Bushings Replacement DIY for Rear Lower Control Arm / Swing arm
 

Found a DIY at E38 bimmerboard (http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1231254) for replacement of the bushings for the rear lower control arm. The bushings are not sold separately by BMW, expecting you to buy the whole arm for over $500 each.

My indy wanted $800 labor to replace them and would not accept having me drop off the arms and he replaces the bushings - he wanted to do the whole job. So I went on the hunt for a DIY. As easy as 1-2-3. Bought the 2 bushings (bushing for the forward position arm that affect camber) from Fcpeuro for $7 each (Lemforder part # 3493301). The actual BMW part number on the factory bushing is 33321095287 but BMW does not sell it. Replacing the bushings in the already removed arms is under an hour. The other bushings in my case did not require replacement - 130k miles and they felt and looked rock solid.

Bushing specs:
Length: 70mm
Inner Diameter: 12mm
Outer Diameter: 56mm

Tools required:
- A universal forged c-clamp press and adapter (equivalent of sir Tools 3027 adapter) which can be rented from Autozone, O'reilly etc. Walmart also has the adapter for $53. The split-shell bushing requires a couple 2" hose clamps to compress the shell before pressing in. Make sure you get the hose clamps with the gear holes vs. indented since the gear won't hold the tension very well on the indented version.

I guess they planned on that being a money job for them. Nice to see work around fixes for stuff like this.

Both our cars are starting to have excessive negative camber and I'm suspecting these bushings are to blame so thanks a bunch for the detailed DIY


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Replaced my bushings when I refreshed my suspension. Took the arms to a machine shop with a press. They pressed them out and new ones in for $40. Like your solution though.

I'm having mine done Thursday.

Did this fix your camber issue?

I've had everything else in the rear replaced with the exception of coil springs and subframe bushings. My rear alignment specs are still ungodly at max adjustment.

Yes. I replaced everything in the rear except the subframe bushings. I can't really determine what to point the finger at since all components I removed looked good to me. Nothing in the suspension (both axles) had ever been touched in the life of the car - 130k miles. May be the naked eye is deceiving? :dunno: . I also replaced everything in the front axle. But I'm happy alignment all round is to spec and the car feels solid and tight. It drives like brand new :thumbup:

x5only, great to hear you were able to do it yourself when your mechanic tried to stick it to you.

When I rebuilt my rear suspension at ~170k miles, I had the swing arms off, those bushings looked OK, but I would have replaced them anyway if I had known about the aftermarket availability of the bushings separately. So, not knowing, I put the swing arm back on with no problems. It aligns, drives, and wears just fine.

Unlike many who want to replace everything they can see, I try to replace only what's needed, or sometimes things that are buried deep when I'm in there anyway. So on my truck, I replaced the ball joints (were the main problem, and also buried deeper than deep), the rear upper control arms (one was a little loose), and the integral links (seemed fine, but buried deep, and I was in there). Nothing else replaced, but I did clean and grease the rubber mounts at the top and bottom of the springs, which absolutely eliminated the intermittent squeaking noise I had. Guide links (front UCA's), subframe bushings, sway bar links, etc. are all still original, now past 180k and doing fine.

That's how I did it as well. A case of Coors Banquet can do wonders for an Indy's enthusiasm for helping you out. ;)

I used poly bushings in mine though. :dunno:

Mike

Will work for beer


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Didn't know polys were available for the swing arms.