E39 Front suspension bushing replacement

Ahhh, Come on guy's?????

Somebody's bound too have tackled this one!

At least that is "I hope"

318is Joe.

I haven't done beamer bushes only Vauxhall ones but.....

You could leave the ball joint in place to avoid tearing the rubber (been there done that pain in the sit down bits.  I used the hammer in wedge type but you can also get a screw type which is dearer but  wont mangle the rubber boot) and drill out the old rubber mount with the arm in situ if she won't press out.  Before you put the new one in smear it in vaseline (won't damage the rubber like grease may) after heating in a bucket of hot water first, she should then plop into place without to much puffing and panting. 

Andrew

No, heat the rubber bush not the arm (arm is still bolted to the car would need 1 No. large bucket otherwise!)in a bucket of hot water to make the rubber more squishy so that it will flex more when you push it in. 

Andrew

An update and close out on this subject.

Considered not replaceing the arm, though then decided that if I'm doing the bushing job, I'd replace the arm and save myself having to do the whole lot again in a month or two, car has 77K on it now, and the Passengers side always take the brunt of driving.

Got an OE arm and Bushing from OTTo in ranalagh (Dublin) on Friday saved myself €100 v's the $tealer.

Saturday was a nice day, so I got stuck in, pressed in the bushing to the new arm, aligning the alignment marks between the arm and bushing, takes quiet a bit of force, and tricky to keep the bush square to the arm, I was using a vice, and spacers, I'd say it would be easier with a proper press, but when you don't have one .....

Cracked open a can of Heineken....

Then got started on the car. Removed

The left hand lower wheel arch liner.

Took a slug of Heineken

the altenator cooling intake, up to the altenator.

the brake cooling duct,

The lower engine splash sheild,

Another slug of Hein....

The rear engine splash sheild.

the subframe wind deflector, around the bush, part 8/9 in the diagram.

Jacked the two front wheels of the car off the ground to equalise any tensions / pressures in the anti-rool bar linkage.

Disconnected the left upper anti roll bar to strut mount.

Craked open another Heine...

Marked the position of the strut and knuckle hub carrier.

slacked the strut to steering knuckle pinch bolt.

Moved the knuckle down to allow the upper arm clear it's hole in the knuckle.

Slug of Hein...

Undone the bushing thru bolt, this allowed me manuvere the ball joint to a position I could get a splitting tool in.

Took a serious hammering with a lump hammer to crack the joint, but it eventually popped.

Replenish liquids lost to sweating...

As they say refitting is a reversal of removing.

Tidied a few other bits and bobs allong the way.

Finish

Made a huge difference to the car, Apart from the obvious knocking being eliminated, It's killed a kind of drumming on certain surfaces, and after the pot hole, the car would pull to the left slightly if you let go of the wheel, Thats gone, straight as an arrow now.

BTW I did not test drive the car till the next day.

318is-joe wrote: An update and close out on this subject. Considered not replaceing the arm, though then decided that if I'm doing the bushing job, I'd replace the arm and save myself having to do the whole lot again in a month or two, car has 77K on it now, and the Passengers side always take the brunt of driving. Got an OE arm and Bushing from OTTo in ranalagh (Dublin) on Friday saved myself €100 v's the $tealer. Saturday was a nice day, so I got stuck in, pressed in the bushing to the new arm, aligning the alignment marks between the arm and bushing, takes quiet a bit of force, and tricky to keep the bush square to the arm, I was using a vice, and spacers, I'd say it would be easier with a proper press, but when you don't have one ..... Cracked open a can of Heineken.... Then got started on the car. Removed The left hand lower wheel arch liner. Took a slug of Heineken the altenator cooling intake, up to the altenator. the brake cooling duct, The lower engine splash sheild, Another slug of Hein.... The rear engine splash sheild. the subframe wind deflector, around the bush, part 8/9 in the diagram. Jacked the two front wheels of the car off the ground to equalise any tensions / pressures in the anti-rool bar linkage. Disconnected the left upper anti roll bar to strut mount. Craked open another Heine... Marked the position of the strut and knuckle hub carrier. slacked the strut to steering knuckle pinch bolt. Moved the knuckle down to allow the upper arm clear it's hole in the knuckle. Slug of Hein... Undone the bushing thru bolt, this allowed me manuvere the ball joint to a position I could get a splitting tool in. Took a serious hammering with a lump hammer to crack the joint, but it eventually popped. Replenish liquids lost to sweating... As they say refitting is a reversal of removing. Tidied a few other bits and bobs allong the way. Finish Made a huge difference to the car, Apart from the obvious knocking being eliminated, It's killed a kind of drumming on certain surfaces, and after the pot hole, the car would pull to the left slightly if you let go of the wheel, Thats gone, straight as an arrow now. BTW I did not test drive the car till the next day.

How did you get on with the 81Nm torque?  I noticed your arms were draggin the floor this morning....

I asked the dealer about the jacking points but forgot who I said I'd get back too - sorry.

The dealers use hard rubber pads over the top of the jacking points then normal trolley jacks or hoist. The same goes for the front crossmember, they were less forthcoming about the diff and whether it could be used as a jacking point for the rear, nobody wanted to commit.

Glad you got the job done but it sure sounds like a pain.

Carry out items 1 to 49 duration 3 hours, replace 20p washer 5 minutes, reverse items 49 to 1 duration 3 hours.

Not one for photography! went on Holidays this year, brought camera, and in the course of ten day's took two photo's, Yeah I know Two, and one off them was the veiw from the deckchair on the beach, too put up in the office, a remeberance of an alternative life, where I'd hire out jet-ski's to rich american's and bum around on the beach all day. Still not developed I hasten to add.

Made conserted effort to take more Pic's on the remainding days and doubled our yeild.. Also still not devloped..

If it was a video the dialogue would have to be heavily edited with a lot of Beeps, especially when I struggled to break the taper joint, The work of the commision for the protection of child access to material on the Net would be in vain.

I'll use the 3 X 90 mins tapes for the next Job.... Or your wellcome to use them when you do yours Tom!

Toxic wrote:   Also, explained a lot to me about 4 wheel alignment and said all this rubbish about weighing the car for alignment is a load of b*ll*x. He's been doing wheel alignment for 30 yrs and says all these fancy machines are no way as good as they are made out to be.

BMW procedure when aligning a car for the first time using BMW KDS equipment states to load the care comparable to in use conditions. Ideally to a specification. Every geometry setting in a BMW can be adjusted, this is what makes them tunable for effective Track use, as opposed to a Vauxhall, Ford etc. The downside of this is you need someone who really know's what they are on about, and has the means of effectivly setting up.

If he had a fancy machine I'd bet he wouldn't be saying that.

30 Years ago, the Mark 1 escort, and the VW beetle didn't have a lot of scope for adjustment. Cars have come a long way, unfortunatly the equipment to tune them in this country hasn't and is (mostly) but with notable exception still back in the 70's.

Glad you got the Arm sorted Tom.

Everything in engineering is a compromise, you know that!

so the car is weighted for one in the back seat, 3/4 full tank, Two in the front seats, 30kg in the boot.

This set's the car at an optimal loading for setting the wheel(S) geometry, the car is set up with setting's to match this load weight. If the weight increases to full load, or decreases to a six stone driver alone, the geometry should still all be within tolerance. It puts optimal mid way or somewhere near, in between the tolerance band.

Some people say that they use modified setting's which eliminate's the need to load, ******** is what I say too that, the settings are as much a part of the manufacture, as the components themselves. And the relationship between camber, castor, kingpin angle, toe, thrust axis alignment, can only all be set to their correct value, at a certain load.

I've confirmed this with two BMW Munich trained master mechanics, one of whom is a cousin of mine in London.

This does not apply as much on the older models Like the E30, 36, 34

But for the E46, 39, 38 KDS settings and weighting is mandatory.