Suspension/Control Parts - help needed

[Bouchedag84]

Hey guys,

So I noticed my Front Sway Bar End links are worn so I ordered parts for those separately and they are on their way.
I then noticed that there are several bushings in the front suspension/control arm area of my X (3 per side) that also look like they could use replacing.
I need some help identifying which bushing/part is which so I can price whether it is cheaper/easier to replace the entire part with the bushings already installed, or to just replace the bushings themselves.
I believe the left circle in this picture indicates the Front Lower Control Arm Tension Struts. The middle circle indicates the Front Lower Control Arm and the right circle indicates ....something.
I can't seem to find what everything is and it's my best guess.



1) How bad would you rate the condition of my bushings/joints shown above?2)Would this kit from ECSTuning, solve all my problems to get all these bushings replaced? BMW E53 X5 N62 4.4L - 31126769717K - Front control arm Refresh Kit - ES#2771547
minus the sway bar end links that i've already ordered

[oldskewel]

There's nothing I can see there that looks like a problem. Check for loose joints or cracked boots - that's when you've got a problem.

Part numbers are for my car - 2001 3.0i

The upper left is the Outer Tie Rod End (32-10-6-774-335 = same for both sides). I replaced the boots on mine last week, since they were showing a little surface cracking. When doing that I noticed that the boots are really solid and could have gone a lot longer time. Also, the joint itself and the grease looked to be excellent. Nice to have new boots on though.

The middle is the Ball Joint (31-12-6-756-491 = same for both sides) which is attached to the tension strut. I replaced those on my car last week (at 171k miles) and they actually seemed pretty good except for a little loosness on the left side - maybe I replaced too soon. Those can be replaced without removing the other end of the tension strut. Usually it is that other end, with the bushing that fails first and a new bushing needs to be pressed in. I noticed the Bentley said that replacing the bushing should only be done once (and then you need to replace the whole tension strut) - I don't know why. You'll need an E12 socket to remove them and a T45 to install (the Lemfoerder ones switch the fastener for some reason).

The lower right is the ball joint part of the "wishbone" rear lower control arm (31-12-6-760-275 left, 31-12-6-760-276 right). These ball joints are not replaceable separately - you need to replace the whole arm if they are bad. One of mine was pretty loose and the other one a little loose so I replaced both.

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And looking at that kit from ECS - the brand is Vaico. No idea about that. I think very often the OE stuff is excellent on quality cars like this, and I try to delay replacing high quality, old, but still good parts as long as I can. It would be especially bad if you take off good old parts and replace them with lower quality new ones. I don't know if Vaico is bad, but I've never heard of them. I'd go with Lemfoerder or Febi-Bilstein.

[Bouchedag84]

Originally Posted by oldskewel

There's nothing I can see there that looks like a problem. Check for loose joints or cracked boots - that's when you've got a problem.

Thanks for the reply.
I thought mine looked too 'squished' and that they are suppose to be more 'full' like that of the swar bar end link...

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by Bouchedag84

Thanks for the reply.
I thought mine looked too 'squished' and that they are suppose to be more 'full' like that of the swar bar end link...

No, if that's the only issue, there is no problem at all.

[StephenVA]