Rear Subframe Bushes

[Patrick-Irish]

I found these bushes on the web. Interesting because they're each in two halves as opposed to one piece. I'd imagine they must be easier to fit for that reason. Think I might give them a try myself.

Powerflex

[Sundayjumper]

They should be easier to fit, yes, but you still need to get the old ones out and the special tool is by far the easiest way to do that. And if you've got the tool to hand it's no big deal to fit new OEM-style bushes.

FWIW I changed mine recently, with the tool, and Febi bushes. I've only put a couple of thousand miles on them but they're fine so far.

[dwhite832003]

@Sundayjumper,
I'm thinking about doing mine soon 116K(What was the mileage when you changed yours????)... Where did you pick up the specialty tool from and how much??? Did you change all four??? did you notice any improvident? if so to what degree...sorry to bombard you with questions but I just ordered rear brakes and debating doing this while I'm in there...

[Sundayjumper]

Mine was on about 108k I guess, I did them back in Feb, and it's on 110k now. Symptom was a noise from the rear when going on/off the gas at low speeds. It would vary between a squeak and a clunk depending how hard you mashed the pedal. It sometimes sounded like the spare wheel was moving around, a rubber-on-metal noise, if you can imagine it. If you jack the car up and have a look at the bushes it should be obvious if they're shot, you'll be able to see where they've been moving about. THIS is what mine looked like. Not good !

I hired the tool, it cost me £40. They're about £200 to buy new. If you've got a buddy with an X5 that needs to do the same job it would make sense to buy the tool between you and sell it on ebay afterwards, splitting the cost. The bushes I got were Febi-Bilstein. They appeared to be exactly the same as OEM. Maybe they won't last as long but if they only do 30k miles instead of 90k+ that's a lot longer than I'm planning on keeping the car ! Definitely change all four. Pointless only doing two, IMO.

If you're going to do it, there's a couple of good write-ups on here somewhere. Not a hard job but you will need a gas torch to heat the exhaust hanger and bend it out of the way. Otherwise you need to remove the exhaust and that's a pig of a job.

[stiperstones]

Contact Gerry Speechley at phoenixmotorsport telephone number mobile 07836 796921 landline 0044 (0)1276 27711 uk based wil sell you all the powerflex bushes for x5 and hire the tool to do the rear bushes.

See this post for fitting suspension bush replacement by x5girl Gerry is very helpfull the bushes i ordered from him arrived within 48 hours

[Sundayjumper]

Hi Gerry.

[Patrick-Irish]

@Sundayjumper

I know you're going to tell me I'm an idiot but I'm going to ask this question anyway.

Why can't you just drill, cut or otherwise hack the old bushes out ? Is it really necessary to have the special tool ? I presume the special tool is some kind of puller.

[stiperstones]

Originally Posted by Patrick-Irish

@Sundayjumper

I know you're going to tell me I'm an idiot but I'm going to ask this question anyway.

Why can't you just drill, cut or otherwise hack the old bushes out ? Is it really necessary to have the special tool ? I presume the special tool is some kind of puller.

the bushes sundayjumper used are identical to the existing bushes used in the x5 so tool is required to replace them without removing the axle, the powerflex bushes are split into parts so easier to install, on a footnote the tool will be quicker to remove the existing bushes and wont damage the housing.
We have three x5 in the locality and we are going to change to the powerflex bushes at the same time none of the vehicles require any at the moment.

[Sundayjumper]

Originally Posted by Patrick-Irish

Why can't you just drill, cut or otherwise hack the old bushes out ?

You absolutely can, but with the tool it's no more than a couple of minutes per bush instead of cutting and drilling and swearing for ages each time.

When I fitted Powerflex bushes to the front thrust arms I cut the old ones, that wasn't too bad, but the rear subframe bushes are much larger and will take correspondingly longer to cut. There's four of them and access is not so good at the back either.

So not essential, no, but it saves quite a bit of time & hassle.

[Quarryman]

If you're in the UK Specialist Garage Tools For Hire can offer the necessary tool and supply all four bushes if necessary. The tool is also supplied with a ratchet spanner which saves a lot of hard work!