E53 adjustable rear control arms.
 

Yes they are out there.
I've seen a few posts about people asking and they all struck out.
Well, I wanted to install the BC coilovers I had sitting here but I didn't want to destroy rear tires as a result.

So the search begun.
After a few days I found a image of what I was looking for. After a little more digging I found some contact info and reached out to them.

A week later and $850.00 I had them in my hands.
Link to seller. http://www.ebay.com/itm/LYKT-Adjusta...IAAOSwymxVJaFO

The quality was really good and easy to make adjustments.
I took them apart and put a little anti seize.
The lock bolts are a tad too close to the old spring mount in my opinion, I'll watch it to see if it hits during normal travel.

Here are the arms.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...8ceac4c079.jpg

Couple comparison shots.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...d255be1130.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...79eff27cab.jpg

The install.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...2337df9ed5.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...feaf08baf0.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...6a13014b7d.jpg

The lock bolts I mentioned.
As you can see they are stupid close.
The marks on there are from the install FYI.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...63a53bbccf.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...bddcff268f.jpg

End results.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...961cb02da6.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...489ace4889.jpg

Over all I'm happy, I've set the rear to low turns out so I'll hammer on it for a couple days then reset the height and re align.
Wheels should be here tomorrow so hopefully I can get those on tomorrow as well.

I'll post up the link for the arms when I get to work tomorrow as well as a profile shot.

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Nice! Expensive, but nice!

So who makes these?

EDIT: Oh sorry, just saw the last part of your post. Looking forward to the info!

Picture from this morning after a drive home and back.

Those bolts I was worried about are in fact rubbing. Have to are about taking a little material off I guess.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...8691b325ce.jpg

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Here is the link to the seller.

Lykt Adjustable Control Arm for BMW x5 5 Series and 7 Series KTBM043 1S | eBay

$850 in your original post?
Good to know they exist.

Good find!


After doing a little digging I found another style. They look like they won't rub and have poly bushings.

E53 Rear Adjustable Arms – Thayer Motorsports Performance, Inc.

But you need to completely remove the joint to turn it on the one set, the longer ones. THe shorter ones look like you may be able to adjust on the truck.

The ones I used are built so you can adjust them on the truck and I wouldn't run poly bushings on a street driven car.
They wear out super fast.

Not to mention Heim joints are illegal to use :(

If the ball joints need to be removed to adjust, I expect you'd only do that when doing the major adjustment when you first install them, and then use the normal alignment eccentric screw things for dialing it in. Right?

The cost is sure high, but wow, these are really cool.

That locking bolt that is rubbing looks way over-designed for what it needs to do. You can probably swap it out for one with a much thinner head - but of course see what the manufacturer thinks about that.

These use rubber bushings and look adjustable without removal

Megan Racing

this could be the solution to my rear tires wearing out on the inside (even with factory suspension)..

@itscoo

If your running factory height on your ride and your rear parts arent worn out or have been recently replaced then the fix is when you get the alignment done get the camber as close to zero as possible, and the other big one is the toe as well, you want to zero out the rear toe if you havent. Should fix your wear issues.

My buddy has a e70 4.8i that i lowered for him and he went for the alignment with me and did the above and he doesnt have that issue anymore despite being lower (which naturally without adjustable arms will make it so that there is more neg camber).

On my ride on these last set of tires i ran before i changed them Dec 2015, i ran pretty damn low and then later on slightly higher (the same height in my recent pics im sure youve seen) i did the alignment camber was -2.5 each side however got toe pretty much zeroed out. They lasted me 35k miles (i ran them down to about 1/32), and very spirited driving 95% of the time.

The rear tires i run are directional though so to get my 35k, i did have them flip remounted (one side to other, still remain proper direction and wouldnt be possible with asymmetrical tires) because of my low height i still have that camber which slowly eats the inner edge.

However after the flip i have a fresh inner edge on the inside where tire makes most contact anyways as on the very outer edge from the camber doesnt make much of any contact unless you are corning/hard cornering.

Regardless on your ride being at stock height you should easily be able to pull out more miles without doing a flip mount or changing anything because you wont have the added camber.

I got about 38k miles out of my rear tires before I had to change them. which isnt too bad, but camber wear was noticeable. the rest of the tire was in decent shape except for the insides. last time I had my alignment done they were able to get:

Rear Left camber within spec: -1.9 (range -2.2 / -1.5)
Rear Left toe within spec: 0.16 (range 0.07-0.23)
Rear Right camber was out of spec: -2.6 (range -2.2 / -1.5)
Rear Right toe was in spec: 0.17 (range 0.07-0.23)

im not sure what rear cross camber means but that was out of spec at 0.7 (range -0.5 / 0.5)

everything else was within normal limits. Im almost at 120k miles and I haven't touched any suspension parts (minus front air bags). Maybe that's all i need is some fresh bushings to get my alignment in spec. alignment guy said there is no adjustment in the rear so it got me thinking about these adjustable arms.

Update after about 1000 miles.
Here are the marks from the cinch bolts.
Doesn't look like they hit all the time as the damage would be much worse, shouldn't hit at all however.

Attachment 69260
Attachment 69261

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I know exactly where you're coming from on this. That's where I was about a year ago. My '01 seemed to drive fine, nothing seemed loose, handled well, no bad noises ... but it was eating through the inner corner of the rear tires very quickly (faster than it sounds like you are, although I think my alignment readings were similar), and it was maxed out on alignment adjustment.

I was thinking the same as you - if only I could just get a few more mm of travel on the adjustment I could fix the alignment and be done. I still think it's something to consider. But me, I struck out on my searches for adjustable control arms, so I never had to make that decision, and just overhauled the rear suspension with new Lemfoerder parts. That fixed it too. :D

^ thanks for the info. I am probably due for a suspension refresh also, hopefully that will help to bring the alignment specs into normal range.

Heim joints should not be used on a street car. They cannot handle shock forces from bumpy roads.

I have personally seen a control arm heim joint split but not completely fail on a street car. Luckily the owner got to replace with oem and not get sent off the road.

Super glad I finally found this thread again... Anyways...

Is it necessary that I have to buy all 4 to adjust camber?

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...8ceac4c079.jpg

Why does Megan's only show that I need 2?
http://www.meganracing.com/uploadima...RS-BM-0170.jpg

Megan recently stopped selling their rear control arms. Apparently there was a design defect and they are being redesigned. The megan pieces you linked are for the rear toe adjustment.

Do all 4 arms adjust camber or does 2 arms adjust camber and the other 2 adjust toe? Is the drawing correct?

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psjvgbgu1b.jpg

Your picture is correct.

Wanted to update this thread. Today I found a bad rear tie rod end.
Not sure if I can find a replacement either.
May have to find a whole other solution now as these arms are no longer out there.

I have the Hard Race arms and am dreading that day when I need to do the same thing.

I know this thread is several months old, and isn't the "ball joint" section just a tie-rod?

I've been eyeballing a set of those hard race.

How do you like them?

Been on for a few years now with no issues. I like them.

A tie-rod is just a threaded female rod and having a ball joint on the end.

Been looking at a set of these.

https://silverproject.eu/rear-contro.../?currency=USD

They also sell replacement bushings & bearings.

Merry Christmas to all!

I saw those as well and maybe it's just me but there's something about them I don't care for. Look a little janky to my eye.

What does "janky" mean.
I have Hard Race fitted for around 50k without any running problems. Not impressed with anti corrosion. However with anything like this once adjusted it’s rarely touched and if you think it needs adjusted then it’s worth looking elsewhere for wear.


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I have the Project Silver arms on my X. They may not look very good but they function very well. They are not that expensive and since I'm in Europe it saved me shipping and import duty. :D
They have been on the car for a few months, about 1300 miles now.

The red bushings feel soft like OEM rubber.

jan·ky
/ˈjaNGkē/

adjective INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN

of extremely poor or unreliable quality.

[emoji106]


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I wondered that too, I think it's the little allen bolts with the little nylon nuts that "jank" them for me (though I have nothing to base that on, just the pictures), makes them look "fragile" almost... that said, they seem to have good things said about them and SpookX5 is running them with good results it appears.


I'm doing the rear body bushing on mine this spring and have been thinking about just taking it all the way and doing adjustable arms and all while I'm in there. Looks like I'm going to have to start doing some research.

I just refreshed the entire rear end and still can't get alignment where I want it. Ordered the Hardrace camber/toe links and will redo. Question for those running spacers (30 rear, 25 front), do you align with the spacers off and then re-install? I've never aligned with spacers and don't know exactly how the alignment racks work. I've got the 20" for summers on a 4.4. Thanks!

Align with spacers in place

Thanks. I should get the arms in a couple of weeks.

Just got adjustable camber arms from Russia. They look like the Hardrace arms. Waiting on weather to coincide with when I have time to get them installed. When I put the coilovers in and lowered my truck 2" they couldn't get the rear camber into spec. I'll put these on and get it aligned. I'm hoping I won't need to put the toe adjustment arms on. Looking at my current adjustment it looks like there's room left in the toe adjustment. We'll see. :dunno:

I agree the nuts look janky. I added a big washer to spread the load. ;)

Hard race arms arrived - quicker than I thought. It might be a bit before I get them on and get it aligned. We'll see what I can squeeze in.

I noticed you're in Ontario and I'm assuming Canada and not Cali

Did you get them local or from the US?

I've sent the hard race people email from their facebook as well as IG and haven't received a response.

Ontario, Canada, correct.

I emailed hardrace and they eventually got back and said they would be in stock later in January. I found this seller on eBay. Parts actually came direct from Taiwan and pretty quick.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/HARDRACE-SPH...53.m1438.l2649

Because I wanted both the camber and toe arms, I emailed seller and he sent me invoice for both. Knowing that Hardrace said no stock, I asked for confirmation and he confirmed in stock. Paid it through Paypal and no issues. Once I paid, he did then go to warehouse to confirm stock. I wasn't holding my breath until they actually arrived, but I got a UPS number and all was good. Duties/fees were an additional $66CAD (I've been hit with far worse).

Hope that helps.

I can't wait to get mine in, drop the back end a bit (front has H&R sport springs on it) and then align.

Hard race arms, H&R Sport springs, spacers, rear lowered
 

Hi guys,

Here are some details on the setup (I had a hard time finding pics/specs, so hope this helps someone)
- Hardrace camber/toe arms on the rear
- H&R Spacers: 30mm rear, 25mm front
- Camber arm eccentric washer set so bolt is pushed out (gives adjustment down the road and leaves the arms alone)
- Toe eccentric washer set in the middle to allow for toe adjust but not touching the arms)
- H&R sport springs on the front (their specs say 1.2" to 1.5" drop)
- Winter 19" rims on it for now
- Front ride height (lower rim to fender) ~685mm
- Rear ride height (dropped with INPA) ~675mm (running board pretty much level)
- All rear joints are new, front joints and tie rods pretty close to same (done within last 6 months)

Rear alignment (not to BMW spec)
- Camber -1.3 and -1.3
- Toe 0.02deg and 0.02deg (total 0.04deg)

Front alignment (within spec)
- Camber -0.7 and -0.4 (best they could do)
- Caster not adjustable
- Toe 0.14deg and 0.14deg (total 0.28deg)

Sits and rides nice, looks great from the rear end (not the collapsed rears so typical with worn/lowered X5's).

Cheers.

Back
 

Would be great to see some pics from the back if possible.

I'll snag some tomorrow. Even with the winters, the tires sit nice to the flares. The 20's will sit perfect I think.

Rear end pics
 

Some rear end shots

Nice!

Dat ass... :rofl::rofl::rofl:

nice and straight(almost!). Thanks for posting

I think rear spec camber was -1.5 to -2.2. It's set at -1.3, but the inward lean looks proper now.

So that's what a non-stanced X5 looks like :D:thumbup:

That's correct. Dropped my X 2" and they can't get the rear into spec. I have a pair of camber arms waiting to go on, but I'm chasing another problem right now that I have to get figured out before I put them on. Looks nice the way you have it set up!

Pics of the summer rims on with the 30mm rear and 25mm front H&R spacers and the Hard Race rear adjustable camber/toe arms. Rims are cleaned, the X definitely is not. Still need to get the rear end fixed after the rear end incident, but waiting for slightly warmer weather. I like how it sits now :).

Cheers!

Nice!

I love reading threads like these...makes me feel so good about going the correct way with a bushing kit. hehehee