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Incidentally, I replaced the ball joints (which lifted out with by hand....because i've been livin' right) and the tension strut bushings (Meyle HD) as well as HD Sway Bar links.
I thought my suspension was pretty good already because the existing, DEALER INSTALLED TS bushings only had 30k miles on them. They were cracking already and the front end was shimmying. Is it humanly possible that the dealer didn't pre-load the old bushings? Certainly every BMW tech knows that's necessary no?
The car has 30k LIGHTLY driven miles on it with one 175lb person in the car only typically. 1/3 of the time there is a 60lb'er in the back seat. Tires were new when the bushings were put on.
Anyway, the driving performance is night and day. I opted out of replacing the control arms because I couldn't figure out a way to get that ball joint out easily. I wasn't gonna tackle it with a pickle fork and the rent-a-tools didn't fit. I spent the better part of a day one time hammering seized balljoints out of an e23 with a 5lb sledge. NEVER doing that again.
the reason i posted this tool method was because it is pretty much a surefire method for pulling a tension strut and just about everyone has free access to this exact tool. Google Autozone 27016.
I wish there was a surefire rental or reasonably priced puller for the control arm joint that was tried and true like this.
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2005 X5 3.0i - 71k mi (9.2018) -> 81k (9.2019) -> 100k (9.2021) -> 123k (8.2025)
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SOLD : 2003 X5 3.0 - 177k mi (9.2018) -> 186k (9.2019) -> 205k (9.2021)
SOLD : 1997 328is Coupe - Hellrot Red
SOLD : 1988 528e w/ Bullseye s256 / MS2 Extra / GC Coilovers / Yukon Coils ~ 300+ HP
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