new OEM front rotors out of round?

[Weasel]

good deal. Alls over but the crying... ok, no crying. "There's no crying in baseball!"

[we350z]

How many bushings are there in the front suspension? Just the lower control arm/wishbone, and thrust control arm (the one's I'm replacing)?

Does the tension bar tighten up on the wheel ramps too? What is OK to torque down with the suspension uncompressed? Just want to be sure.

Originally Posted by weasel56

Well, to get it perfect would be to have both spindles supported by the jack stands and the vehicles weight on them.... Or if you have the standard cheap set of drive on ramps, you can leave the bolts a hair loose, get it together and back on its wheels, then drive on the ramps to get under it with it at ride height. But if you simply jack it up untill that side just comes off of the stand under the lifting pad... then go back down about 1-2 inches, that would be close enough.

[Weasel]

If it has a rubber bushing with a bolt through it, tighten it under load. (thrust rod bushings & lower control arms) You can just tighten the bolts to the point of slight contact to the metal bracket, then fully torque them once on the ramps. But as long as the bolts are through it, it's safe to drive on the ramps. There is really no way for the bolts to come out or anything like that with the vehicles weight on it. So, no worries!

[we350z]

Ya ok thats what i figured. Hand tight maybe a little more with the wrench. Shouldnt strip any threads or anything while still holding it together but the point is if torque the bushing with the suspension uncompressed or you will put undue stress on them and wear them out prematurely.

Originally Posted by weasel56

If it has a rubber bushing with a bolt through it, tighten it under load. (thrust rod bushings & lower control arms) You can just tighten the bolts to the point of slight contact to the metal bracket, then fully torque them once on the ramps. But as long as the bolts are through it, it's safe to drive on the ramps. There is really no way for the bolts to come out or anything like that with the vehicles weight on it. So, no worries!

[Weasel]

you got it

[we350z]

Bit the bullet and took the X into the indy shop down the street (Arizona Bimmer Motor Werks). Pretty sweet it's walking distance (which is rare for anything in AZ) and they charge only $75/hour. I decided I am sick of working on the suspension for now after just finishing CV boot install. Actually what did it for me was that I would have had to put everything back together on pass side to lower the vehicle so i could remove the driver side wheel AND take all that apart. For $100 I decided to save myself some grief. We'll see if it actually fixes my shimmy problem. If it doesn't it's going right back there. If nothing else it looks like they may have found the source of my oil leak issue.

[we350z]

OK got the car back. They said my old bushings were starting to crack but they weren't horrible. They also said the new aftermarket ones slid in a little easier than the OEM ones typically do, and that they appear to have a steel housing vs aluminum (isn't that stronger?). Anyway they said it should be fine but to keep an eye on it in case they do move. They said if its gunna move that it would happen probably within a week of driving it. This of course made me worried. I am going to mark them with a sharpie and/or score the metal with a razor blade on both sides and monitor it. I also have a digital micrometer which would prob be a little more accurate. They feel pretty solid to me, but then again I think anything would be with 3000lbs or so of pressure on it Anyway, I'm not sure if it's the new bushings or if perhaps I hadn't torqued something to spec correctly before but the jerk seems to be much reduced. It's still there but very slight and only on hard braking... almost imperceptable. I still get a sqeak on the pass side when I go over speed bumps. I'm hoping maybe everything will settle in, the brakes still only have about 200-300mi on them so maybe they are not completely bedded in yet. They told me to bring it in next week and offered to look over the vehicle in detail for free. I thought that was very nice of them. I didn't realize bushing were hydraulic - I thought they were just hard rubber. I kind of wish I sprung for some poly bushings now instead of rubber but at least the car on the road again and these should last long after I have the car. I may be selling her soon anyway so don't want to dump tons of $$ into it.

[Weasel]

As with the new bushings, they are in fact fluid filled for dampening and are always going to have that slight, almost imperceptible bump just by design. I'm sure you noticed that they are not solid, but have kinda open areas. That is to help absorb the jolt of hitting bumps, curbs etc. It is just for comfort, and I myself might be willing to sacrifice that for an even tighter, more sporty ride with solid bushings in the future... It's just when they wear that you get a very harsh jolt/jerk/bump when hitting the brakes and curbs. (I've seen them completely separated! felt like a wreck every time you hit the brakes)

It can be closely compared with lower control arm bushings on a regular E36 vs an E36 M3.

But I'm sure you're glad to be back in your X... go enjoy it!!!

[we350z]

Ahh you have consoled me. I realized that I am also basically driving around like and idiot constantly hitting the brakes hard to see what the steering wheel does lol. I think it's somewhat in my head, but perhaps I was mentally scarred by the drastic jerk I was experiencing before. It's obviously NOT doing that anymore. But I could have sworn it was perfectly smooth before I can't help but compare to my Z tho, when I hit the brakes hard the steering wheel stays perfectly straight and i dont really feel the jerk feedback in the wheel However it does kinda veer to the right but I think it just needs a front-end alignment and I have been putting it off because I am waiting to install KYB AGX shocks, eibach springs, subframe spacers, camber kit (which will require re-alignment anyway).

Anyway tho I am stoked to be driving the truck again for sure. From what I am reading their is only one poly bushing available from Proflex (tho I thought i saw a Bilstein) and there is much debate about ride quality vs. performance plus they require more regular maintenance (lube). I am not nor do intend to track this vehicle... I just want it to look pretty and ride smooth. I am all for performance with my Z but a 5000lb truck is never going to do what I want in the racing department lol. Besides its hard to get the ROI when the only effective power mods come from overpriced Dinan. To me the X5 is all about looks. It's nice having some balls too, but I'm not sure 282hp is that powerful by today's standards.

Originally Posted by weasel56

As with the new bushings, they are in fact fluid filled for dampening and are always going to have that slight, almost imperceptible bump just by design. I'm sure you noticed that they are not solid, but have kinda open areas. That is to help absorb the jolt of hitting bumps, curbs etc. It is just for comfort, and I myself might be willing to sacrifice that for an even tighter, more sporty ride with solid bushings in the future... It's just when they wear that you get a very harsh jolt/jerk/bump when hitting the brakes and curbs. (I've seen them completely separated! felt like a wreck every time you hit the brakes)

It can be closely compared with lower control arm bushings on a regular E36 vs an E36 M3.

But I'm sure you're glad to be back in your X... go enjoy it!!!

[we350z]

Well after driving a couple days it doesn't ap[ear the bushings have moved in the control arms at all. Visibly they look dead on where i scored the metal and the micrometer measures exactly the same. I think they are secure, I will check them again next week.