Brand new front control arm with bad ball joint

[Weasel]

The joints aren't usually held in a tight down here as we don't have salted roads w/snow or anything down here... but I can usually get it popped out with an air hammer from above or the BMW special tool that is a screw press for it. (good thing about being at dealer)

Since you are in an area with bad roads and such it may be worth trying one of those $5 grease injection needles to pump some extra grease in the joint through the boot... see if it helps with longevity. And as always, make sure you tighten the bolts on the bushing side of the arm with the X on her wheels for proper pre-load.

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by Weasel

The joints aren't usually held in a tight down here as we don't have salted roads w/snow or anything down here... but I can usually get it popped out with an air hammer from above or the BMW special tool that is a screw press for it. (good thing about being at dealer)

Since you are in an area with bad roads and such it may be worth trying one of those $5 grease injection needles to pump some extra grease in the joint through the boot... see if it helps with longevity. And as always, make sure you tighten the bolts on the bushing side of the arm with the X on her wheels for proper pre-load.

Thanks Weasel! I wanted to ask you about the ball joint for the forward thrust arm. That one could be bad too. How do you remove the ball joint from it's home in the steering knuckle?

I've got the Bentley manual but it does not give detail on how to remove the ball joint for the thrust arm.