Rear end rebuild complete.
 

Finished the rear end rebuild on the 3.0 X5, 2001 . First thing I realized is that I didn't need to replace the ball joint/bushings. After talking with parts guys they explained that this part was rarely replaced. OK, but I did and don't suggest you do unless you notice grease leaking around the mulit link. You can replace the multi-link without the bushing. The two control arms on the top needed replacement along with the swaybar links. My sub frame bushings and air bags were fine. After alignment it drove like an new X. I did replace stock shocks with HD Bill's and it is a much firmer ride, but I like that. Drove this X 2300 miles from Maine to CO with flawless performance and avg.22 mpg. Got 23mpg when filled with 93 OCT at Marathons. Luv the X.

Great to know, Thanks for the posting.

Glad your X is driving like new again afterwards. I'm looking at doing a refresh on my rear suspension fairly soon. I did my front over a year ago.

Yeah I wish I didn't need to replace my ball joints, but they squeak.

^Same with Kristophe, want to refresh my rear to match the newly redone front (2 years ago) - I'll just replace the ball joints as it would bother me to not do those with everything else

I kind of disagree with your parts guy. They may not SELL many rear balljoints, but I would suggest these are shot on any X5 with more than about 90k miles.

Just finished the rear axle overhaul at 140,000 miles. It's the first time the car has needed some work here and has previously only had alignment at around 90k miles.

The reason for this work was unusual tyre wear: the centre area of the Michelin Diamaris rears had uneven wear around the circumference, and with the wear indicators levelling it was time for a change. There was no edge wear of significance. The rears have made 18k, the fronts are better at 26k but I'll replace all four (will try a different brand this time).

With the pressure off the air suspension, a helper showed that the balljoints and wishbone outer links were worn - maybe 1/4 inch movement at the balljoint and slightly less at the wishbone.

The front upper arms had deteriorating rubber on the joint, so these got replaced as a precaution. The integral links were very good - but I replaced them anyway - as were the lower arm inner bushes. Both upper arm bushes were good. The drop links are also OK but I'll replace them along with the sway/anti-roll bar mounting bushes once finances recover.

The balljoint extraction needed a lot of cleaning to present a flat surface for the tool. I bought an Asta tool from eBay for ~£36/US$47 - this worked really well. One wishbone balljoint couldn't be separated and I had to split the 22mm nut. One upper arm balljoint did the same - I broke into the joint and ground a pair of flat surfaces so I could hold it and free the retaining nut.

Post alignment I'll treat the fresh metal surfaces to try to make this job easier next time around.

Replacement parts: Lemfoerder arms, TRW balljoints, BMW holders on the wishbones. Approx £270/US$470 including the balljoint tool.

I'm impressed that these parts have generally all worn so well over this mileage. I'm sure my predecessor E39 didn't have this longevity at the rear axle.