Control Arm Bushing Replacement Fail

cm335d · 02-05-2018, 05:31 PM

Recently had a steering wheel shake at freeway speeds while braking (otherwise it felt smooth at anything under 50mph). Decided to change the bushings ONLY with some Moog replacements. When I pressed out the driver side (12 ton press) it had resistance but not as much as I would have thought. So, I pressed in the new one. The passenger side seemed to require more force to remove/replace, but I thought maybe that was my imagination (it wasn't). Anyhow after I replaced these, the car felt great for about 200 miles and then the steering shake under braking came back. I put it on the jack stands and took a look this weekend (attached pics). The Driver side aluminum arm failed to hold the bushing in place, passenger side was fine though. Must have been out of spec by a thousandth or? Anyhow, new Lemforder ones are on the way and I'll be back on the road soon. Just wanted to share my experience. Tried to get away with $40 worth of bushings, but it didn't work out. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...FGYzdGdEhkQTI4
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...pQdFdEdmNUd093

335dlci · 02-05-2018, 05:56 PM

Sounds like you have the incorrect bushing. Moog? Wtf is that lol cheap

335dlci · 02-05-2018, 05:57 PM

Should just replace the whole arm.

PerfectAce · 02-05-2018, 06:41 PM

Thanks for sharing. That settles the internal debate I was having about replacing the bushings vs. the whole arm.

Thecastle · 02-06-2018, 07:27 AM

I've done the control arms on my X5 and E90.

Totally not worth doing the bushing replacement. Buy the arm's they're hardly any more expensive than just the bushings and a huge labor saver. If you know what your doing and have good hammers, you can replace the whole arm in under 15 minutes, once the car is lifted and the wheel is off.

cm335d · 02-07-2018, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thecastle

I've done the control arms on my X5 and E90.

Totally not worth doing the bushing replacement. Buy the arm's they're hardly any more expensive than just the bushings and a huge labor saver. If you know what your doing and have good hammers, you can replace the whole arm in under 15 minutes, once the car is lifted and the wheel is off.

You're absolutely right. I only did it because I had a press at my brothers house and thought it would be ok. Lesson learned to not do stuff like this in the future, that's for sure, lol.

mefferso · 02-08-2018, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 335dlci

Moog? Wtf is that lol cheap

Guess you've never owned a 4x4

335dlci · 02-08-2018, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mefferso

Guess you've never owned a 4x4

Im not sure what this means.

Thecastle · 02-08-2018, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cm335d

You're absolutely right. I only did it because I had a press at my brothers house and thought it would be ok. Lesson learned to not do stuff like this in the future, that's for sure, lol.

Btw, sometimes even easy jobs take for ever. I had a friend of mine over at the house yesterday to borrow my garage. He has a 92 Honda Accord that had blown rear struts. It took 5 hours to replace the strut assembly (he wisely purchased a strut with the spring already mounted). The reason being is we couldn’t get the bottom of the strut to align with the carrier bushing. No amount of jacking carrier up, hitting it etc would get the bolt home. What finally worked was him pushing down on the carrier and me pushing the bolt through and wrenching at the same time. Wonder what someone who knows what their doing could have handled this lol.

I’m getting tired of suspension jobs....

PerfectAce · 02-08-2018, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 335dlci

Im not sure what this means.

He's saying that MOOG is not some unknown, cheap-ass parts manufacturer, which your original post seemed to imply. MOOG makes steering and suspension components for all applications and they are especially well regarded amongst off-roaders.

aaddam2 · 02-08-2018, 09:05 AM

i have a full set of OE uppers and lowers for sale if you are interested. removed only to replace with M3 arms. PM me if you are interested.

Mark M · 02-08-2018, 09:42 AM

I just threw out a set of OE upper and lowers two weeks ago. I replaced my stock arms with M3 arms and these OE take-offs were in great shape.

I even listed them on here for free the other month. No takers. Got tired of them taking up space on my work bench...I tossed em.

cm335d · 02-12-2018, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark M

I just threw out a set of OE upper and lowers two weeks ago. I replaced my stock arms with M3 arms and these OE take-offs were in great shape.

I even listed them on here for free the other month. No takers. Got tired of them taking up space on my work bench...I tossed em.

Dang... I would have taken you up on that too. Ah well, no worries. I just got my new Lemforder's on yesterday and now the car is back to normal! Yay!

juld0zer · 02-16-2018, 11:09 PM

Are you the original owner of the car? How many times have you replaced the bushings?

Owen81 · 02-17-2018, 12:40 AM

Really no point buying used control arms. My old ones looked mint but were much looser than the replacements I put on, you really can't see the loss in stiffness just by looking at them.

cm335d · 02-21-2018, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

Are you the original owner of the car? How many times have you replaced the bushings?

I'm the second owner of the car and have owned it since 51k (now has 101k on it). This is the first time I've ever touched the lower control arms.

02-05-2018, 05:31 PM	#1
cm335d Private First Class 61 Rep 171 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW 335d Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Los Angeles, CA iTrader: (0)	Control Arm Bushing Replacement Fail Recently had a steering wheel shake at freeway speeds while braking (otherwise it felt smooth at anything under 50mph). Decided to change the bushings ONLY with some Moog replacements. When I pressed out the driver side (12 ton press) it had resistance but not as much as I would have thought. So, I pressed in the new one. The passenger side seemed to require more force to remove/replace, but I thought maybe that was my imagination (it wasn't). Anyhow after I replaced these, the car felt great for about 200 miles and then the steering shake under braking came back. I put it on the jack stands and took a look this weekend (attached pics). The Driver side aluminum arm failed to hold the bushing in place, passenger side was fine though. Must have been out of spec by a thousandth or? Anyhow, new Lemforder ones are on the way and I'll be back on the road soon. Just wanted to share my experience. Tried to get away with $40 worth of bushings, but it didn't work out. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...FGYzdGdEhkQTI4 https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...pQdFdEdmNUd093
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02-05-2018, 05:56 PM	#2
335dlci Lieutenant Colonel 285 Rep 1,591 Posts Drives: 335d Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Socal iTrader: (0)	Sounds like you have the incorrect bushing. Moog? Wtf is that lol cheap
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02-05-2018, 05:57 PM	#3
335dlci Lieutenant Colonel 285 Rep 1,591 Posts Drives: 335d Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Socal iTrader: (0)	Should just replace the whole arm.
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02-05-2018, 06:41 PM	#4
PerfectAce Second Lieutenant 107 Rep 202 Posts Drives: 2011 335d Sport Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Austin, Texas iTrader: (0)	Thanks for sharing. That settles the internal debate I was having about replacing the bushings vs. the whole arm.
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02-06-2018, 07:27 AM	#5
Thecastle Major 324 Rep 1,167 Posts Drives: F10 550i Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Houston, TX iTrader: (0) Garage List 2020 BMW M340i [0.00] 2019 RAM 3500 [0.00] 2020 BMW X3 [0.00] 2016 BMW 550i [0.00] 2000 Ford F450 7.3l ... [0.00]	I've done the control arms on my X5 and E90. Totally not worth doing the bushing replacement. Buy the arm's they're hardly any more expensive than just the bushings and a huge labor saver. If you know what your doing and have good hammers, you can replace the whole arm in under 15 minutes, once the car is lifted and the wheel is off.
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02-08-2018, 09:05 AM	#11
aaddam2 Private First Class 32 Rep 153 Posts Drives: '11 e90 335d M-Sport Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Chicago, IL iTrader: (0)	i have a full set of OE uppers and lowers for sale if you are interested. removed only to replace with M3 arms. PM me if you are interested.
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02-08-2018, 09:42 AM	#12
Mark M Major 244 Rep 1,293 Posts Drives: E30M3 E83X3 E90335D Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lancaster, PA iTrader: (0)	I just threw out a set of OE upper and lowers two weeks ago. I replaced my stock arms with M3 arms and these OE take-offs were in great shape. I even listed them on here for free the other month. No takers. Got tired of them taking up space on my work bench...I tossed em. __________________
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02-16-2018, 11:09 PM	#14
juld0zer Lieutenant Colonel 480 Rep 1,600 Posts Drives: Prev 135i 7DCT, Now 130i 6sp Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: 2153 iTrader: (0)	Are you the original owner of the car? How many times have you replaced the bushings?
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02-17-2018, 12:40 AM	#15
Owen81 Lieutenant 83 Rep 432 Posts Drives: 335d, 17/22 TDI Join Date: May 2015 Location: Alberta, Canada iTrader: (0)	Really no point buying used control arms. My old ones looked mint but were much looser than the replacements I put on, you really can't see the loss in stiffness just by looking at them.
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