Quote:
Originally Posted by MINIz guy
The thrust arm bushings were replaced 5 year ago. The ball joints probably are original and that is the main cause of my shimmy. The rotors are also on their second set of pads, so improper bedding in may also be a cause. What about the tension rod (ie. the upper control arm that is in front of the thrust arm)? Does that one wear and cause a lot of play? I'm thinking of going with the MTC polyurethane bushing for $20 a piece, cheaper and easier to install than Powerflex or OEM. The ball joint looks to be an easy fix too as it just unbolts out rather than be integrated in the arm itself.
I don't like working on the rear suspension due to the need of all the special tools. I may do the rear upper control arm first since that seems easier than the ball joint and integral link. I skipped those on my M5 as I didn't have he tools for it.
I'm down for renting tools to do the job. I also ran out of time between my summer job, repainting the garage and fixing the M5.
And I go to St. Louis University. I'm a rower.
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The ball joint and integral link in the rear is easy with the special tool, all you do is unbolt two bolts and drop the swing arm lower with a pry bar, everything else stays bolted on the car. At your mileage doing the control arm in the rear will probably help, but still may not get enough adjustment for rear camber without doing that ball joint too.
I noticed the MTC bushings for 20 apiece, I'm surprised at the two piece bushing design which does look easy to install but at the same time knowing MTC's reputation as cheap replacement parts I hope they are designed stoutly enough, I know the bushings install dry and you probably just need to grease the "pin" if anything. I guess what to lose at 40 bucks, if they are crap you can always drop the one bolt/nut and take them off and replace with Meyle HD, OEM, or Powerflex.
The front control arm "wishbone" has an integrated ball joint, and if its original I would replace both, the bushing is integrated on that one as well. I used Febi/Bilstein on mine, but it seems ECS now stocks Meyle, which I've also had good success with:
BMW E53 X5 M54 3.0L Suspension Control Arm ES#2649612 Front Lower Control Arm - Left - 31126760275
And like you said, the original ball joints on the thrust arm side are easy to R&R, just unbolt the joint from the spindle and whack that fucker out when you are replacing the thrust arm bushings, I used Febi's on mine and was happy:
BMW E53 X5 M54 3.0L Suspension Control Arm ES#252748 Front Ball Joint - Priced Each - 31126756491