I would personally go with MeyleHD. Very happy with those parts after 2 failures in a row with aftermarket and "oem" replacements (but that was my thrust arm and swaybar end links). Lemforder seems to be the only other real, durable OEM option.

I dont think you are saving that much money by doing just the bushing. I would get the entire arm. Complete replacement is quite simple. Just make sure you do the final tightening once wheels are loaded. I also dont think you need an alignment, so long as you dont touch anything else.

It's definitely not a stretch to call them that. Every manufacturer uses a different and almost random name for the different links in a multilink suspension. There is no consensus except for people who only know about one brand of cars and think that we should call them exactly what the repair manual calls them. There are only two control arms on the front suspension and they're on the bottom...

We changed our control arms on wife's e53 and there front tires were down to the "redneck wear bars" (steel belts) within 3 weeks. Lesson learned. Of course I figured out how to use a string between front and back tires to align myself and that worked great for a couple years never had it pro aligned in the last four years and the tires wore pretty evenly down to the actual wear bars.

RealOEM refers to the control arm as the wishbone.

BMW in the TIS refers to the sideways arm as both the control arm and the wishbone.

BMW refers to the mostly forward arm as the tension strut or the radius arm but never control arm.

Unfortunately sales pages will add or exchange words so for example fcpeuro will call them tension strut and control arm, the 4 piece kit with both calls all four control arms. Don't tell bad if you ever get them confused there is a lot of misinformation out there on these particularly parts.

Back to the original question though: fcp Euro has the control arm bushing for $8.40. Also I bumped into the TIS how to press out the bushing as well.

The problem with that is it's very likely the problem is on the other end (ball joint).

To eliminate any confusion I refer to the two suspension arms as such:

1) sideways wishbone control arm

2) forward angled tension strut.

There is no mistaking forward and sideways. Only one is remotely forward aimed one is almost exactly sideways.

I have changed these a couple times between our two e53 and have not had any major hiccups save the tie rod being fused and nearly impossible to do the alignment afterwards.

I don't think you can change the ball joint on this part and that is usually where they fail for me: boot fails, grease leaves, joint dies.

thank you this all makes sense. and it is the ball joint end I'm dealing with so I'll be replacing the whole part

This is why when people who are knowledgeable ask a question if you don't know the answer you shouldn't be correcting them

If you don't have a hydraulic press, you can remove the old bushing by using a hacksaw or Sawzall to cut through the metal sleeve of the bushing. Afterward, you can just pound out the bushing with a hammer. Just don't cut into the tension struts.

Yeah, as long as you get the right part. Most BMW people will call it a tension arm/strut as pointed out. Different sources call it different names, which is why I try to go by the part number.

BigBody mentioned Meyle HD. I have used Meyle HD without issue in many applications, including the tension arm. I also echo is recommendation to doing a complete arm and I wouldn't get an alignment personally, were I to have to replace JUST the tension arm.

Au Contraire Mon Ami, I posted the Realoem Diagram for a X5 E53 front suspension and the part in the diagram is identified as the "Tension Struts".

If you look at the "Tension Strut" that you bought from me, you will note that they did not come with ball joints. The ball joint remained with the spindle/upright. These balljoints can be replaced.

Front Lower Control Arms
 

My wife's shredded front tires beg to differ also TIS directive is to perform alignment if any arms are removed from the knuckle. I think if doing the bushing only and in place you can skip the alignment.

I do have the struts. I am pretty sure my TS ready for replacement and I was planning to swap those bushings to swap the parts quick vs. press out my old while car is on stands.

I don't know why BMW calls half a wishbone a wishbone but they in fact do.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b51c16ae92.jpg

See. They really do.

Now BMW sometimes calls it a control arm but they never call the mostly forward pointing arm a control arm just tension strut or radius arm.

I never found any reliable source to dictate lower/upper and don't recommend using those terms.

I made up sideways/forward to differentiate since there is always confusion when talking about the front suspension arms on BMWs.