Poly vs oem bushings

[Crowz]

I have seen several threads on here where members have gone with the poly bushings in place of the oem ones. How is the ride quality for those that swapped?

I have no interest in changing to the poly from a performance angle and I know that on different things I had done this on in the past the ride suffered pretty bad when changed out from the soft oem bushings.

The reason I'm interested in maybe using them on my X5 is the longevity since basically my X5 is offroaded every day with the condition of my driveway and I figured the poly bushings would last longer.

My wife's 528i for instance which has the same front end linkage wise as my X5 has to have the parts pretty regular from the flexing of the driveway so I figure the X5 will be the same way.

So will my X5 ride harsh if I use them?

[LVP]

I did power flex poly bushings on the front thrust arms. When you stiffen things up be prepared to feel everything. If my tires aren't perfectly balanced, I feel it. But that annoying play under sharp braking and replacing them frequently is now gone.

[bcredliner]

Stock bushings last 75-100,000 or more miles. IMO unless it is for handling, there won't be a return on the higher cost investment.

[Crowz]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Stock bushings last 75-100,000 or more miles. IMO unless it is for handling, there won't be a return on the higher cost investment.

Actually I have to change the stock bushings on the wife's 528i once a year with our driveway. They did make it 2 years once. That's why I was wondering about changing to poly. The vehicles that we drive long range with less driveway trips last 100k miles on average but the commuter ones not so much.

[amancuso]

Originally Posted by Crowz

Actually I have to change the stock bushings on the wife's 528i once a year with our driveway. They did make it 2 years once. That's why I was wondering about changing to poly. The vehicles that we drive long range with less driveway trips last 100k miles on average but the commuter ones not so much.

Pave your driveway?

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by amancuso

Pave your driveway?

LOL. Thanks for that.

[Crowz]

If its going to make the X5 ride harsh I will just keep using oem even if I have to replace them all the time. At my age I just want a smooth normal driving experience.

[StephenVA]

You can do a hybrid version by using the Meyle HD thrust arm w/the wedge bushing. A longer lasting solution especially for daily commuting with no downstream NVH.

[TiminIndy]

Originally Posted by StephenVA

You can do a hybrid version by using the Meyle HD thrust arm w/the wedge bushing. A longer lasting solution especially for daily commuting with no downstream NVH.

I am interested in these. I just replaced mine with Lemforders in summer of 2016, and it appears they are already shot. I still have my old thrust arms, so I was thinking about doing the Powerflex poly bushes. Looks like it will be a pain to get the metal rings of the old bushes out, plus I would have to get the old ball joints off the other end of the old control arms.

I'm skeptical that the Meyle HD will last longer, because it looks like the design of the bush is about the same, but do we have folks here who have seen that they last longer? Are you talking about these ones?:

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...SABEgLZkvD_BwE

[Crowz]

I'll check that out thank out thanks !