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  #1  
Old 10-09-2020, 12:02 PM
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2003 4.6is rear end

I recently purchased a 2003 4.6is and immediately noticed a loud thump from the rear going over certain bumps and a loud creaking/thump from the rear when accelerating from a stop. I believe from research that it is the subframe bushings so my question is is it ok to drive the car until next Tuesday when they are getting replaced? I just worry about the issue pulling the bolts out of the body or possibly damaging/cracking the mounting points like an E46 M3.
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  #2  
Old 10-09-2020, 05:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x5Alpine View Post
I recently purchased a 2003 4.6is and immediately noticed a loud thump from the rear going over certain bumps and a loud creaking/thump from the rear when accelerating from a stop. I believe from research that it is the subframe bushings so my question is is it ok to drive the car until next Tuesday when they are getting replaced? I just worry about the issue pulling the bolts out of the body or possibly damaging/cracking the mounting points like an E46 M3.
First of all, I've never heard of subrframe bushing issue on E53 X5, at least not often enough to be known and frequent issue.
I'm sure anything is possible but are you saying you scheduled the repair on the account of "research" but haven't actually confirmed if that is the issue?
Your symptoms could be several different things. If I were you, I'd verify first than schedule the repair.
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Old 10-09-2020, 06:37 PM
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Like pulling out the spare tire, tightening the bolts holding the air pump, checking on the Jack and handle to make sure they are in the Right slots not broken and thrown in the tire well. Is the battery locked down?
Next roller shade- still attached?

After pulling all that stuff out and confirming it is not causing the clunk and bonking, check the sway bar links and mounting brackets. There is a lot of stuff back there that might be step three.
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Old 10-09-2020, 07:25 PM
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Oh sorry, I didn't clarify, I did confirm that it is the subframe bushings as the bushings are falling apart and you can see where the subframe has been moving up and down. I did order pretty much all other suspension parts though to replace while I am in there.
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Old 10-09-2020, 07:39 PM
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2003 4.6is rear end

To your question, if you have another vehicle I would drive that, if not, knowing that the subframe bushings are falling apart I would avoid hard launches, hard stops and speed bumps but at very low speeds, up the front and down the back side. Should be ok until Tuesday and they didn’t fail “yesterday” and the previous owner probably didn’t just let it sit either. That said, only you know how bad they are, so make your best, educated guess and roll with it

If you have purchased them already, that’s cool, if not, PST or PSB makes a set of urethane bushings that are a quality busing at a considerable savings over OE style.

Keep us posted on the repair.

EDIT: I would also avoid situations where you slow roll to a stop but don’t stop completely where the nose goes down, rear unloads and then you hit the gas, that will cause the bushings to “slam” down in their housings usually resulting in a nasty metal on metal sounding bang.

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Old 10-10-2020, 07:41 AM
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Those big suckers to go bad on the V8 models as one too many hard launches and hard stops just beat them to death.
Use dish soap to lube the new ones on the push in
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The Blue ones are always FASTER....

Current Garage:
2005 X5 4.8is
2002 M5 TiSilver
2003 525iT
1998 528i
Former Garage Stable Highlights
2004 325XiT Sport
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1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 4 sp Alpine White
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 4 sp GoManGo Green
1971 Dart Sport, “Dart Light” package
1969 Road Runner 383
1968 Ply Barracuda 340S FB Sea-foam Green
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Old 10-10-2020, 12:10 PM
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Okay Thankyou everyone! I guess I will just drive the E39 until then.
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Old 10-11-2020, 03:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x5Alpine View Post
I recently purchased a 2003 4.6is and immediately noticed a loud thump from the rear going over certain bumps and a loud creaking/thump from the rear when accelerating from a stop. I believe from research that it is the subframe bushings so my question is is it ok to drive the car until next Tuesday when they are getting replaced? I just worry about the issue pulling the bolts out of the body or possibly damaging/cracking the mounting points like an E46 M3.
That's a common thing to have the rear sub bush evaporate, had the same issue went through with it while I was in there did every suspension component on the vehicle as there's like 80 bushings in these cars and they all wear out when the 100th owner dumps the non-maintained vehicle onto the next guy. All my bushings were completely broken and so slam on a good start.
The bentley E53 manual says you need to completely drop the subframe out but there's a special tool I used that lets you remove and install the bushings just with a floor jack and one bolt removed, this saved me a lot of time and patience. I also heated the exhaust hangars with torch to bent it out of the way and then back again for access to the rear subframe bolts.
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Old 10-11-2020, 02:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by x5Alpine View Post
Oh sorry, I didn't clarify, I did confirm that it is the subframe bushings as the bushings are falling apart and you can see where the subframe has been moving up and down. I did order pretty much all other suspension parts though to replace while I am in there.
Always best to fix a problem before it causes a bigger problem. However, if driving is normal on good roads it probably won't hurt anything. I wouldn't drive it for very many miles before a fix.

If this will be a DIY job note that the bushings are not easy to remove and you will need proper tool to make any headway. Also, consider Poly bushings as they just push in by hand, they are not pressed in.
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