[kevinaskelin]

Hello, so my bushings have gone bad on my front lower tensioners. (the squiggly ones) As well as the wishbones on my rears. (back upper.) Can i swap these out with m3? Would it be not advised to only do these and not the WHOLE swap? if i do just swap only these arms and not the whole kit. What alignment specs should i run?

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by kevinaskelin

Hello, so my bushings have gone bad on my front lower tensioners. (the squiggly ones) As well as the wishbones on my rears. (back upper.) Can i swap these out with m3? Would it be not advised to only do these and not the WHOLE swap? if i do just swap only these arms and not the whole kit. What alignment specs should i run?

Looking at your profile, do you have a 335Xi? These only work on RWD cars. X cars have different steel control arms. You can do just the front ones, but might as well do both while you're there. Not that much more time or money. Think long and hard about struts while you're there... if they are due it's a good time to do as well. Also don't forget an alignment replacing front suspension components.

[kevinaskelin]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Looking at your profile, do you have a 335Xi? These only work on RWD cars. X cars have different steel control arms. You can do just the front ones, but might as well do both while you're there. Not that much more time or money. Think long and hard about struts while you're there... if they are due it's a good time to do as well. Also don't forget an alignment replacing front suspension components.

I haven’t updated it but i have a 335is.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by kevinaskelin

I haven’t updated it but i have a 335is.

You're good to swap away! Nice upgrade!

[gaze2]

If you are going to replace the front big control arm, then you shouldnt get changes in suspension geometry, the smaller one is the one with different length than the OEM non M3 one. As for the rear one, I dont know, you should probably just look at pictures to see if they are different in length/shape. You are basically going from hydraulic bushings to solid ones if you replace the front control arms, so sacrificing some comfort for more direct feel. I would replace all the arms, I am in europe and TRW front ones were like 40$ for the small arms and 60$ for the big ones, might as well do it while you are there. I got about -0.5 more camber in the front with the m3 arms, left the toe in stock specs

[kevinaskelin]

Originally Posted by gaze2

If you are going to replace the front big control arm, then you shouldnt get changes in suspension geometry, the smaller one is the one with different length than the OEM non M3 one. As for the rear one, I dont know, you should probably just look at pictures to see if they are different in length/shape. You are basically going from hydraulic bushings to solid ones if you replace the front control arms, so sacrificing some comfort for more direct feel. I would replace all the arms, I am in europe and TRW front ones were like 40$ for the small arms and 60$ for the big ones, might as well do it while you are there. I got about -0.5 more camber in the front with the m3 arms, left the toe in stock specs

Thank you! This is very helpful.

[The Nightman]

Both non-M and M rear upper (wishbone) control arms use bushings, so there isn't much to gain from the M arm there:

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1079383

I also recommend doing both front M arms at the same time. I did the M tension strut only at first, and there was an increase in NVH from the solid bushing. However, NVH seemed to decrease after I added the M wishbones later on, presumably due to no bushing windup from the M arm's ball joint.

[whyzee125]

One word of advice is don't use the "aftermarket" TRW arms that are made in Malaysia. As far as I know, your options are Genuine BMW TRW which are made in Germany or aftermarket TRW from Malaysia. They recently switched over as they used to be exactly the same but the new Maylasian-made ones are garbage.

As for alignment specs, unless you have camber plates up front you don't have a whole lot of adjustability. You can run either OE specs or M3 specs. Your camber and caster will be the same either way but the toe might be slightly different. You should be close to 1 deg of neg camber after the arms up front. I have no experience with any aftermarket rear arms so can't speak there.

[whyzee125]

I just saw this set for sale: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2122152

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

One word of advice is don't use the "aftermarket" TRW arms that are made in Malaysia. As far as I know, your options are Genuine BMW TRW which are made in Germany or aftermarket TRW from Malaysia. They recently switched over as they used to be exactly the same but the new Maylasian-made ones are garbage.

As for alignment specs, unless you have camber plates up front you don't have a whole lot of adjustability. You can run either OE specs or M3 specs. Your camber and caster will be the same either way but the toe might be slightly different. You should be close to 1 deg of neg camber after the arms up front. I have no experience with any aftermarket rear arms so can't speak there.

How exactly are the Malaysian ones garbage? I read all the posts here but personally haven't experienced anything bad (yet.)

When I put all new M3 arms on my 335 last year I got one Malaysian TRW thrust arm arm and one German-made TRW arm. The finish on the Malaysian one doesn't look as nice but the bushings seem identical. No problems so far after 10K miles.

Oh yeah the Malaysian arm came with a different nut for the ball joint. Luckily I had an extra set of the OEM nuts with the built in washer.

If I had to do it again I'd go for genuine BMW and pay the extra money, but the Malaysian arms are probably fine as long as you bought from a retailer with a lifetime warranty.

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

How exactly are the Malaysian ones garbage? I read all the posts here but personally haven't experienced anything bad (yet.)

When I put all new M3 arms on my 335 last year I got one Malaysian TRW thrust arm arm and one German-made TRW arm. The finish on the Malaysian one doesn't look as nice but the bushings seem identical. No problems so far after 10K miles.

Oh yeah the Malaysian arm came with a different nut for the ball joint. Luckily I had an extra set of the OEM nuts with the built in washer.

If I had to do it again I'd go for genuine BMW and pay the extra money, but the Malaysian arms are probably fine as long as you bought from a retailer with a lifetime warranty.

I don't have any first hand experience but I've seen numerous (probably close to 10) reports of people having the bushings and or ball joints failing within a year or two. The German ones typically go 150k with no touble.

Hopefully they're not all this bad and yours last a while but the consensus doesn't seem great for longevity on the Malaysian ones.