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  #1  
Old 10-30-2019, 10:41 AM
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Rear Suspension Ball Joint

The X5M has about 100k miles and I'm looking to refresh some of the suspension components. Are these ball joints a common replacement item or should they only be replaced if they are leaking grease?

Has anyone replaced them? Was a regular ball joint press tool able to do the job?

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...struts/QIyJpwN
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  #2  
Old 10-30-2019, 12:03 PM
ard ard is offline
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Soooo many RUBBER bits you should consider before a metal ball joint. IMO.

16, 21... Do they sell the bushes that are pressed into #10? On the e39 they did not, 800 each. Pita to source after a year searching.

GL !
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  #3  
Old 10-30-2019, 12:28 PM
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I could not locate any replacement bushings for the large, lower control arm; it is only sold as a complete replacement part, and is quite expensive.

A mechanic friend of mine says that most manufacturers won't spec replacement ball joints or bushings for aluminum control arms because the act of removing and installing the bushing, assuming that is even possible as the bushing's steel sleeve may have galvanically welded itself to the aluminum control arm, damages the aluminum to the point that the interference fit cannot be assured. I think the E70 rear lower control arm is aluminum.
It sure would be nice to replace those 2 big inner bushings. Despite having replaced everything else back there, there's still a slight side to side looseness in the rear of my E70.
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Old 10-30-2019, 12:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ard View Post
Soooo many RUBBER bits you should consider before a metal ball joint. IMO.

16, 21... Do they sell the bushes that are pressed into #10? On the e39 they did not, 800 each. Pita to source after a year searching.

GL !
I'm already set to replace 16 & 21 (along with the swaybar links)...just wasn't sure about the ball joint. They seem to be a common item to replace for the e39. Though I haven't found much info on this for the e70

The bushings for the swing arm can be purchased separately.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...forder-3473401

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...forder-3473501
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Old 10-30-2019, 04:17 PM
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Wow - great find!

Anyone had success replacing these? I sure wish I had found these when I had everything laying on my garage floor. I'm not too eager to tear all of this apart again and get another alignment, but it would seem to be a good option to firm things up back there.

Last edited by LightlyToasted; 10-30-2019 at 04:27 PM.
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Old 10-30-2019, 04:23 PM
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The site has a contradictory description of the bushings, pulled from the description for the swing arms: "The inner bushings which attach to the subframe are non-serviceable. With age, the inner bushing can deteriorate causing alignment issues and wheel shimmy. This entire assembly must be replaced in order to replace the bushings."


I may reach out to FCP Euro to see what gives.
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Old 10-30-2019, 04:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philly42 View Post
Has anyone replaced them? Was a regular ball joint press tool able to do the job?

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...struts/QIyJpwN

I replaced mine last year. The flat snap rings without holes are a PITA, and I couldn't get a regular ball joint press to fit back there so I homebrewed a press from a threaded rod, various sockets, and some PVC pipe. IIRC the receiving cup from my kit couldn't fit flat on the swing arm. OE and aftermarket tools have part of the receiving cup cut out so that it can lay flat and clear the protrusion on the swing arm.


As for whether they need to be done, one of mine seemed worn more than the other one which was about as stiff as the new ones. No idea if the PO had one replaced.
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Old 10-30-2019, 04:58 PM
ard ard is offline
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Yeah. As I recalled on the E39, those bushes were only available like 10 years after EOP.
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Old 10-30-2019, 10:52 PM
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The inner bushings are available on Ebay among others. Yes, they are hard to remove, cutting a groove in the sleeve after removing the rubber innards helps. Has to be done very carefully. Reinstalling is tricky as the new sleeves are soft.....

On my '09 E70 I just went through a rear refresh at 130k starting with the ball joints, integral links, upper forward arms and stab end-links. I did not change the rear upper arms. Used a 20 ton HF shop press to get the ball-joints out for which removing the hub-carrier is unavoidable. The change in ride quality after this was nothing short of spectacular! (I posted some pictures at the time.)

When I was done I took it for alignment and guess what? They complained of the inner bushings, so back on the jack it went. That is how I learned about the inner bushing replacement procedure. I am about to do the same on my e53 once I get the engine back in.

So, yes, I recommend going whole hog but get the HF press and make it easy on yourself. (Taking the emergency brakes off is not that hard.) Check the forward and rear upper arms, suffices to replace only if bad. The upper arms are not cheap and I decided to replace only the forward ones as the RH side was bad (always replace parts in LH/RH pairs).
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Old 10-31-2019, 09:43 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TriX5 View Post
The inner bushings are available on Ebay among others. Yes, they are hard to remove, cutting a groove in the sleeve after removing the rubber innards helps. Has to be done very carefully. Reinstalling is tricky as the new sleeves are soft.....

On my '09 E70 I just went through a rear refresh at 130k starting with the ball joints, integral links, upper forward arms and stab end-links. I did not change the rear upper arms. Used a 20 ton HF shop press to get the ball-joints out for which removing the hub-carrier is unavoidable. The change in ride quality after this was nothing short of spectacular! (I posted some pictures at the time.)

When I was done I took it for alignment and guess what? They complained of the inner bushings, so back on the jack it went. That is how I learned about the inner bushing replacement procedure. I am about to do the same on my e53 once I get the engine back in.

So, yes, I recommend going whole hog but get the HF press and make it easy on yourself. (Taking the emergency brakes off is not that hard.) Check the forward and rear upper arms, suffices to replace only if bad. The upper arms are not cheap and I decided to replace only the forward ones as the RH side was bad (always replace parts in LH/RH pairs).
Edit: My friend who has a hydraulic press will be away. I'm going to get the special tool to simplify the process.

Last edited by philly42; 10-31-2019 at 11:03 AM.
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