2003 E53 X5 is sagging in the rear
 

So I changed my tires about 8 months ago, the rear tires were shot, destroyed. Uneven wear. The rear of the car is sagging so the tires wear on the inner edges. Car still drives good, so I said ok, new tires. $100 bucks each or so. I now noticed the new tires are wearing quickly, so think I should fix the rear suspension.

Do you think this kit should be all that I need?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...5-e53rearkit-l

I don't think it's my springs, struts. Front control arms were replaced, a long while ago. Still fine. Car has 170k miles. Rear suspension is undoubtedly original. I've known the car it's entire life.

Wrapping my head around this... Seems like I just need to change the two rear control arms. Parts end in 859 and 860.

I had what sounds like a similar tire situation on my 2001 at around 170k miles, soon after I bought the car.

In my case, the real cause was failed ball joints (LEM-1330701) on both sides. While I was in there, I also replaced the integral links. One of the two rear upper control arms (that you mention) was loose, so I replaced both of those.

Replacing the ball joints is maybe 10x the difficulty of replacing the control arms, so I think a lot of people give the control arms a shot before taking everything apart to get to the ball joints.

Why don't you think it's the struts?
Check the suspension parts for play. That's the best way to know, instead of guessing.
At 170 miles I'd probably replace the whole rear suspension at once if I was doing any work on it, instead of replacing one thing at a time and then coming back

Likely all you need to change are the rear ball joints. Wouldn't hurt to replace the rest, but the sagging is usually caused by shot ball joints.

yeah, I'm going to swap the ball joints, control arms and the linkages. indy shop here in new york city, quoted me, wait for it, $2800. what a joke. went by my local mechanic at the tire shop, who has the ball joint pull and press, told me it would take a couple hours. I can supply the parts. that sounds more like it.

This kit seems like a good deal... anyone have any other advice on the parts?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...kit-l#warranty

Thank you.

It is a good deal, especially with the lifetime warranty. Especially valuable if you plan on keeping your truck for a long time. I bought this kit when I did my refresh and I'm about at the mileage where is due for another. Buy the new parts and send back the old and they refund the cost. Buy the parts using Paypal and Paypal will refund the shipping for the return.

Amazing... well. I'm. not sure how much longer my X5 will last me, but this seems worth it. engine still feels good and strong. I don't think I'll be getting another 170k miles.

Depends on how many miles you have on it now. I'm almost to 260,000. The M54 engine is practically bullet proof if you take proper care of it. Change the oil every 5000 miles.

I agree those parts (Lemfoerder) look good. It might be that some don't actually need replacement yet, but since you're paying someone else to do it, it makes sense to just get them all replaced now. Lemfoerder was the OES on most (all?) of those parts, so they should be as good as the BMW branded ones. Unlikely that you'll need the FCP warranty, but nice to have.

BTW, one challenge with these suspensions is that due to how they are spring loaded, the whole thing is under stress, keeping things tight and making it difficult to diagnose looseness before things are apart. It is somewhat possible to de-stress the spring by jacking it at the spring perch, with a special jack, but still, you will learn much more about how worn things are only when they are fully disassembled. For me, I did it all myself, with no rush, so could take it apart and figure out what I needed once I got in there, order the parts, etc.

Considering your tire wear and mileage, your plan sounds great to me.

I am pretty sure the ball joint and control arm with ball joint are near or at end of life. the other linkages are cheap enough and all right there... thanks all. I'll be happy to not have to worry about my tire safety most importantly.