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Front Control arm bushings install (Pictures/Instructions)

379K views 333 replies 153 participants last post by  Brenda325 
#1 ·
Background info here

http://www.e46fanatics.com/features/feature.php?news_id=40

Use this at your own risk. There might be better ways to do this, but this is what I did.

<p>1. If your car is lower you might need to use ramps to get the jack under the car.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/1.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_1.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>2. Use a floor jack and the center jack point.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/2.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_2.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>3. Put jack stands under the stock jack locations.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/3.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_3.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>4. Remove the wheels.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/4.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_4.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>5. Remove the under engine cover. There are some plastic plugs up front and screws underneath. The screw layout is going to vary depending on model.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/5.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_5.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>6. Drop the engine cover.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/6.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_6.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>7. Here you can see the both the control arm mounts
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/7.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_7.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>8. Drivers sides mount. You can see how the chassis brace is in the way of the rear bolt.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/8.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_8.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>9. Remove the driver***8217;s side bolt for the rear brace.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/9.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_9.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>10. Remove the front drivers side bolt for the brace.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/10.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_10.jpg"></a>
</p>
 
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#195 ·
I just did this yesterday using Powerflex bushings. The purple inner part looks a little different than the ones I have.

On mine, one side has a square opening and the other side is a hex opening. Whereas in Tim's pictures both sides are hex. So with the newer model the square side should be facing the front bumper. Can anyone confirm?
 
#199 ·
So people have done this job with the wheels still on, but can this job be done with the car (i.e. the front wheels) on ramps? Or does the suspension need to be decompressed (as would occur with a jack stand) for some reason? If I do the job, I'll be doing control arm bushings AND control arms at the same time.
 
#200 ·
Amazing Write Up

Hey guys, i just want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. With the help of this i did my FCAB's successfully in 2.5 hrs today. I wanted to note, i used the jack/jackpoint method a few ppl have spoken about in the forums to push the bushing back in. Worked a charm. Cheers guys, and happy driving. i sure am now :D
 
#201 ·
1 other thing

i should also point out, that while its a royal pain in the ass, you MUST make sure you snug the under brace bolts, then drop the car, THEN tighten with full sag on the car. if you dont do this, is a good chance why some people are experiencing issues at higher speeds. i followed all these steps and its driving like a dream. Hey i was reading in my haynes, that you should only use the brace bolts once. how bad is it if i used em again, should i be changing those ASAP? Cheers
 
#203 ·
I;m about to do this tomorrow at a DIY garage... all I want to do is change my bushings. I got a meyle HD bushing kit.

Do I need to take off the entire arm for this? or can I manage with just the bushings unbolted....?

I was planning to just unbolt the bushing kit and then removed using the 3 prong puller/ c clamp....

would this work???
 
#204 ·
@ SuperYeti - generally speaking, if you see a torque procedure that utilizes a torque + angle procedure, then you are tensioning the bolt close to yield strength and should replace them. Once you get close to the yield point of the material you become close to plastic deformation and an offset stress/strain relationship. With the tolerance of the bolt neck diameter and torque procedures that rely on dudes under their cars watching 45 and 90 degree angles... there will be variation.

I don't know the grade of these bolts nor the size (I'm doing mine next weekend:thumbup:) so I cannot tell you if these are indeed torque-to-yield for sure.

Having said my anal OEM peace :blah: you are probably okay. If you are concerned... jack your car up, clean off the bolt and paint pen stripe from the center of bolt head down to bracket. Wait a week or after a hard driving session and then check the paint stripe. If it is still in one line then the bolt has not moved and you should be fine. However, if the paint line shows the bolt has moved... then you've lost clamp due to under-torque or loss of clamp. Replace bolts and follow proper torque procedure.
 
#205 ·
great write up! Thank you!

Just finished mine in about 2hrs. Most of the time was figuring out how I was going to lift my car with 1 jack, 1 missing jack pad, and rhinoramps. Used rhino ramps up front to get under the car, then unbolted one side and jacked that side wheel off the ramp just enough to move freely. After replacing one side I moved to the other side and did the same thing. Didn't have to take off the wheels. Used some dish soap/water to lube it a bit, but just used my hands to wiggle the Meyle HD bushing on (which came in carriers and had new bolts). I tried hammering it with a mallet but it wasn't too effective. Now time for a test drive :)

I feel so accomplished!
 
#222 ·
great write up! Thank you!

Used some dish soap/water to lube it a bit, but just used my hands to wiggle the Meyle HD bushing on (which came in carriers and had new bolts). I tried hammering it with a mallet but it wasn't too effective.
This post really helped me a great deal. Thank you for your post and ditto on the OP for the original DIY write up.

I also tried tapping then pounding the Meyle onto the arm to no avail. Then I read this post and thought "can't be true" but gotta' try. Only difference is that I used wheel bearing grease (kind of like duct tap to me) and pushed it right on with a little wiggle. Wow what a difference.

I bought my car as a CPO lease return with 43K in 2007 and they had just done the LCAB so did not know the symptoms. However, now at 88K I was beginning to figure that the wandering, following ruts and brake twitch (not to mention "rolling over" a racing term) was probably these bushings. I traded my 5 series in on this car so I had some experience with the failure rate of BMW LCAB in general.

So at 88K my ball joints are fine (tested OK) and I am back to that first day CPO feel again - swaa-weeeet!

Thanks again everyone for the great tips! :clap:
eric

.... you can't put a price on FUN!
 
#206 ·
Completed my Meyle FCAB replacement today. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I have a 3-arm puller, but ended up using a 3" C-clamp. I sprayed a little WD40 around the old rubber bushing and placed a small socket at the end of the arm as a spacer. Tightening the clamp slowly and alternating sides of the bushing, I was able to pull off both of the old CAB's intact.

Cleaned up the arms with some fine steel wool and coated everything with dish detergent. Lined up the new bushing and I was able to install them by pounding them with the palm of my hand.
 
#207 ·
Did my FCAB using this method this past weekend on my 2005 330 ZHP. Couple items of note. The C-Clamp method worked for me. Also, my model had different looking subframe brace with more bolts to remove. I think there were 8 in all. All of the bolts were 5/8 inch (16mm). On my ZHP, you could clearly see where the BMW tech rounded some of subframe bolts by driving them in with an impact. Be careful the bolts are at odd angles which is why I think they were rounded. Soap worked getting on the OEM bushing/carriers I bought.

Here's a thought. What do I do with my old carriers? Keep 'em and press in bushings for next time?
 
#208 · (Edited)
Great write up. Gave me all the info I needed to tackle this myself. I used a two jaw puller to remove the carrier and the main part of the bushing and then again to remove the rest. Cleaned the shaft really well with a plastic brillow pad and then lubed the Meyle HD with dishsoap as well as the shaft. This worked slick as snot, as the expression goes. It couldn't have gone any easier. It took about 5 min from remove to install. A big thanks.

On a side note: I went to the dealer to get the 8 new bolts to replace the ones on the reinforcement plate and the parts guy said that it will take about 2 days to come in. I said I thought they would have had them in stock since the FCAB are such a popular item. He said they have never had that bolt. He even check the part # which he said would tell him when the last one was ordered and he stated never. Thinking he didn't understand what I was talking about he ask the tech. that was there and he stated they are 100% reusable.
 
#209 ·
hey guys im kinda stuck all this residue from the old bushing is caked onto the control arm. I tried burning it off but it didnt really work. any suggestions?

-D
 
#210 ·
So cleaned that off ... Now I cant bolt the bracket back up to the car.

What am I missing here? Is it not properly seated on the CA?
 

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#212 ·
Thanks for the reply. I tried hammering with all I got and I'm not exactly a small guy either 6'3" - 200 lbs ... I'm starting to doubt the fitment, or maybe a wrong part??
 
#218 ·
Really??? Why???

That plate is pretty flimsy, I can't fathom why it would have torque-to-yield bolts.

Of course I am going to take the engineer's word for it, but I am wondering why that plate needs bolts of an integrity that is normally reserved for pieces like a cylinder head.
 
#231 ·
The brace/plate add significant stiffness to the front subframe assembly. I haven't calculated if these are torque to yield bolts however using a torque plus an angle provides a very uniform load across all of the fasteners.

I actually did the Powerflex FCABs ~6 months ago and did not check the torque value, in fact I didn't even see it was torque + angle or the fact you are supposed to change these bolts :facepalm: A few weeks ago I noticed this in BMW TIS and ordered the new bolts from the dealer to switch them out and re-torque + angle them. It's something that should be done.

BMW TIS also states that you cannot drive the car without the brace/plate attached or you risk damaging the front subframe (they refer to it as front axle iirc).
 
#219 · (Edited)
so I read thro the entire thread to figure out if I should import these bushes which according to my importer should last 9 times longer than oem ones. I also spoke to a reputable tuner and he does not fit them because he felt ride comfort is significantly reduced for a daily driver.any thoughts about this from you guys using them? I plan on doing long trips on pretty bad roads for some time to come.I am also considering replacing the struts with oem or other to handle the bad roads better.
 
#221 ·
I'll add my .02... I was able to beat the old bushings out of the carrier with a 2.5 lb mallet and the spacer from the ball joint tool. My air compressor didn't have enough guts to actually turn the ball joint tool to press the old bushings out, so I just wailed on it, haha. I was able to press in the powerflex bushings without much trouble, and what an improvement! The steering is amazing, my suspension is no longer the weak link in my handling (my ball joints were roasted too). Its not any less streetable, not harsh at all, just smooth, precise, steering, feels the way factory should feel. But hey, what do I know :)
 
#223 ·
Where to buy?

Hello E46'xers

I'm planning to do the Control Arm Bushing DIY, I'm looking for some suggestion on feedback on the where to buy kinda thing..



Amazon: $52
Standard Rubber
http://www.amazon.com/ANCHOR-Control-Bushing-31126757623-31126783376/dp/B0042D0V78


Meyle $89
Replacement Bushing Set
http://store.bimmerworld.com/meyle-...esz4-front-control-arm-bushing-sets-p704.aspx



I can see other brand (rubber) going up to $150-$170



And there is the Polyurethane Control Arm Bushing for $89


http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-325Ci-M54_2.5L/Suspension/Bushings/ES1899439/




As I'm not a street racer and after reading the + and - of the poly bushings at this point I'm considering the enhanced rubber type

taking in consideration the lowest and higher price, Any recommendation?
 
#225 ·
My thanks to the OP as well as everyone else who added comments. I did this fix this past w/e on the 85K fiancee's car. What a difference! Sometimes I miss the basic simple tricks, and without the comments here about using soapy water to help slide on the new ones, and comments about tearing off (cutting, etc.) the old ones, I might never have gotten it done. I console myself by thinking how much money I saved with the DIY and how much better the car drives.

This forum rocks! :thumbsup:
 
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