle and control arms assembly to the machine shop. little work with hydraulic press (under my close supervision) and $30 took care of it.

The repair:

Let assume you have taken off wheel, all the covers etc.
Remove brake caliper (dont let it hang unsupported!)
Remove rotor
Remove ABS sensor
Remove brake ducts
Remove strut pinch bolt
Remove bolt holding bracket to stabilizer link (right above pinch bolt)
Loosen three upper strut mount to body nuts (under the hood)

Detach outer tie rod end from inner tie rod end:
take measurments of inner tie rod end position in relation to outer tie rod end (for example by thread count) and write it down
by holding inner tie rod end with 16mm open end box wrench, loosen locking nut (I use adjustable wrench)
slide the boot on the inner tie rod end toward the frame
detach (unscrew/unbolt) outer tie rod end from inner tie rod end

Detach both control arms from the subframe

Carefuly remove the steering knuckle from the car (by sliding down the strut)

Take the assemblies to the machine shop. use hudraulic press to press out old/press in new bushings
note#1 make sure arrow marks on thrust arm and bushing aligns
note#2 make sure you press on the outer sleeve of the bushing only in order not to damage the new bushing.

Put everything back together:
use jack to lift the steering knuckle up, in order to let strut slide inside the knuckle (watch the aligment marks on the strut, twist if necessary)
when connecting tie rod ends, dont forget about installing locking ring and locking nut. use notes made earlier to set toe temporarly
tighten all bolts to specs (remember about strut mount nuts under the hood
have the aligment professionaly done

[PENER]

my car (e39) with steering knuckles removed

[PENER]

other side

[PENER]

steering knuckles with outer tie rod end and both control arms attached to them

[PENER]

need to be taken to machine shop, use hydraulic press for bushing replacement

[PENER]

new bushings installed!!!

[PENER]

ready to put the assembly back on the car

[PENER]

remember about aligning marks on the strut body, when sliding into steering knuckle (twist strut body carefuly if necessary)

[PENER]

done!

dont forget about wheel aligment!

[PENER]

sweet and tight ride without steering wheel shimmy!

[FASN8N]

Thanks for the writeup, do you have part numbers and a place to buy the bushings?

[Alin10123]

bushings can be found at www.bavauto.com
or www.bimmerparts.com
Bav auto has a few bucks cheaper bushings. However bimmerparts charges less for the actual part. What i did was... since bav auto has a low price guarantee, i mentioned bimmerparts.com and they matched their price.
So... i saved a few bucks i guess.

[supark]

Resurrecting this great write-up.

Pener - why not just replace the entire upper control arm instead? Most likely the ball joints are not that far away from going if the bushings are gone - so why not just save yourself some extra wrenching and replace the whole shebang?

[PENER]

yeah, that's a really old one.

I think that the following info in the opening post explained why did I go that route, not other:

The first problem is how to remove control (thrust) arm from the car. on BMWs, unlike other makes, the ball joint studs are inside kind of a tubes. these tubes are then pressed inside steering knuckle. you can't use fork lift or typical ball joint puller from parts stores like AutoZone, to separate control arm (or outer tie rod end) from steering knuckle. you need BMW puller.
To go around this, I had to take off the car whole steering knuckle, WITH outer tie rod end and both control arms ATTACHED to it.

The second problem and actual bushings replacement was solved by taking such steering knuckle and control arms assembly to the machine shop. little work with hydraulic press (under my close supervision) and $30 took care of it.

it came out ball-joints were in a great condition.

[supark]

hmm - I'm still that the wisest course would still be to replace the entire upper control arm and bushing at the same time - that way when your ball joints go out, you're not having to throw away a perfectly good set of bushings with the old control arms. Also - alignment being somewhat pricier on the E39 to have it done by a reputable shop, you'd save money there as well by not having to get it aligned twice. Just my two cents.

[thejlevie]

There's an easier way to do this if the ball joints are in good shape. I replaced the bushings on my 525 in about 3 hours w/out removing the control arms. If any one is interested I'll post a writeup and photos...

[Hotswimmer]

Jlevie,

I just did mine by replacing the thrust arms with balljoints and bushings in one fell swoop, but I'm always looking for a better way. I'd be interested in seeing how you did yours.

[abakos]

Dunno about the E39's...but NAPA has a Tie Rod Removal tool that I just used to swap out my entire front linkage (both outer tie rods, idler arm, and drag link) and with the right tools you can get it done in a little over an hour.

Control arms are the same way, I can do both sides on my car in about 75 minutes with an impact and a good ball joint seperater.

If you have to get taper fits apart, don't bother with a pickle fork, they're a waste of damn time. I used them exclusively for years until I discovered that $30 worth of tie-rod and ball-joint seperaters are worth their weight in gold.

FWIW...

[PENER]

There's an easier way to do this if the ball joints are in good shape. I replaced the bushings on my 525 in about 3 hours w/out removing the control arms. If any one is interested I'll post a writeup and photos...

that's the way to do it "right", assuming you have a proper bushing removal tool. I tried that approach with the combination of tools I had, but I was unsaccesful. the ball joint puller I had that time did not work on e39 either (I think e34s are slightly different in that matter).

to move on and get the job done I decided to remove the whole steering knuckle. I admit, it's the hard way though.

[timzerofive]

Just did this on my E90 with south bay BMW dealership, who told me that there was leaks due to the bushing being cracked. Cost me $812!

[tubbut]

I have an E36 convertible with some shimmy in the steering. Garage says that it is "normal". A quirk of the model. Has just done 100K. Suggested a front strut bar to help alleviate the problem.
LCAB has been replaced. Any hints as to upper bush replacement on the e36. Is it a garage job? thanks