Front Control arm bushings install (Pictures/Instructions)

375744 Views 333 Replies 153 Participants Last post by Brenda325, Jul 26, 2017

tim330i

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2004

Background info here

http://www.e46fanatics.com/features/feature.php?news_id=40

Use this at your own risk. There might be better ways to do this, but this is what I did.

<p>1. If your car is lower you might need to use ramps to get the jack under the car.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/1.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_1.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>2. Use a floor jack and the center jack point.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/2.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_2.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>3. Put jack stands under the stock jack locations.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/3.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_3.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>4. Remove the wheels.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/4.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_4.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>5. Remove the under engine cover. There are some plastic plugs up front and screws underneath. The screw layout is going to vary depending on model.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/5.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_5.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>6. Drop the engine cover.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/6.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_6.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>7. Here you can see the both the control arm mounts
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/7.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_7.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>8. Drivers sides mount. You can see how the chassis brace is in the way of the rear bolt.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/8.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_8.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>9. Remove the driver***8217;s side bolt for the rear brace.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/9.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_9.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>10. Remove the front drivers side bolt for the brace.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/10.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_10.jpg"></a>
</p>

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81 - 100 of 334 Posts

Twright

· #81 · Jan 17, 2006

Grind them out.

I didn't use a press to remove the steel sleeves from the housings. I ground out the steel sleeves with a die grinder. ( Just cut a slot the whole length. The sleeve just falls out then.)

Cutting a slot took about 20 minutes on the first housing and 5 minutes for the second. (Be carefull to not grind through the aluminum housing.)

You could probably use a hacksaw to do the same thing.

Rdizzle

· #82 · Jan 18, 2006

I know a damaged control arm bushings will cause your car to shake while braking but I have a different issue. When going highway speeds (60-65 mph) my steering wheel will sometimes sway left, then sway right, then sway left again! It's nice and straight when I'm going slow though...this only happens at highway speeds.

Could this be caused by bad CA bushings as well?

tim330i

Discussion Starter · #83 · Jan 19, 2006

Rdizzle said:
I know a damaged control arm bushings will cause your car to shake while braking but I have a different issue. When going highway speeds (60-65 mph) my steering wheel will sometimes sway left, then sway right, then sway left again! It's nice and straight when I'm going slow though...this only happens at highway speeds.

Could this be caused by bad CA bushings as well?

Sure, or it could the control arm ball joints, or just be tire tramlining.

vaio76109

· #84 · Jan 19, 2006

I just realized how different the front of the coupes are from the sedans.

I beleive I can change these out without even undoing the underbody panel/aluminum skid plate with a wrench.

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BMWintoxication

· #85 · Jan 19, 2006

sticky

davidwarren

· #86 · Jan 20, 2006

vaio76109 said:
I just realized how different the front of the coupes are from the sedans.

I beleive I can change these out without even undoing the underbody panel/aluminum skid plate with a wrench.

actually, that is just what mine looks like, I have the Al plate, not the crossmember brace.

Elefant

· #87 · Jan 20, 2006

vaio76109 said:
I just realized how different the front of the coupes are from the sedans.

I beleive I can change these out without even undoing the underbody panel/aluminum skid plate with a wrench.

no you cant, you have to remove the plate. and it is so annoying to remove because the holes are recessed inside of there. Prop a floorjack underneath the plate with some pressure, so when you start unbolting the weight does not rest one one side :argue: .And def remove the wheels i didnt, but i had a much harder time.

dadysev

· #88 · Feb 2, 2006

Twright said:
I didn't use a press to remove the steel sleeves from the housings. I ground out the steel sleeves with a die grinder. ( Just cut a slot the whole length. The sleeve just falls out then.)

Cutting a slot took about 20 minutes on the first housing and 5 minutes for the second. (Be carefull to not grind through the aluminum housing.)

You could probably use a hacksaw to do the same thing.

Too much work!!! I've changed about 3 sets on my sedan and I have reused them too! I just use a 5$ C-clamp and take my time. It comes off sooo easy! and just use some dishwashing liquid on the arm and the bushing slides right back on. The soap dries out eventually and it will stay in place.

nEVERCLEAR

· #89 · Feb 3, 2006

Mine have about 5000 miles on them and I want to change the control arms. What is the chance they are re-useable? I put some napa silicone goop (Window sill stuff)to get them on so hopefully the will slide right off.

dadysev

· #90 · Feb 7, 2006

Talked to the guy at bimmerworld today. I had a few questions for them, and found out they are very helpful. Gonna be ordering my set of arms and bushings next week!! Can't wait to get rid of all the clunking and restore my E46 front end to new!!!

jai_c

· #91 · Feb 18, 2006

I bought the bushings from Powerflex but my mechanic refuses to put them in bcause he says theres nothing to hold the bushings in like there is in the oem ones. is that true. I seriously thinking about doin it myself

nEVERCLEAR

· #92 · Feb 18, 2006

jai_c said:
I bought the bushings from Powerflex but my mechanic refuses to put them in bcause he says theres nothing to hold the bushings in like there is in the oem ones. is that true. I seriously thinking about doin it myself

You need a new mechanic.

darkmanlfe

· #93 · Feb 19, 2006

jai_c said:
I bought the bushings from Powerflex but my mechanic refuses to put them in bcause he says theres nothing to hold the bushings in like there is in the oem ones. is that true. I seriously thinking about doin it myself

tell him - that is why you reuse the OEM carrier for the powerflexes bushing
some people just dont know until you point it out and then they can do the work.

vaio76109

· #94 · Feb 20, 2006

tim330i said:
I again used the ball joint press and pressed in the power flex bushings. I took the purple inner section of the bushing out while pressing it in. It was a two step process to press the bushings in. The first time I could not use the spacer sleeve that comes with the press because there was not room.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/29.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_29.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>30. With the bushing pressed in half way I added the sleeve so that the bushing could properly seat on both sides of the carrier.
<a href="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/30.jpg"><img src="http://www.e46fanatics.com/members/tim330i/poly/tn_30.jpg"></a>
</p>

This part is a PITA, especialy without a ball joint press. Currently where I'm stuck.

tblue3cibm

· #95 · Feb 20, 2006

:bow: :clap:

vaio76109

· #96 · Feb 21, 2006

vaio76109 said:
This part is a PITA, especialy without a ball joint press. Currently where I'm stuck.

I rented a ball joint press and it worked like a charm.

DK00328i

· #97 · Mar 18, 2006 (Edited)

I performed the CAB replacement this morning outside in Boston. It was pretty damn cold out while working at the old bushings. I used a 2 Jaw puller: first pulling the housing off and then pulling the inner bushing. I did the driver side first and had a lot of trouble getting the inner bushing to slide off. At one point I thought I was going to need to call a wrecker to take the car to a real mechanic. After learning the best technique, the passenger side took less than fifteen minutes.

I used pre-pressed 66MM OEM bushings from Turner Motorsport. Make sure to use plenty of Dawn dish detergent as a lubricant. It works perfectly and should make it easy enough to push the bushings on by hand. I had a rubber mallet handy but didn't really need it. I also replaced the bolts and tightened to the torque specs listed in this thread.

I'd like thank everyone on this sight who has contributed to the DIY section. Without it, I wouldn't have even been able to diagnose the problem let alone fix it.

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vert

· #98 · Mar 30, 2006

Somebody asked this before but never got an answer. Why do you need to take the wheels off? Also - you were not scared to get under the front end supported only by jack stands?

nEVERCLEAR

· #99 · Mar 30, 2006

Jack stands are pretty safe. A jack is unsafe as it is held in place by hydraulic pressure which can give way. A jack stand is is safe as the car's weight locks in the mechanism on the jack stand.

It is a good idea to use a block of wood or to put the tires under the car so that if the car is hit or bumped it will land on something solid instead of your head or legs.

There is no way to eliminate disaster,but jack stands and some other solid object like a tire and rim will eliminate most of the risk.

If it's your time it's your time to go...

vert

· #100 · Mar 30, 2006

nEVERCLEAR said:
Jack stands are pretty safe. A jack is unsafe as it is held in place by hydraulic pressure which can give way. A jack stand is is safe as the car's weight locks in the mechanism on the jack stand.

It is a good idea to use a block of wood or to put the tires under the car so that if the car is hit or bumped it will land on something solid instead of your head or legs.

There is no way to eliminate disaster,but jack stands and some other solid object like a tire and rim will eliminate most of the risk.

If it's your time it's your time to go...

Makes sense - now why do you need to take the wheels off when installing the new bushings?

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