[dm2583]

So my car failed its MOT on saturday because of 'near/offside rear suspension arm has excessive play in a pin/bush'

I've booked the car in to my local dealer to have fixed on thursday but my question is, is replacing it like for like the best solution or is there a better alternative out there?

[Aragorn30d]

Some of the arms can be upgraded to the M3 parts for improved handling.

It also makes sense to change them all, as while one has become worn enough to fail an MOT, everything else under there will be just as knackered.

[djgandy]

Agreed. The cost of changing them all shouldn't be much extra labour, and maybe £200 extra in parts (although not at dealer prices).

[dm2583]

When you say 'all', do you mean both rear ones or front and rear?

Only one rear arm is worn, the other one was an advisory but I planned to change them both.

Where do I source M3 ones from?

Thanks in advance

[Aragorn30d]

There are 4/5 arms on each side at the rear. IE 10 in total:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...1&d=1359708225

Your tester has highlighted that one of those has worn to excess and thus has failed the MOT. But the rest of them have all seen the same work, same mileage, same roads etc etc, so if one has got bad enough to actually fail an MOT all the rest of them are going to be on their last legs.

I'm not fully up to speed on the rear end, i think only some of them are replaced with M3 parts. For the front the arms are readily available on Amazon or similar places, but i dont know if the rears are the same.

[djgandy]

There are 6 arms for the rear. 3 each side.
http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E9...el_suspension/

As Aragorn30d said, if one is had it, the rest are probably on their way out too.

What is your mileage/age?

As you are running a 335i though, M3 arms aren't a bad shout, and can tighten up the rear end a little.

[dm2583]

58 plate with 118k on the clock. I've had the car for the last 70k and have had no work done to it so don't mind spending money on items which would upgrade the ride.

[djgandy]

At 118k it's not a bad idea to replace the whole rear.

If going stock you need these
http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E9...ension/#pos_14

BMW part numbers:
33326763471 x2
33326777980 x2
33326782238
33326782237

Also available from TRW

https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1209/
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1210/
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1211/


If going M3 you need these
http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E9...ension/#pos_13

BMW part numbers:
33322283545
33322283546
33322283547
33322283548
33322283549 x2

which correspond to these TRW parts, which are often cheaper, but exactly the same as the BMW parts (they make them and etch off the ///M logo

https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1428/
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1429/
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1430/
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1431/
https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/ca...oduct/JTC1432/


Notice how there are more individual parts for the M3.