I was thinking about doing control arms and stuff a couple of months ago, but since I broke my shoulder, I didn't get a my moment back until now, and I still don't have all my strength, so if I can't get a bolt loose, idk what I'll do, I don't thing there is enough room for my impact to get in there. Anyone have suggestions which ones to get, I've always used Lemforder in the past, but whats the current recommendations that people like?

Lemforder

Pay attention on the tension strut- you MUST have the suspension fully loaded when you do the final tightening/torque on the inner bushing bolt. Plenty of DIYs, ask back if you need clarification tho.

^What he said if you do decide to tackle it. Linking my thread below with info and torque specs for the front suspension.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ssemblies.html

i used Impact with long wobble. You lose a lot of torque with the extension it acts like a torque stick. That said it worked. +1 on the tighten when compressed but since you can't reach with the wheel on I use a floor jack to lift the knuckle just until that corner starts to float off the jack stand.

I usually put tires on and all that, put a ramp or block under the tires and lower it down. Slide under and tighten.


Doing it with a jack under a single wheel, then the wheel it is being 'helped' by the sway bar. (eg the wheel on the other side that is still hanging down and pulling the sway down) Anyone have an opinion on how much this might be? I dont know, just wondering

It is a royal pain to get in there and tighten things once the wheel is back on and the car is on the ground but my take is that you can get them reasonably tight that way with basic tools. Once you get a decent bit of pull on the bolts, then lift it up again, the bushing is unlikely to rotate since you have some basic torque already.

Then take the wheel off and do the final torque on the bolts when you have regained proper access. Only other solution is a four post lift which is a bit tricky to install for most :-)

It's a Small difference. If i had to guess maybe tye sway. Bar subtracts 200# of the 1200#. You could disconnect the link to have a more balanced connection. I haven't had an X5 long enough to have a tension donut fail after using my solution of just jack up the wheel hub. (learned the method from autodoc YouTube channel)

FWIW, I have always used andrew's method of lifting the side I was torquing just off the jack stand. No ill effects... yet. YMMV

It's just way way easier. Maybe if I was track driving I'd go that extra mile

So an update to my work, I decided to replace Sway Bar links really quick, but I checked my Control arms and those bushings were definitely bad, so I ordered the kit from FCP, but while I'm waiting I decided to get new tires, Gotta say its hard to get tires right now, everyone seems to be out of good tires. I wanted to get an alignment because my Dealer checks and doesn't charge if they can't do it, and with the check, they found out my Outer Tierods are seized as well, which I was suspecting anyways, I mean 200k miles and no tie rod replacements is good for me... my 535 needed them at 90k miles. So I ordered New inner and outer tierods for the X5 as well, anyone know what size tool I need for the Inner Tierods? The typical inner tierod removal tool I used from a Tool Loaner program at Autozone didn't work on the 535, so just wondering if its gonna be a pain or an easy job.