Front Control arm bushings install (Pictures/Instructions)

Just wanted to say thanks for an excellent DIY. After reading this and every other post online that I could find over the past two months I ordered a set of stock replacement bushings in carriers (got them in 1 day (!!) from Bimmerworld for $89.99 + shipping). This morning I started the install in my 2002 330i with perf pkg. and 40K miles, at 9:00 am. I had been experiencing a knock and clunk when applying the brakes. It seemed to be coming from the drivers side front. After readig about LCA bushing issues here I felt pretty certain that was my problem.

Jacked up the car (damn it's low slung, so had to use stock jack on front side to get the floor jack in). Removed wheel on one side, other side was 'frozen on' as these things tend to do. I couldn't get it free and didn't want to lower the car againg to free it up. Also, I could see from looking (and reading comments here) that I could reach the bushing carrier bolts fine w/o removing the wheel.

Dropped the front plastic underbody panel (8 or so screws)

Dropped the aluminum front end stiffener plate - this had 8-16mm bolts that are real tight. Best to use air gun, but I only had a 3/8 drive socket so that's what I used. Used the jack to hold up the plate as I loosened the bolts.

Good access to the bushing carrier's bolts now - so 16mm socket undoes them easily.

** Note: the play in the drivers side LCA bushing was readily evident, I could see it move when I wiggled the suspension on that side. Everything else (ball joints, tie rod ends seemed tight **

Used a 3 jaw puller bought new at Autozone for $39 to pull the old bushings off the LCA's. Drivers side required two pulls as it was torn (hence the thunk!) and the pass. side came off in one pull. THIS WAS REALLY EASY WITH THE PULLER AND I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT (OR RENT/BORROW IT)

Cleaned up the end of the LCA with light sanding, not really necessary for me.

Lubed up the new bushing rubber and the LCA tip with Dawn dish detergent and they went together with just three taps of the rubber mallet.

Bolted the carriers on (2 bolts each), with just a bit of sweat on the pass side, as the holes were a little awkward to line up, and it was harder to wiggle because the tire was still attached to the suspension on that side. Not so much fun there.

Bolted up the front stiffener and plastic underbody piece.

Wheels on, drop the car down, test ride. Time = 12 noon, total repair 3 hours, much of it jacking up and down and cursing.

And.........it works! The car now feels tight like when I bought it! What a difference.

Thanks to all here for the confidence to try this.

Next project: Disc brake pad replacement

Great posts. I also replaced bushings today along with 1 control arm. It took me 3.5hrs with a friend. I thought I'd just add some tips on things I found extremely useful which I picked up from the BMW "TIS" (you can find this one e-bay, cheap and gives more confidence).

1) Torque Settings:

Stiffner Plate Bolts = 59Nm (45ftlb)
Bushing Carriers to chassis = 59Nm (45ftlb)

2) If you have zenons I suggest removing the attached linkage assembly from the right control arm. This looks flimsy and allows more movement of the control arm while messing with the bushings.

2) I used a 3 jaw puller, I found center punching the end of the control arm acted as a good center and allowed pulling the bushing off easy.

3) Mark 290.9 +/-1mm from the control arm pin (the one closest to the engine) in a straight line towards the bushing placement. The bushing leading edge (thin metal ring between bushing and cast housing) should be in line with this when pushed on.

4) I tried BMW's recommended 1 part soap to 20 parts water. I could not push this on by hand. I then tried 100% soap and guess what! A bit of pressure and she slide right on (I didn't need a rubber mallet and was relieved).

I faced a bit strange problem of my Powerflex install
The purple inner part of the bushing has a metal washer inside of it.
Problem is that the washer is 22mm and my control arm is 24mm.


Powerflex in UK explain that their old series of bushing didn***8217;t have this metal washer, but the hade complains about bushings coming of, so they installed a metal washer.

The offer to send over one of their oldies, but my idea is to grind 2mm of the metal washer.

The next Q is how the purple inner part will fit in the outside part of the bushing after expanding 2mm. I hope that is a the normal case of the install?

bushing install

I put a pair of Powerflex's on today, piece of cake. I did the struts today as well and in comparison, this was so easy to do. I bought the pre-assembled carrier and powerflex from bimmerworld. To get the old bushings off, all i did was use the three jaw puller to pull the entire bushing including the carrier off. The first attempt failed, because both the center piece of the puller and the end of the control arm are rounded, so of course, everything just kinda fell off when i tightened the puller up. So what i did was get a half-inch drive socket, put the drive end onto the end of the puller and stuck the socket side to the end of the control arm and cranked it down while holding the puller arms in place.
I had to use the puller twice for each side, because the first time, the carrier came off leaving the inner crap on the arm (and of course, there was no not even a hint of oil the old bushings). So i repeated the puller thing and kinda used a screwdriver to pull up a lip for the puller to grab on to and pull the rest of the bushing off. After that was done, the arm was actually in pretty good shape, the socket did put a few burrs on the end of the control arm, so i just took a file to it and smoothed out the ends of the arms real nice.
You should get a diagram showing the correct alignment, so when you're trying to get the new bushings on, dont worry about where the carrier and frame holes are, the whole thing spins on the inner part. Just make sure outer square part lines up with the square shape of the CA further up the arm, not just the hex shape at the end...i was dumb and couldnt figure out why i couldnt get the bushing on all the way :hmm:. I was caught up on trying to get the whole thing to line up from the start...not such a big deal if it spins around like it does. Once you lube it (i used some dawn soap), make sure the hex and square shapes are lined up and tap it on with a rubber mallet or wood and a hammer or something.
After that it was pretty easy, the alignment of the holes took some work, just get a bolt started, i had to do it at kindof an angle at first. But once u get it started, just have somone move the wheel and control arm around to get it to line-up and crank it down, being careful to avoid breaking the bolt.
Total time, including time to figure out i was dumb, about an hour to r & r both sides :thumbsup: