Yea but I can put them in with a big ass bolt and two washers.

This is how I did them:
Used a bushing tool and a hydraulic press to push them out. But the rubber bushing doesn't fit flush in the sleeve that needs to be pushed in so I pushed the rubber out of one of the old bushings and used the remaining sleeve to push in the new one... took about a half hour to do both sides.

lot of people are talking about the thrust arm bushing or the bushing in the steering knuckle it connects to without saying which they are talking about.

apart from that, lots of good info, carry on.

Huh? Both the control arm and the thrust arm have a bushing, neither has a bushing at the steering knuckle end.

Yup; the shiny new bushings go in a lot easier than the old ones come out, especially in the rust belt.


The thrust arm that's being discussed is most likely #6 in this diagram; bushing on the inboard end, ball joint on the outboard.
http://realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/f/b/193.png

I haven't torn into the front end bits on an X5 yet; good to see there are replaceable ball joints on the control arms.

Also, if the control arm bushings tend to wear out quickly, I wonder if a spherical bushing could be made to work on these cars. One of the guys on the mye28.com forum developed & is selling spherical UCABs that fit the e28, e32 & e34. What he's currently selling isn't likely the same size as what's needed on the e53, but it might not be a huge task to get a set made. Hmmm... http://mooseheadengineering.com/#ecw...roduct=6647004

>davintosh

Yes, we are talking about no. 6 in the diagram.

Even if something like that Moosehead Bushing was available for the X5 thrust arm bushing, there's no way I would use it. While I do plan on using the slightly stiffer Meyle bushings, that's as far as I'm willing to go in terms of giving up on compliance. I live in an area where potholes and bumpy roads are common. If they need to be replaced again at some point in a couple of years, so be it.

What bushing tool did you use? (That was the point of this thread.)

I've used a 12-ton hydraulic press on bushings like that before, but always have limited success in getting them out. Last set I tried getting out (rear trailing arm bushings on an e32) I bent the crap out of the lower part of the press (it was a $150 Northern Tools bargain piece) so I ended up resorting to the Sawsall method; crude but effective.

But like others have said before, the thrust arms with bushings already in place aren't much more expensive than just the bushings, and it's far easier to replace the whole assembly.

number 15 is the thrust arm bushing that goes into the knuckle.

also, spherical setups have less play (more feel) and wear faster than rubber or urethane bushings. it's why you find them in race cars and not street cars.

At this point I have searched all over the internet, and have not been able to find a tool to press out this bushing. A couple of places, like Baum, had the factory tool (312260) on their web site, but did not have it in stock, and had no clue as to when they could get it, and for what price. The factory tool is a pretty simple item; basically just a cup to support the arm as the bushing is pressed through, and a puck that does the pressing. I am certainly open to alternatives to the factory tool, but so far the only tool sets that claim coverage for this car are the "Master" sets ranging from $500-1,000. At the high end of that range we are talking hydraulicly operated tools that include a Porta Power type 10 ton pump.

So I am still looking for this simple tool, and am still open to suggestions.

Another option is to make my own tool. Does anyone have one of these bushings on hand that they could measure the outside diameter and total depth for me? I've ordered a set of Meyle bushings, but they are not here yet.