New Meyle HD bushings installed.

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by Skip110

I went to the link Weasel provided, but there is not a link to click on to buy the bushings. Anyone know what's up?

I see what you mean. There is no add to cart button. You may need to call EAC and ask them.

[D ROCK]

Originally Posted by Weasel

So about a week or so ago the drivers side thrust arm bushing on my X5 blew out its fluid, thus causing the shake when braking etc. we all know about with the thrust arm bushings. Seeing everyone who went with polyurethane bushings almost immediately post a thread trying to isolate the new shimmy they have and say it feels kinda rough over bumps now comparatively, I decided to go with the Meyle heavy duty bushings which are the same design as OEM, but solid rubber vs the fluid filled. I can say these are stiffer and more sporty feeling than the OEM design, feel more connection to the road... but without the overly harsh feel of the solid polyurethane bushings.

So for a quick basic guide for those looking at thrust arm bushing options, here it is.

OEM bushings: Softer more comfortable feel, wear out from 20k miles to 40k miles on average depending on where and how you drive.

Meyle HD bushings: more solid and sporty feel than OEM while lasting longer, and won't cause you to feel every shake,bump and shimmy on the road. Good balance of performance and comfort. (like M3 control arm bushings vs series bushings with E36 and E46 platforms)

Solid polyurethane bushings: Track car performance but not the best for city driving. If you live somewhere where the roads are long, smooth and winding these would be great, but in city driving may be too rough for you.



And here's the link I bought mine from. (thanks FSETH!)

https://eactuning.com/hd-control-arm...-x5-p-446.html

If one of the forums great sponsors starts carrying them they should tell start a thread as this is a good product that I feel makes more sense than the polyurethane option, while less known of.

Looking into these for my wife's truck, how many do you need? I want to go ahead and replace all of the bushings, what's the type/amount that I would need to purchase? BTW, loving all the great advice on these forums

[Weasel]

That site sold them individually, so you would need two. Other sites may sell them as a pair. And for whatever reason the site linked doesn't seem to carry them currently....

[ArtMan]

Well, been reading some threads about the front vibration/shimmy. In Nov of 2010 i bought the shitty fake german branded kit of ebay and though ill take the bite and be a ginnea pig and see how it all works out. Well one advice stay the hell away from them. the seller sent me a set of lower control arms that had no stamps or anything and after installation i had what the jeep crowd calls the death wobble and it turned out that the bushings in the lower control arms were made of jelly literally. I bought oem bushings from ECS tuning and pressed them in myself into the oem arms i still had. Big change so much better. Now my concern is the ball joints on that oem arm. BC i have an annoying shimming at 65-80 and the higher you go etc I am thinking that the shitty parts like the thrust arm bushings could be the cause fo that? Now i feel some warped disk brakes also but when at 80 and if you lightly tap the brakes there is no shaking just slight vibration that is synced with the shimming thats taking place.

oh also i put new tires and had them balanced.

So 3 questions/thoughts?

1) how can i tell if the ball joints are bad? can they cause this shimming its like as if: if you have every came to a stop sign that has the warning strips or pavement thats been cut up so that you get that shudder to warn you of a upcoming stop sign...i have that shaking at 65-80...but has nothing to do with braking which is why i dont think i have warped rotors even tho there are wear marks on the rotors.

2) i know warped rotors can cause a vibration but they should be noticable when applying the brakes is that the right assumption?

3) I only spent 200 on these parts i dont feel cheated as i knew they wouldnt be of quality but i was unemployed thus i needed my car and though it was worth if it just lasted 4 months even...so question is what should i look for in possible cause for the shaking... other than the thrust arms...( remember the LCA have new oem bushings that cut out all death wobble) so ...ill check rotors on thursday and have the tires rotated to rule out a bent rim or just a bad tire.


worst case i was thinking of doing this:

BMW E53 X5 M54 3.0L > Suspension > OEM > ES#261078 ECS X5 Level 2 Suspension Rebuild Kit - E530521

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by Weasel

Meyle HD bushings: more solid and sporty feel than OEM while lasting longer, and won't cause you to feel every shake,bump and shimmy on the road. Good balance of performance and comfort. (like M3 control arm bushings vs series bushings with E36 and E46 platforms) .

I had the Meyle HD Bushings installed in my E46 a few months ago and they are amazing.

[TowX]

I'm getting the occasional brake shudder at highway speeds. Not all the time so it's not the rotors. So I took a look at the thrust rod bushings that my dealer told me were shot (for the 3rd time in 80K miles) and they aren't fluid filled, but solid rubber. Looks like when the dealer replaced them the 2nd time under warranty that they used the HD mounts, is that even allowed under warranty? Very interesting.

I'll pull them out next weekend and see if I can find a part number on them. If they're the supposed HD all rubber units, they only lasted about 20K on my X. Original ones lasted 39K miles, 1st replacements lasted 3K (yes, 3,000 miles but those were just the bushings so the dealer thought perhaps one was installed wrong by the tech so they put two new strut arms in), 2nd replacement 18K miles, and the ones in there now about 20K.

[Weasel]

Solid rubber? The Meyle HD bushings look physically the same as the OEM ones... Maybe a pic to shop what you're talking about? Also, brake shudder can be accentuated by worn thrust arm bushings, but doesn't usually cause it. Quite often the shudder is caused by a worn ball joint end of the lower control arm.

[ArtMan]

Originally Posted by Weasel

...Quite often the shudder is caused by a worn ball joint end of the lower control arm.

My thoughts exactly. Will place an order from ECS for new febi set of lower control arm sets. Thanks

[TowX]

Good points. I'm going by what the dealer told me needed replacing last time it was in there to have the trans replaced. And I think I was confusing the thrust arm bushings with the control arm bushings. I've two 2 cars apart at the moment- reinstalling the custom valved Bilstein RSR struts on the 911 along with poly-bronze bushings, and replacing a front hub bearing on the 528. Too many repairs on the brain at the moment.

The interesting thing is that the brake shudder wasn't too noticable all winter, but once the weather got warmer the shake came back so I assume the cold air was effectively raising the durometer stiffness of the bushing's rubber.

For the shudder, I can run locally for days without an issue. And in stop and go on the highway where I'm hitting the brakes frequently even at 50+ there's rarely a shudder. But if I drive for several miles on the highway then hit the brakes, I get the usual 2 or 3 shakes of the wheel then it settles down. And if I hit the brakes right way again there's no shake. And it's worse when I'm pulling the trailer. Last time I had this problem it was the thrust rod bushings. Had them replaced (that was the 3rd replacement) and it fixed the problem.

I'm beginning to wonder if pulling a heavy trailer is contributing to the frequent replacement of these bushings. After all, when accelerating away from a toll booth or pulling long hills, all 4 tires are being driven. When unloaded the burden on the suspension isn't so bad, but with 4500 lbs (now 5800) behind me, the amount of torque being applied to all parts of the drivetrain and suspension is accentuated. And of course the opposite is true when braking even with trailer brakes. So I'm probably tugging on all those bushings far more severely than when not towing. No facts to back this up, just my thoughts.

[Jordo]

My symptoms exactly! I just ordered them, I dont even need to look and confirm mine are warn out. The clunk under brakeing one time in reverse and one time again the first time you hit the brakes going forward. The sutter at high speed brakeing......

Thanks so much for the info! Damn I love this place!