Well, I got to drive it for an extended period of time this evening. 90% of the suspension noise is gone, but there is still a small hollow sounding clunk. Maybe I'll give the sway bar links a try anyways!

I was curious to know if anyone has a time frame or milage schedule on how often the control arms need to be changed. I have an 01 3.0 and mine were done 2 years after I bought it at approx 26,000mi. I asked the dealer at the time if I was going to have to change them every 2 years, and was told that they have redesigned them to last longer. Any truth to this.

Now that BMW picks up maintenance for 4 years on new X5's, you bet your ass they last longer. They probably last for 4 years and 1 month, or for 49,000 miles. :D

JV

so guys in one sentence what is it? sway bar links, or control arms? :dunno: I need to know so i can replace mine.. thanks

We had the clunk too. Turned out to be loose sway bar links. Replaced under warranty. From looking at the DIY article, it looks like a cheap and easy fix.

Like I've mentioned earlier, it was pretty easy to tell that my control arm was bad. Just jack up the front wheel and try to shake from side to side. If there is play in the wheel, watch the ball joint on the control arm as you shake it. There was considerable play in the ball joint. Once I replaced it, it was tight as can be.

That being said, I have another hollow sounding clunk to deal with. Like another poster mentioned, if the car has 50K+ miles on it, it might not be a bad idea to replace the sway bar links anyways.

Picked up my links today . $33.00ea at the dealer. Will probably crawl under this weekend. As I said earlier, my CA's were changed 2yrs ago. I've got 56K on my X now and hoping I don't have to change them again so soon.

Changed the links this mourning. The thumping sound is gone. One issue down, one to go. I sure do miss my garage and power tools.

hey stwjazz7 ..were they hard to change? i need to replace mine too.. and what kind of tools do i need? :dunno: