Rear Swingarm Trail Arm Bushings

[lwodt860]

My X5 has been making a loud, emarrasing sqeeky noise for some time. After crawling under and taking a look it seems to be coming from the rear drivers side trail arm bushings that are attached to the swing arm assembly. I am going to take the wheel off this weekend and inspect the ball joints just to double check my diagnosis. I ordered the trail arm bushings considering they were only $14 each. I am having trouble finding a removal/installation tool. I have the bentley manual and the part numbers that are given for the special BMW tool are impossible to find. I considered making my own out of barstock and a GR 8 Bolt/Nut. Has anyone done this with out replacing the entire swing arm? I am trying to avoid using a shop press.

[StephenVA]

Take a look:
Lower swing arms on the X5 have an issue with bushing failure . The bushings are available separately, and do not requiring replacement of the complete arm.

[StephenVA]

Or are you talking about these suspension components?

You can make a home made press for the ball joints as some have done successfully or just buy or rent the right tool to avoid the "oops" and @&?!!XX%$ factors.

[lwodt860]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

Take a look:
Lower swing arms on the X5 have an issue with bushing failure . The bushing are not available separately, requiring replacement of the complete arm.

Kind of awkward, but I just happened to purchase both of the bushings from ecstuning.com last night. As I am typing I just confirmed the fitment as well. Here are the links:

BMW E53 X5 M62 4.4L Suspension Bushings - 3493401 - Rear Lower Control Arm Bushing - Priced Each - ES#2588160

BMW E53 X5 M62 4.4L Suspension Bushings - 3493301 - Rear Lower Control Arm Bushing - Priced Each - ES#2588152

Thanks for the reply

[lwodt860]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

Take a look:
Lower swing arms on the X5 have an issue with bushing failure . The bushing are not available separately, requiring replacement of the complete arm.

There is a bigger selection in europe all over ebay:

BMW E60 E63 E53 E65 E66 REAR AXLE TRAILING SWINGING ARM FRONT BUSH X 1 | eBay

[Ricky Bobby]

^Correct, Lemforder does make the bushings on the lower swing arm, they came to market a couple years ago. Previously, the pair was hard to find.

$15 per bushing so $60 to replace both sides.

[lwodt860]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

Or are you talking about these suspension components?

You can make a home made press for the ball joints as some have done successfully or just buy or rent the right tool to avoid the "oops" and @&?!!XX%$ factors.

good call on the rental suggestion!!!

[lwodt860]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

^Correct, Lemforder does make the bushings on the lower swing arm, they came to market a couple years ago. Previously, the pair was hard to find.

$15 per bushing so $60 to replace both sides.

Lucky for me lol. Can you recommend a tool for reoval/installation? I wanted to avoid full disasembly of the arm / shop press method.

[Ricky Bobby]

For those bushings? They press in/out, you may have to get creative to do it "in situ", but I would just remove the arm, considering those bushings are whats holding the lower rear suspension to the frame of the X.

There isn't a special tool to do it in situ such as the lower ball joint tool unfortunately.

[StephenVA]

Originally Posted by lwodt860

Kind of awkward, but I just happened to purchase both of the bushings from ecstuning.com last night. As I am typing I just confirmed the fitment as well. Here are the links:

BMW E53 X5 M62 4.4L Suspension Bushings - 3493401 - Rear Lower Control Arm Bushing - Priced Each - ES#2588160

BMW E53 X5 M62 4.4L Suspension Bushings - 3493301 - Rear Lower Control Arm Bushing - Priced Each - ES#2588152

Thanks for the reply

Thanks for the update. I thought this was true but when reading the ECS page they stated not available. So much for website content updates. My bad....