Tension arm and ball joint project
 

I just replaced the tension arms and ball joints on my X5 and wanted to share a few items I thought would be helpful.

1. I used the Febi brand of both and the quality looks good, but a word of caution when it comes to the fasteners that come in the ball joint kit. They are not external torques, rather internal allens. I stripped one immediately so either use new OE HW or reuse the old ones with blue locktite.

2. I'm sure somone has said this before but spray PB Blaster or a similar product on the ball joint area prior to getting started. They get constant moisture and may corrode to the spindle.

3. If replacing the tension arm and ball joint you can leave them joined and remove as a unit (big time saver). Just disconnect the front tension joint to chassis area and articulate to gain access to the ball joint torque fasteners.

Hope that info helps, happy wrenching all!