I haven't changed out the ball joints. I thought about doing those too and not bother separating the ball joint from the thrust arm. Then I read more posts about the ball joints being a PITA to remove because they get rusted in place often.



Good news is this car has been in CA all its useful life and away from the ocean. We are second owners and picked it up at the end of a lease.



I haven't encountered any rust anywhere on the vehicle. It's garaged too, so even the paint looks great after 18 years.

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2003 X5 Steel Grey
3.0i