Front Lower Control Arms
 

Shop tells me I’m in need of new control arms and wants to replace the entire part on both sides with OEM equipment at around $450 each. Now based on a quick search I’m finding these parts for around $100 a piece.

My question is, is it necessary to replace the whole control arm because of a small amount of play or is it more effective to replace the bushings with something like a polyurethane bushing from Energy suspension?

Q#2. How difficult would it be to perform a bushing replacement in the driveway?

Based on me being the second owner the lower front control arms have never been serviced.

2004 E53 X5 3.0 completely stock.

Thanks in advance

Are you maybe talking about the tension struts ?

What type of mechanic ability do you have? Do you have specialty tools like air tools, a ball joint separator tool, a hydraulic press? I installed polyurethane bushings on the lower control arms in my driveway, but I'm a pretty knowledgeable mechanic (my father was an ASE certified mechanic) and I have a lot of tools including air tools. If you are just looking to save money, buy a Toyota or Honda next time instead of a BMW.

No I am talking about the front lower control ams.

fairly capable and have access to the tools, I'm just trying to get a gauge on time and whether the entire control arm is needed or I can just replace the bushing.

A few people have done the bushing replace on the sideways front control arms you can find on xo of you search.

When you can get OEM complete for $80 a pair from fcpeuro.com that's the route I take.

I have impact tools so 20 yr old rusty nuts aren't a hindrance. The job is a good starter job for competent DIY mechanic.

Have a second car handy for "gotcha" happenstance.

Loosen the bushing side first, any twist on the ball joint side can make it really hard to remove.

The trick of apply pressure with a crowbar then hitting the wishbone with a hammer not to pound out but to "ring" like tuning fork is a good tip.

I have to do this same procedure and I don't recall doing a write up.

Alignment is required after the new ones are installed. You can get close with string alignment but getting the tie rods loose can be 8/10 difficulty.

If you have access to the tools it's not that bad.... But it sure as hell isn't enjoyable!!

Of course my frontend takes a beating over here. It seems as if you're talking about an independent shop and not the stealership, so they should be open to installing your parts (bought on sale not chinesium) and that way you save some money and your time.

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The lower control arm is called a tension struts. Images and descriptions taken from Realoem.

How can people on this Board help you if you don't know what you are talking about.

Unlessd you change the inner and outer tie rod distance you shouldn't have to do a realignment.

An X5 does not have a "wishbone" suspension. My Lotus has upper and lower wishbones in the front suspension.

Oh, look someone made a video of removing the tension struct and changing to polyurethane bushing all while doing it on a driveway.
Hey Andrew you have that old set of tension structs that I sold you that can put polyurethane bushing in.

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

sorry about that. I am using the terminology that my mechanic, and the other mechanics I have spoken with here in Canada use. Also, any search I have done looking for these parts has referred to them as control arms. so I guess we are all wrong then?

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.

LOL. So that's why full names, diagrams, and part numbers are always good to communicate with.

Now just wait until you need to find the torque values for reassembly. That is another place where you may see a table listing of values and part names, but you really need to be careful in making sure your understanding of the part name is what the book thinks as well.

BTW, I really like my old Lexus, whose manual skipped the confusion and had a suspension (or whatever) diagram with torque values on every fastener - no way to get that wrong.

Here's where an xoutpost member tried to build such a diagram, but you might want to double check the values, at least with common sense:

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...que-specs.html

Front Lower Control Arms
 

Don, only you are stuck on the tension strut being part of this thread. It was determined early on that the part in question in this thread is the wishbone control arm.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2157e5ba7d.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e798667745.pnghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ef11c63cac.png

True the tension strut does not have a ball joint as part of it's assembly but the control arm/wishbone does and I don't think it's removable.

Everybody else is only talking about the sideways facing rear of the axle control arm with the integrated ball joint.

He's not the only one. Thought we were talking tension strut too. Sorry fellas.

I've always referred to that rearward one as the control arm. I've also seen it called a lower wishbone for some reason. :dunno: Oldskewel is right, TIS is notorious for using different naming schemes when looking up torque values. When doing the E70 front suspension I had to make a diagram for myself to keep it all straight. :dunno:

It definitely doesn't help when the guys that sell them change their minds of what to call them.

Other than the lower/upper adding additional confusion, sticking to behind or forward of axle can eliminate any confusion as there are only two per side and only one in front one in back.

The one behind the axle is the wishbone/control arm and has an integral ball joint

The one forward of the axle is the tension strut aka radius arm and has a hole on the end near the wheel that attaches to the independent ball joint.

Hopefully that can help clear things up.

When wishbone fails you will usually get shopping cart wobble felt in the steering

When the tension strut fails you will feel a pronounced thud any time you hit the brakes as the front wheels will move up to 2 cm rearward.

Amazingly neither will usually cause steering/alignment/wear issues. I've driven 1000s of miles with each badly worn and no quick wear off tires or odd steering

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PAr...ew?usp=sharing

this is the part we are discussing - hopefully, we can get clear on what it's called.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PAr...ew?usp=sharing

If as suspected it's play in the ball joint you have to replace the arm. I'm not aware of any way to replace the ball joint end.

As already pointed out, just get MeyleHD from FCPEuro and future replacements will be free as FCPEuro give lifetime replacement warranty. I would replace the entire arm as the bushing on the subframe end is probably gone or on the way out. You mentioned you're handy with tools - you can replace this right in your garage or driveway. I did the entire suspension overhaul of my X5 right in my garage, on my back and with no air tools:D. I'm not a mechanic (my profession is very different) and just took interest in auto DIY starting with simple things like an oil change. However, I'm always very careful and follow step by step instructions to the letter whenever practical (TIS, Bentley manual etc).

Thanks this should come in handy.

I used this tool and it worked wonders:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...958sch01a~sch/

I recall having a hard time with the version from Harbor Freight (wouldn't extend high enough and would slip when tightening the bolt) and had to return it.

Au Contraire Mon Ami

This is what the OP posted

The definitive word being "Front Control Arm".

The item you have listed No. 10 is at the REAR of the suspension.

:stickpoke

Front Lower Control Arms
 

Front *axle* not front arm. From the OP photo it's quite clear this thread is talking about the rear of axle control arm. #10 is the part this thread is talking about

It's called control arm but BMW calls it "Wishbone". It's around US$61 (Meyle) at FCPEURO. OEM is like US$271. Just replace the entire arm as the bushing on the other end (in the subframe connection) may gone too or on it's way out.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-31126760276my

Note the part numbers:
Left 31126760275
right 31126760276

.... and here're the DIY instructions. Note the torque values. Must be tightened when the vehicle is on the ground or improvise that e.g. jacking up the steering knuckle to mimic vehicle on the ground (careful here, can be dangerous). It is necessary after reinstallation to carry out a wheel/chassis alignment check.

Nice video DIY here from autodoc. I like their videos done by a pro mechanic. He improvises by just using a hammer to pound out the control arm from the steering knuckle! No need for the ball-joint removal tool! See how he lifts the knuckle to improvise ride height while tightening the bolts.

https://youtu.be/l5_AK5mhj3o

That's the video where I learned the tuning fork trick. (hit the part sideways so it "rings"; you get 100-300 vibrations per second).

I've been searching this site for help with same issue, 105,000 on the clock, both front tension struts replaced 8 years ago. Now some play in the left control arm- according to the dealer that just replaced my rear brake lines due to a major leak. Appears there is some confusion with terminology, my understanding is the arm forward of the hub is the tension strut, it has a big curve to accommodate the axle, the control arm is rearward of the hub and is fairly straight. Both have bushings and appears when you buy either arm, the bushing is already pressed into the arm- addressing the issues with some of the other postings about using a press to replace the bushing. The only challenging part appears to be removing the bushing from the suspension knuckle, most postings and YouTube videos say a tap with a hammer and a prybar should free it. I've never done it before, would like to try it, and wondering if any of those experienced in doing this have any comments or corrections to what I've said?

Front Lower Control Arms
 

If there's play in the control arm/wishbone, you should feel a shudder in the steering wheel when you brake gently from about 40-50mph down to 5-10 less.

In addition if you are driving on the top of a crown (eg center freeway lane), and gently curve left/right, the steering wheel will tug against you 2-3x right as the wheel passes dead center.

If those both happen it's been 100% the wishbone.

One side ball joint is swaged in, don't try to hope the inboard bushing is the problem, it's usually the ball joint on the outboard side.

Not a difficult diy.

If the bolt holding the Morse taper into the knuckle was over torqued you'll have some trouble removing.

When I did mine; a few minutes pounding with 4# hammer on the left, fell out with one pry with prybar on right.

If the one you start on fights go to the other side, odds are it will be much easier.

Satisfaction instant and obvious. One the best and easiest fixes.

Alignment needed after.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3b4570164f.jpg

FYI the aforementioned over torque was self inflicted. I temporarily removed the wishbones I fogot why but put the old ones back in for a week or so until exchanging them for new. Since I was replacing soon I didn't torque I just banged quick with the M18 big gun. Big mistake. Over torqued and turned one hit into dozens.

+1[emoji106]

I change out front end parts more often than I change cabin filters.... (my roads are shit)

Take the time and change every single thing in your suspension if you're close to 100k or don't know how it was driven or when replaced. This way you'll have a completely fresh suspension (guibos, engine and transmission mounts too) the Bleed My Wallet makes are known for piling up problems when stuff has been deferred.

Now back to Dukes of Hamas...[emoji601]

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I just replaced my front lower control arms with Lemförder arms from FCP. Symptoms were exactly as AndrewWynn described, spot on. Super easy R&R and fixed the issue. Neither one of my ball joint separators were wide enough to work on the LCA so i had to use the ole trusty pickle fork. A few whacks and they were off. Don't forget to tighten the bushing side at the K0 Lage, or the normal ride height position.

I replaced the tension struts and ball joints a while back. Those were easy as well.

And for what it's worth, they are Querlenker und Zugstrebe, or Control Arm and Tension Strut. Sometimes the translation from German to english gets lost. Radius arm and trailing link are typically rear axle suspension components.

Seen in the last pic there, I think the height sensor is installed wrong. The lower of the two links should be closer to pointing straight up, rather than pointing at ~2 o'clock as shown there. At least that's what makes sense to me, I did not check a reference on this.

Luckily i took a before pic bc you're right, it will go on either way. Let me know if it's really wrong. No issues or codes so far and I installed like it came off. It does look wrong though..

Yes, I am pretty sure that is wrong.

Yes, that’s wrong. Should look like this, pic from TIS. The sensor rod, as it connects to the control arm, should be perpendicular to it, not parallel.

That's funny. Now I'm afraid to change it. I guess it just affects my headlights? They are perfect right now. I don't remember having any stored codes either. I'll scan it later and see if anything is there.

I only noticed something was wrong when the headlights beam would wander when navigating a curved road at night. Otherwise no codes were stored.

So in the building I work in, we have either the first or one of the first e53 4.6is with basically no miles. Perfect condition with every option pretty much. Anyway, i looked up under the car, and sure enough, the height sensor arm is straight up and down like the TIS shows. So mine is definitely wrong. Ill try to see if I have the headlight issue before i fix it. Otherwise no known issues. On the new X5s, and even the F15, you would get a code no matter what since the voltage would be out of range.

Many thanks for the detailed photos and advice. And I learned to remove the ride height sensor plug. I wonder if the issue with the ride height arm is one of relative position rather than absolute, the combination of spring/strut wear, headlight adjustment, even tire pressure may allow an older SAV to have a different orientation from a new one? Could that be why some have not had any issues with the arm in different position?

Received the parts yesterday and going to (try) to install next week. Thanks for the helpful reassurance with removal of the ball joint side. I’m trying to plan in my mind how to handle torquing the ball joint side, was thinking I could support the brake disc or knuckle with a jack by measuring the distance from the disc to the wheel well and replicating that with the jack to simulate normal stance, now I’m concerned by the comment of this being dangerous. Seems like there probably is room to use the torque wrench with wheel on the ground.

Last point, I’m doing this because the dealer demonstrated play (on a video) in the left control arm while repairing something else. I think steering feels normal but the only thing I notice is I do feel a “thud” at the end of the driveway which has a slope at the end. Is that consistent with the symptoms andrewwynn described and am I doing this for the right reasons?

Speed bump test...

Go just fast enough to compress the suspension quickly and keep the weight off as it clears without "jumping off" on the back side (just rides down in contact without full weight) if you get a thunk on compression it's the short control arm if you get a thunk on the back side then it's the long control arm.

Not foolproof but helpful and always replace arms, joints together unless you have craptastic roadways like here in the Middle East.

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I think that's a great test. I don't have any worn joints yet but I do that check occasionally

I torque the ball joint side to spec with the car on the lift, wheels down, nothing special. But I leave the bushing side loose (bolt/nut installed) until i get it off the lift and drive out of the shop and back in. Then i finish torquing the bushing side while laying on the ground. That's the side that makes a difference.

And yes on the thud going over a bump. Before the control arm change, i had a thud noise going into my garage, maybe a 1" lip of concrete. After, no thud and no brake shimmy.

Appreciate the feedback and the reassurance that this is a needed repair based on my thud test. I think I've heard some folks say the ball joint side is critical for torque while the wheel is in the weighted stance and other say the bushing side is critical. The bushing side travels in one direction, the ball joint in multiple directions, the explanation I've heard is by torquing in the unweighted position, there will be binding with movement in the weighted position, I guess that could apply to both sides of the control arm. And they are both accessible on the ground, so finish torquing both on the ground???

The ball joint swivels it doesn't matter when it's torqued.

The rubber bushing doesn't swivel. The rubber twists. If you torque with the wheels floating you will twist the rubber when the wheels are loaded and then over-twist when you hit bumps. Keep that last bolt loose enough the bushing can swivel until the wheel is "loaded".

I do while the car is on stands by lifting the wheel hub until that side of the car floats just a bit off the stand. If I'm being pedantic that day I'll disconnect the sway bar link as that will slightly reduce how far the wheel hub will travel.

If you measure the distance from the center of wheel to the fender opening before you start, you will have reference to tighten the bushings at ride height.

Thinking ahead?! That's like cheating!

(Great idea I will try to remember that next time)

:iagree:

I have both control arms installed and I’m waiting for a new strap for the right side ride height sensor. Thanks for all the posts that helped, and I understand how placing the ride height bracket correctly on the busing side of the control arm ensures the lever is nearly vertical with the connecting lever nearly horizontal and there is a flat part on the arm for the strap, it’s made to all fit together correctly.

But I made a critical error that I’ve not seen on any of the posts so I thought I’d confess so no one else does this rather stupid thing. My ball joint was challenging to remove even with a ball joint tool, so I tried supporting the rotor with a Jack at various angles to see if it would help- the enemy of the good…. Well when the ball joint finally freed, the abrupt pop caused the rotor to fall off the Jack and the weight of the hub caused the axle to fall out of the transmission a few inches, probably held by other suspension components. After removing all the other connections to the hub and getting the axle back in place, all is well and anxious to see how it works once I get the wheel back on. If I do it again I would probably release the arm from the busing side then remove the ball joint side, I did that on the other side of the truck and the hub never moved a mm.

Thanks for the confession! We all do dumb things sometimes especially when you look back at it. As long at the seal didn't get damaged youre probably ok. Its just held in by a c-clip.

Another piece of advice, I take the nut loose then thread it back on hand tight before i bust the ball joint loose from the knuckle. Basically thread it back on until the locking feature. That keeps the control arm from falling somewhere unexpected.

For what it's worth, BMW still builds axles in what they call K0 Lage. It differs from model to model. All bushings are tightened at this position, even the axle is jounced before final tightening.

Yep, learned a lot about the “physics” of the front suspension, glad I ventured into an uncomfortable situation and will add your threading the nut loosely before busting it or other components loose to the list. It’s all back together and drives without any noises or fault codes, ride height is functioning. Appears just because it drives ok doesn’t mean I’m out of the woods, I will be looking for a leak from an undetected boot tear, but what should I look for with a broken seal? Transmission fluid leak? And not sure about your last sentence, was that reassurance that popping the axel out isn’t so bad because of the way they manufacture it on the line at the factory?

Axle coming out of differential is a non issue. It's differential gear oil not xm fluid in there and when not moving no amount of consequence is near the seal. Sounds like it didn't even come all the way out.

You do need to confirm the c-clip is fully engaged by pulling on and make sure the inner shaft won't move outward.

Sorry to hijack this post from the OP.

Axel was all the way out an inch or so, and needed to be lifted up to slide back in, but it slid in easy, boot stayed attached at diff and axel side so I never saw the connection or the inner axel which didn’t seem to move relative to the outer axel because presumably the inner axel remained firmly attached to the hub. I’m guessing the seal you’re talking about is inner to outer axel holding grease inside. Tried to find some diagrams but appears the c clip you’re talking about holds the seal and inner shaft to the outer shaft. Its all back together, so I would have to take it apart to check it, anything I should watch out for with it all together either by driving or inspection of the components?

I was just meaning that BMW still tightens the bushings in ride height position, and that height will change based on model. And before the rear is final tightened, it's jounced to settle the bushings.

And I'm assuming he means the seal on the oil pan where The shaft goes through. Or the seal on the oil pan bracket. They use protectors to keep from damaging thoe seals when installed at the factory. And the shaft should be fully inserted so the c-clip snaps in place. There is a pull out force spec, i forget what it is for the e53, but if you try to pull it out by hand from the oil pan side, it shouldnt move.

Thanks for the clarification and all your help as well as others on this post. So far so good, will watch for any issues closely on that side as I put more miles on it.

If the clip didn't grab you'll be able to pull the shaft back out by hand. So if you tugged firmly and that didn't happen you're good to go.

About once a year a thread hits xo where an axle pops out of the dif while driving. You off course can no longer drive if older than 04 (not xdrive).

The seal I'm referring to is the axial seal against the dif that keeps dif oil inisde dif. The grease seals are the boots around the two joints.

The outer joint angles but does not allow axial motion the inner joint does both.