A friend has developed some very nice aftermarket upper control arm bushing replacements for a few other BMW models, and I asked him if he was able to produce the same for the e53's tension strut bushings, which seem to be a regular replacement item. He is reasonably sure the e53 bushings are the same size (or at least diameter) as those used in the e38 and e39 V8 cars, but neither of us have access to a bushing that's not mounted on a control arm/tension strut to help him verify the dimensions. So the question:
Does anyone have an old or new bushing sitting around that you could measure so we can verify sizes? Looking for the outside diameter and width of the bushing, and the inside diameter of the ferrule that goes through the middle.
#7 in the diagram below. Part number 31126769715
