Meyle HD bushing on 4.4i with 20inch staggered
 

I just replaced my thrust arm bushing with the Meyle HD.
I went to an indie shop in my area.

A few things that occurred:
1- the mechanic took out the bolt by the bushing first.. then proceeded to hammer on the balljoint end. After about 10 wacks, he then decided to loosed the 2 bolts and disconnected the arm.

2- he replaced the 2 bushings using a press, BUT i noticed one of them was not in as it should in the control arm. It was not evenly pressed in. It had to go a few mm more,noticeable by the eye.

3- He then tried to perform an alignment. The initial readings were all messed up.
I am running 20s staggered on the 2006 4.41. I am not sure if this was the issue, since they computer may be expecting 18s.
He decided just to adjust the TOE for the front and leave it at that. He did make some adjustments to get them to be the same.


SO, the final issue is: steering wheel shudder when i go over 60 mph. Pulls slightly to the right.

I don't know where to start to troubleshoot.
- hammering on arm
- uneven left bushing in arm
- bad alignment

I also have a concern about the bolts reused for the ball joint end of the arm.

Thoughts fellow X5ers?

Go to a better alignment/tire balancing shop.

1) make sure your wheel lugs are torqued properly, 101 ft lbs

2) did he do final torque on the thrust arm when the vehicle was on the ground? if not you will have problems.

3) did whacking on the ball joints damage them in any way? i replaced mine with my thrust arms to avoid the issue.

4) roadforce balance on a hunter 9700 machine will help the vibrations over 60 mph, car pulls to the right he doesnt have the alignment right yet. don't worry about the staggered 20s, once he plugs the specs into the computer it will give an option for 20" wheel sizing.

make sure he makes the toe as close to neutral as possible, .01 if possible, NOTE THAT THIS IS OUTSIDE OF THE HUNTER MACHINES SUPPLIED BMW SPECS, BMW SPECS FOR TOO MUCH TOE, then your staggered tires will have even life!

appreciate the response man. I am in search of a good indie shop in my area.
I am even considering going to the dealer.. but i think that may end up being expensive.

one more thing, do they sell the arm with the Meyle bushing already installed?

Check with ECS tuning, they may have the arm with the bushing already pressed in.

will do, thanks.

When you say car pulls to the right, is that while driving/coasting or under braking? Or both?

As far as re-using the ball joint bolts, I think that's OK as long as Locktite is used. I just did these arms myself, and used new ball joints. The new hex bolts that came with the new ball joints were so completely crappy, (the hex holes were so shallow, they were impossible to put any torque on them), I re-used the reverse torx bolts that were on there.

Yes. (I think if you buy it that way, it also comes with the ball joint). But there's nothing wrong with changing the bushing; and a good bit cheaper. You just need to make sure it's:
A-Lined up to the mark
B-Centered and,
C-No pressure put on center part of bushing when pressing in. This requires a pressing "cup" that's pretty exact in terms of size. I have a special tool from MIS for this that can be used with the arm on the car.
D-Bolt in bushing is torqued while car is on the ground and suspension is settled.

Otherwise...it's a do-over.

Skyline, my indy said the same thing about the Febi ball joints i brought him, that the hex bolts were shit and he just reused the factory ones!

NYCSterling, you can buy the arms with Meyle HD bushings installed from ECS, they are like 110 apiece when I got them.


When you call up your local shops, ask 2 things.....


1) What is their balancing equipment they use for tires (you should be hearing the words Hunter 9700 Roadforce machine or newer, the older Hunter roadforce machines like the 9500 are ok but not as accurate in my experience)

2) Alignment rack should be identified too, I personally only use a shop that has a Hunter Hawkeye system.

If you want to come over to Jersey there are a few good recommended indy shops for BMW, bimmer clinic on Rt. 1 in Edison or woodbridge I believe is recommended by a frew guys on this forum.

I use a small mechanic in Madison, NJ for my repairs, however, he doesn't do wheel balancing or alignments which I get elsewhere.

I used the Febi ball joints as well. I don't get how they chose such crappy bolts. I thought this was supposed to be a decent vendor? Why choose a bolt that's a completely different style than the OEM anyway if you're not going to improve on an existing deficiency?