Mechanic Quote - Front Suspension
 

Hey everyone! I did end up getting that '01 X5 after having my wife and FIL test drive it. Well, it got down here and as soon as I drove it I knew the front end was "gone". Bad shudder under braking, clunks, etc. So, I took it to a local mechanic with a good rating on Yelp, German Motor Works in Scottsdale, AZ.

He checked everything without me prompting and stated that everything except the tie rods needs to be replaced and gave me the quote below, and said it would take him a day.

Thrust arm bushing: $300 p/l
LCA: $320 p/l
Sway bar links/bushings: $300 p/l
Valve Cover Gaskets: $400 p/l
Fix banjo fitting on p/s line: No charge
Bleed brake system: No charge
A/C Charge: No charge (see story below)

Now for a quasi-funny story...the A/C was just "meh". He offered to recharge it for free while he looked at the components and everything else. While taking off the valve cap it was VERY tight and he needed pliers. Suddenly, it BLEW OFF into the hood, scared the crap out of both of us, and started venting freon. Apparently the valve didn't seat correctly so the previous tech just used the cap to keep pressure on the high side so it was leaking freon, hence the "meh" A/C. He was able to get the valve to re-seat, and then re-charged the A/C at no charge to me, and verified that it got down to 41* in the system.

Best place to check parts prices is on line. FCP Euro is my go to, but there are others.

I just redid my valve covers along with a tune up (spark plugs, coil x1 and some other little things) was about $275ish for parts, the most expensive being the plugs. Took me a weekend. The valve cover gaskets themselves are cheap, its just semi labor intensive getting off the old crap and seating the new ones. Sway bar links he quoted you is a rip off. Cost me $30 for new links and and half afternoon. They are pretty dang easy. The rest I haven't got to but parts are cheap, labor is the killer. Don't go into E53 ownership without tools or deep pockets.

+ 1 on the above. DIY (tools, knowledge, location) will make your ownership a happy one. The Items you mentioned are not labor intensive nor do they require extreme knowledge. All the details are in the DIY Article list with picture etc.

I've done the valve cover gaskets before, they are just a PITA. The rest of the suspension actually looks pretty easy and doesn't require any presses like I'm used to with my Toyota's.

The only challenge I have right now is since I've just moved to AZ, I'm in an apartment for the next 6 months. They frown on wrenching on your vehicle. :(

I'm going to see if I can use a buddy's place, since none of this should be that difficult.

You may be singing a different tune if you're planning on changing the tension arm ball joint that sits in the bottom of the steering knuckle.

Depends on whether the vehicle has been exposed to a lot of salt and is badly rusted. If not, the ball joint isn't that hard to remove.

Get yourself some decent tools.
 

Get yourself a decent balljoint separator tool. Having decent tools makes all the difference in the world when working on your car. Check to see if perhaps your area have a DIY garage with tools and lift that they will rent out to you. In my neck of the wood there two DIYer shops.

Here's a short video on how to remove the thrust arm from the ball joint at the knuckle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ekrGlb6To

how many miles are on it? Id prolly recommend doing the front shocks too if they were never changed...

Thanks guys! A co-worker with an older M6 recommended a different shop so I'm taking it there. The prices aren't bad, I think it's like $200 to replace the bushings in the tension arms. I know it'd be cheaper if I could do it myself, so I'm just trying to get the minimum done now until I can get back into a home. Should only be about 6 months.

The shocks have all been replaced, the X5 has 246K miles on it. It's from Idaho, but fortunately where we lived (and where the truck was) did not use salt, they used crushed volcanic rock so rust isn't really a problem.