[obert]

I came home and backed into the garage and saw a drip of oil looked under the car and saw a leak here.



There was what looked like trans fluid leaking right arounf the control are bushing and dripping. It left a nice size puddle on the ground and it stopped when I turned the car off. I could not see much due to the plastic covers. So I took them off and there was no fluid leaking from any were. I cleaned everything up and started it and drove the car and came back and no leak at all. I let it idle and put it in gear in reverse and no leak or nothing.

It was not wet on the top of the control arm just the middle and bottom part had fluid. So I am wondering are the control arm bushings filled with fluid ? I know the ball joint has grease in it but what about the bigger part in the picture ?



I am at a lost of were the fluid came from, there are no lines leaking and if there was it should be wet on the top part of the control arm and then drip down but it was dry on top and wet in the middle and and ripping from the bottom.

I am going to drive it to work tomorrow and see if its leaking again and look around for a leak again but I did not see and lines leaking or anything that was wet from fluid but right in that one spot around the control arm bushing.


Any help on this would be great, I thought I would get under there and see something leaking due to the amount of fluid I saw when I parked the car but there was nothing.

[N54_Fan]

Originally Posted by obert

I came home and backed into the garage and saw a drip of oil looked under the car and saw a leak here.



There was what looked like trans fluid leaking right arounf the control are bushing and dripping. It left a nice size puddle on the ground and it stopped when I turned the car off. I could not see much due to the plastic covers. So I took them off and there was no fluid leaking from any were. I cleaned everything up and started it and drove the car and came back and no leak at all. I let it idle and put it in gear in reverse and no leak or nothing.

It was not wet on the top of the control arm just the middle and bottom part had fluid. So I am wondering are the control arm bushings filled with fluid ? I know the ball joint has grease in it but what about the bigger part in the picture ?



I am at a lost of were the fluid came from, there are no lines leaking and if there was it should be wet on the top part of the control arm and then drip down but it was dry on top and wet in the middle and and ripping from the bottom.

I am going to drive it to work tomorrow and see if its leaking again and look around for a leak again but I did not see and lines leaking or anything that was wet from fluid but right in that one spot around the control arm bushing.


Any help on this would be great, I thought I would get under there and see something leaking due to the amount of fluid I saw when I parked the car but there was nothing.

Does your car make a knock/thunk sound on turns or hard braking? Mine did and I had the same thing from driving hard and my dealer told me that my control arms were worn. The is apparently some hydraulic fluid in there. It leaks when worn and looks like that. I thought I was leaking oil so I took to dealer. They replaced and fixed it. If you do replace it you may consider getting the M3 upgrade...I didnt know about it at the time.

[JamesM3M5]

The bushings have fluid in them, and they will eventually crack and leak out at about 60-70k miles.

I don't know whether the M3 bushings will fit an Xi.

[obert]

Thanks for the answers and I do have a clunk when I stop and start to back up and I push on the brakes to stop. When I saw the leak I was like were the hell is this coming from, and when I did not see a leak but anywhere from right in that spot.

Looks like I will be replacing both sides here really quick.

[cookiesowns]

Originally Posted by obert

Thanks for the answers and I do have a clunk when I stop and start to back up and I push on the brakes to stop. When I saw the leak I was like were the hell is this coming from, and when I did not see a leak but anywhere from right in that spot.

Looks like I will be replacing both sides here really quick.

=(. I have the same issue on the E60, dealer wasn't able to replicate the problem.

Time to go back to the dealer and refer them to this thread I suppose..

[obert]

Originally Posted by cookiesowns

=(. I have the same issue on the E60, dealer wasn't able to replicate the problem.

Time to go back to the dealer and refer them to this thread I suppose..

Yeah because all the fluid leaked out of it by the time you got it to the dealer so they could not see it coming out. When mine broke all if it came out and left a small puddle on the garage floor. Now there is nothing, just a small drip on the bottom of the control arm.

[JamesM3M5]

Dealer techs should already know about these issues. You can see the traces of oil/dirt on the bushing long after the fluid is gone. Easy to spot, and definitely a maintenance item on any car with more than 50k miles. It's something we check on every car that ever gets put on a lift here.

[cookiesowns]

Originally Posted by obert

Yeah because all the fluid leaked out of it by the time you got it to the dealer so they could not see it coming out. When mine broke all if it came out and left a small puddle on the garage floor. Now there is nothing, just a small drip on the bottom of the control arm.

Well, no drips for me. Although when backing out and turning quickly I will sometimes get a "thump" or a "clack" at the right front wheel well area.

Very noticeable both outside and inside the car. Car has very low mileage as well.

[eric@helix]

This is a common BMW problem. Once the fluid has leaked out it's sometimes hard to see that it has: it'll dry up. Look for a dark stain on the control arm or muddy dirt build-up.