Rear suspension refresh?

[ahlem]

Good Afternoon,
Looking for some input on the best way to deal with my rear suspension.
2001 X5 3.0 Automatic with 174,000 miles.
I plan on keeping it for quite a while.
I don't believe anything has been done previously. Definitely not since I bought it at 85000 miles.
Camber is excessive and toe out is excessive especially on the left rear.
There seems to be a slow leak down on the air spring on the right rear.
The arm that controls the toe out on the left has a torn boot.
I'm no stranger to doing this type of project but wanted some perspective on whether to just replace a couple parts or acquire a kit of some sort.
Any thoughts?

[ewebby]

Do the rear bushings with special tool
Rear integral links, ball joints, thrust and control arms.
FCPeuro has the parts
Get the Pelican Parts Ball joint press and the ebay and amazon ones hare very hit or miss and if you have it apart, will take a while to get a press. Can't use a rental press due to flat side of press. Easy with airbladder. I would convert to spring but up to you.
Get a laser four wheel alignment after. Remember to tighten control and thrust arms on the ground. I did mine with 258k miles. Everything was way nicer of a ride after. I did not need swing arm bushings.

[bmw540san]

I went with Bilsteins HD (B6) and converted to coil springs in rear and loved it. Sold it after few years and I'm in touch with new owner who loves it too.
https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...gs-delete.html
I've actually got identical parts on shelf and will do refresh on my current X5.
But no conversion required since my X5 is Sport package and came with coil springs in the rear.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by ahlem

Good Afternoon,
Looking for some input on the best way to deal with my rear suspension.
2001 X5 3.0 Automatic with 174,000 miles.
I plan on keeping it for quite a while.
I don't believe anything has been done previously. Definitely not since I bought it at 85000 miles.
Camber is excessive and toe out is excessive especially on the left rear.
There seems to be a slow leak down on the air spring on the right rear.
The arm that controls the toe out on the left has a torn boot.
I'm no stranger to doing this type of project but wanted some perspective on whether to just replace a couple parts or acquire a kit of some sort.
Any thoughts?

With that much mileage and your symptoms you need to do the entire rear suspension. Ball joints, control arms, control links and swing arm bushings. You may be due for shocks too.

[bcredliner]

At 85,000 miles I would do a complete rebuild. Old parts can decrease the life of new parts if you go piece by piece. Major BMW parts sources have kits. Though cost is higher I suggest the OEM kit though some offer all BMW parts and a lower price point with various MFGs

[LA02MAX]

I just bought the rear suspension kits from FCP Euro. That rear suspension is honestly a nightmare to work on, but I got it done without many special tools (just the special BMW lower ball joint tool and a standard bushing press). The air springs are a piece of cake if you plan on keeping the air suspension....I converted to coils which made the job much harder.

I'd suggest removing one piece at a time: e.g., remove one upper control arm, and then loosely attach it to the spindle again before continuing on. For the lower control arm, I jacked up the spindle to move everything out of the way, put the bolt through the two inner bushings, and then fiddled with the height of the spindle and control arm until I was able to insert that giant bolt that goes through the integral link and lower ball joint.