I hijacked a well-stocked garage monday and under the wing of a ball-joint wizard, managed to swap out all four ball joints in the rear. To be clear these are the pieces that press into the hubs on the outside ends of the rear lower control arms and the spring perch control arm.
The need for the project arose when a loud popping noise began coming from the left rear when loading and unloading that corner.
Utilizing a mutilated tool for domestic cars from O'Riely's, a couple random pieces of pipe from Home Depot, and a BIG hammer (I highly recommend picking up an appropriate tool if you want to do this, it will save HOURS) we popped all the old ones out and put the new ones in.
When accessed and wiggled, the old ones could be moved without any effort. The new ones were rock solid. One of the old ones (I suspect this was the one causing the noise) was so worn that the eccentric bolt had fused to the interior of the joint and the metal sleeve had begun to mushroom from its housing.
This must have been the weak point in my suspension for quite a while as it didn't even feel this solid when I bought it. (I now have 135,000 miles.) Nothing has made this huge of a difference since I replaced my old worn shocks and OEM springs with Koni SAs and Eibach Prokit springs. Full disclosure: I've also replaced my FCABs, RTABs, RSMs. Next on the docket: Sways with poly-U bushings!
Moral of this story: If your unhappy with the stiffness of your high mileage e36 m3, there is hope in bushing replacement!
did you have to remove the diff?
WTB: E36 ZKW Headlights, ACS Rear Diffuser,E36 M mudflaps front + rear
I replaced mine just before the holidays as well as my RTAB and it was a massive difference. They are not to be overlooked when you think RTAB's are the culprit for lousy handling....
2005 M3
“Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports … all others are games.” - Ernest Hemingway
<stewievoice>
Indeed.
</stewievoice>
I'd planned on replacing the inner CA bushings and had dropped the rear subframe, but they were still solid compared to the outer ball joints and after the experience on the outers, I decided I'd get the right tool and do them all properly.
BTW, dropping the diff and rear subframe is almost *easy* and makes it much easier to work on all of the bushings/bearings at once.
Good work, Randy!
how do the new ones go in, are they press in? did you just smash them in rather then press them in?
havent ever been able to find a diy on these outer bushings
Thanks Mr. Wizard.
They are press-in parts. I tried to use a poorly fitting C-clamp press, but after tapping with a hammer to get it started and in position and noticing how well that worked beyond just starting it, the hammer became a main tool for getting it in the rest of the way. When pressing in or beating it with hammer, the pressure needs to be applied to the outer collar. The best fit was a random big socket.Originally Posted by dev0i
Affirmative. Good pictures btw!Originally Posted by Dukes
did u get a wheel alignment after u did this?
I got mine from BMA for ~40 ea. Turner obviously sells them too for a pretty good price.
That is a BMW part though, Correct? (I can get BMW parts at cost from Neighbor)
Looks like a good project for my 132K '95.....
John
'95 Hellrot M3 w/Dove
AA Euro HFM Stage II (w/21# Injectors & Software) W/Gen III Exhaust - URI Crank Pully - FDM w/3 Row M Coupe Rad - 3.23 LSD - Vogtland Club Spec/Koni SA - UUC Red w/Enforcers - TMS Shims/Rear Camber Bars w/QA1 inners/Sways - VMC F/TMS R End Links - X-Brace - Perf Ultimate/SS Brake Lines - GC Tower Mounts/RTAB Shims - ZKW's w/5000K Hid - Fog Delete - Alpine 9847/Pioneer TS-C130R Kevlar Components/Pioneer PRS-X340/Stealth Box's/Wired Zune 120GB - OE LTW CF Sills/Glove Box Plate - Staggered Black M-Spoke II's w/235/40 (front), 255/40 (Rear) Nitto NT05's - Rolled Fenders!
***Got a '95 M3? (actually pretty common on all years! Even happened to Racer Seth Thomas! ) Check Your LSD! http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=390209
Good stuff, my car could really use the same treatment. I'll drive up there this weekend and you can put everything in now that you know how to do it
Does the 95m3 have this same part?
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
― George Orwell
I don't know about all that.... but I bet if you have the correctly sized press tool it wouldn't be that hard except for the reassembly of the e-brake.
Turner's website explains it here: http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...ID=33326775551Originally Posted by GG///M3
The 95 M3 and other e36s have a different, less effective part in the lower location.
I've got 4 of these sitting around and am finally making time to do this. I bought them from 2 different sources. However, even though they look identical, 2 are 33326775551 and 2 are 33321140345. My local dealer says there is absolutely no difference.
Are you sure the ...551 is an upgrade to ...345? If so, where did this info come from, and how have they been upgraded?
Realoem parts 2-3:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...04&hg=33&fg=30
Thanks much.
How did you get the old bushings out?
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