The Outer Ball Joint in an E46 XI's Lower Control Arm isn't really replaceable, nor are there any Lower Control Arms made for the E46 XIs that are made to replace the Outer Ball Joint when it goes bad (there are ones made for the rear wheel drive E46s however).
I think this is a noble pursuit, please keep us informed on you progress. Figuring out how the make a replaceable BJ on the control arms would save fanatics tonnes of $$
I've been eying e36 ball joints as well as a possible press in for the xi control arm. I think there is a Mercedes BJ thay may also work. I've two sets of old arms I was considering experimenting with. The outer ball joint casing is really pressed in hard. I've tried using a cold chisel to pry the casing out but it will not budge. It may have to be cut out. The xi outer ball joint is surrounded by a rubber damping sleeve which in turn is captured by the outer casing and a bottom cap. Do the e36 balls have a rubber sleeve surrounding the BJ.
thanks, saw the price of the control arm, and didn't really wanted to shell out that much for just a ball joint replacement whiles the arm is perfectly fine.
My E36 M, which requires you to buy new control arm when the ball joint wears out are equipped with Myle HD e30 Ball joints. Alignment are dead on specs.
One problem i noticed with the removed ball joint was that, the iX uses an offset busing ball-joint which i believe induces more camber (or caster?)
Does anyone know what the OE front alignment spec is on the IX?
I need a refresh kit for my 01 330xi too but hate to replace a perfectly good control arm to get new ball joints. The guy who designed this should be shot. Too bad we don't get the same offering as our 2WD brothers who can buy a control arm with replacement ball joints.
Since mine is my daily driver and I plan to keep it for a while I'm likely going to buy the whole kit ready to bolt on to my car. Bavauto sells the entire kit including control arms, inner ball joints, new lolly pops with bushings pressed for $766.85. A far cry less expensive than a dealer or indy shop as I won't have to pay for any labor. Since everything is ready to unbolt and bolt on it should be a no brainer. BTW, if you buy the lolly pop brackets and bushings Bavauto presses them in for free.
I need a refresh kit for my 01 330xi too but hate to replace a perfectly good control arm to get new ball joints. The guy who designed this should be shot. Too bad we don't get the same offering as our 2WD brothers who can buy a control arm with replacement ball joints.
Thanks OP for a good thread. Can you please update us on exactly which ball joint you used (what years / model or a part number?) I'm not familiar enough yet with BMW's to order off the info you posted.
Am I missing something in this last post? I think the OP said that these are replacable and posted pictures of the tools and end results.
I found E36 regular series ball joints, and E36 M series ball joints on ebay but couldn't tell the difference from the pic and they both look like they could fit.
Zimmie
Great thread by the way You say the e36 ball joint was offset front to rear. The ball joint in my xi arms are concentric and don't appear to have any offset. I'm assuming that the e36 ball joint you used is not concentric in the housing? For clarification did you insert the BJ with the ball more toward the front or more toward the rear? Or am I missing something? Also would this effect the alignment in anyway.
For the clarification, the e36 balljoint (92-98 Non M) ball joint its centered. But the OE IX balljoint was an offset ball joint. u cant tell until u remove the rubber boot. it's installed in the control arm in a way to reduce caster in the front.
Since the e36 ball joint is center it actually brought the wheel a tiny bit more closer to the front bumper. It really hard to tell unless you have 2 stock ix next to each other.
I still haven't had a chance to get an alignment done. Hopefully by the weekend ill get it done. But from what i see, it added more caster which is good for turn in.
as for those wanted to know the part # of the ball joint used is,
31126758510, lastly make sure you press in the balljoint in the correct position. use the picture i posted for reference.
Awesome Zimmie, thanks! More caster is generally good, though the xi seems to steer well as it is. I'm hoping they didn't take some caster out with the XI to deal with a wheel-turned torque-steer issue..
I'm looking forward to a quick brief on how it alignes and more importantly how it drives
The ball joint that OP used is not an all-metal ball joint like OE xi ball joints. It's a substantial downgrade and will not last as long as an all-metal ball joint. I believe Meyle makes an all-metal e36 outer ball joint. I would experiment using the all-metal Meyle, not the OE plastic e36 ball joint.
OE ix ball joint its not all metal. I should taken pictures when i complete disassembled them. as another member described, The xi outer ball joint is surrounded by a rubber damping sleeve which in turn is captured by the outer casing and a bottom cap. Even the base where the actual "round ball" sits in its plastic. Please disassemble one before "chiming" in. it bottom base just looks like that on the outside so it makes it harder to press out. the ball joint you posted its an HD version of the same ball joint. which i didn't feel like going for them when i found out that they sat in plastic.
Now how long they will last for, we live to see.
On another note, ill be doing the alignment today and will post results later on today.
Very happy with the results. Camber, caster in the front are dead on. As for toe being off slightly in the back and front, the machine is very sensitive to little minute changes, but that should do.
i was searching google for ball joints and saw this and wanted to ask a question or two.
how hard was it to get it out? i only have access to a 12 or 20 ton press. i would really like to give it a try seeing as control arms are very expensive i have e36 ball joints in the garage somewhere
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