[swooshdave]

I have an opportunity to smoke test the engine but with the engine running great I might pass. Apparently there might be a slight leak in the SAP area but not enough to throw codes. We'll see if I have time for the test. But I at least can now get my hands on a tester.

 

[swooshdave]

Passenger side boot.

Both wheels were rusted on. Driver side took 4-5 solid kicks. Wire brushed surfaces and put THIN coat of anti seize. Should come off a lot easier next time.

Control arm bushings look ok but I don’t trust them. They’ll get replaced soon.

It really is a weird control arm design.

 

[kaboom28]

I have an extra pair of XI front control arms if you're interested.

Front control arms for XI

Left and right front control arms for XI. These came off my 2005 330XI. Normally the ball joints are non-replaceable but I was able to remove them and replaced them with new Meyle E36 ball joints (feel free to search this forum for this DIY). As such, the ball joints are now replaceable with...

www.e46fanatics.com

 

[vtwagon]

View attachment 966778
View attachment 966783
View attachment 966784
View attachment 966781
View attachment 966782
Passenger side boot.

View attachment 966779
View attachment 966780
Both wheels were rusted on. Driver side took 4-5 solid kicks. Wire brushed surfaces and put THIN coat of anti seize. Should come off a lot easier next time.

Control arm bushings look ok but I don’t trust them. They’ll get replaced soon.

It really is a weird control arm design.

That’s a pretty good axle boot failure! You gonna rebuild it or go new? GKN is OE for that. The passenger CAB mount isn’t as bad as it looks to get to, remove the heat shield and that gives enough room.

 

[swooshdave]

That’s a pretty good axle boot failure! You gonna rebuild it or go new? GKN is OE for that. The passenger CAB mount isn’t as bad as it looks to get to, remove the heat shield and that gives enough room.

I'm going to pray it just needs a new boot. Otherwise I'll rebuild it if I can find a kit.

 

[swooshdave]

I saw one video where they used a ball joint separator. So far I’ve only gotten it to move about 1mm.

I think I might need to use a press.

The control arm came out pretty easily. Ball joints aren’t super sloppy but they aren’t tight either.

When your rubber bushing separates it’s either stuck to the control arm permanent like or the rubber is gone. I’ll post a video later of how lose the rubber bushing was.
View attachment 968263
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View attachment 968262

 

[swooshdave]

First roadblock in my cheap Chinese journey. Went over to my friend's since he has a press. Push the bushing almost out. It took a lot of force. Then went to measure the new Chinese bushing and didn't like the discrepancy. Not sure what the spec is but I don't think we can shove a 1+mm difference in so we didn't try.

Will look for options.

So I hope that answers folks who wondered if I will share when it doesn't work.

View attachment 968271 View attachment 968273
View attachment 968272

 

[swooshdave]

One option is a polyurethane bushing.

Powerflex 097532040, PFF54601XIX2 Control Arm Bushing; Front Lower - BMW

Find Powerflex, PFF54601XIX2 Control Arm Bushing; Front Lower 097532040 at discount prices in our extensive BMW auto parts catalog. AutohausAZ offers a large selection of Powerflex parts online. Shore 95A black polyurethane outer bushing, shore 80A purple polyurethane inner bushing. Suitable for...

www.autohausaz.com

 

[swooshdave]

Another option is preassembled bushings.

Pre-Installed Front Control Arm Bushing Set

Don't struggle with pressing or hammering out old bushings! Don't ruin your new bushings on installation! No guesswork here - just bolt on.

www.ecstuning.com

$220

Or https://www.ecstuning.com/b-hamburg...ket-with-bushings-set/31121139791-slash-792w/
$131

 

[swooshdave]

fits BMW Suspension Control Arm Bushings brackets 2pc 01-05 BMW E46 325xi 330xi | eBay

(BMW E46 325Xi 330Xi. Fits the Following BMW E46 Xi -3 Series BMW 325Xi 2001-2005. BMW 330Xi 2001-2005. ) 2015-12-04. a 0 ( 568. ) 2015-12-10. ) 2015-12-26.

www.ebay.com

 

[swooshdave]

View attachment 968277
Lower control arm (minus rear bushing) is installed. Fit beautifully. New sway bar link also installed. Going to wait on the tie rod on this side as the boot is fine.

Passenger side is not so pretty. Both tie rod boot and CV boot bad.

Once I sort out the bushing situation tomorrow and the parts arrive I can just pop it on and be done.

In theory.

 

[burntoutrubber]

I love that you have found a nice size, and that you are putting the time into getting it sorted. A few comments:

1. The thin rubber hose from the back of the manifold to the SAP is likely destroyed. I would replace.
2. I saw that you replaced a single o2 sensor above. Maybe a typo, but should always be replaced in pairs (and on your car their service life is 100k miles.
3. I am deeply concerned that you are cheaping out on parts. The only parts I can conceivably see buying from Amazon are Bosch o2 sensors, NGK plugs, and bulbs. Anything else is going to be Chinese garbage and cause serious heartache. Rockauto only for known items like brake pads.

It may sound fussy to say it, but the Chinese parts are absolutely garbage. Especially anything with a plug, which should always be replaced with OE or genuine (not OEM). For suspension parts, go with OE if you can find it (usually sachs or lemforder), Meyle if you can’t. The FCABs I see above look incredibly sketch.

Cooling hoses at this point may be only genuine that work at this point.

If you are buying Chinese electrical parts (MAF, O2 sensors, DISA) you are going to be frustrated.

FCPEuro is a solid supplier, as are Pelican Parts, ECS and EEuroparts. There are no sources of good parts with two day turnaround and free shipping. It is not a thing.

 

[burntoutrubber]

fits BMW Suspension Control Arm Bushings brackets 2pc 01-05 BMW E46 325xi 330xi | eBay

(BMW E46 325Xi 330Xi. Fits the Following BMW E46 Xi -3 Series BMW 325Xi 2001-2005. BMW 330Xi 2001-2005. ) 2015-12-04. a 0 ( 568. ) 2015-12-10. ) 2015-12-26.

www.ebay.com

These are junk. Hamburg-technic is a Chinese supplier with a German name and the quality is very poor. Do a search and you will find stories of very short lifespan.

Sadly, I don’t think Lemforder sells pre-pressed bushings for the xi.

 

[swooshdave]

I love that you have found a nice size, and that you are putting the time into getting it sorted. A few comments:

1. The thin rubber hose from the back of the manifold to the SAP is likely destroyed. I would replace.
2. I saw that you replaced a single o2 sensor above. Maybe a typo, but should always be replaced in pairs (and on your car their service life is 100k miles.
3. I am deeply concerned that you are cheaping out on parts. The only parts I can conceivably see buying from Amazon are Bosch o2 sensors, NGK plugs, and bulbs. Anything else is going to be Chinese garbage and cause serious heartache. Rockauto only for known items like brake pads.

It may sound fussy to say it, but the Chinese parts are absolutely garbage. Especially anything with a plug, which should always be replaced with OE or genuine (not OEM). For suspension parts, go with OE if you can find it (usually sachs or lemforder), Meyle if you can’t. The FCABs I see above look incredibly sketch.

Cooling hoses at this point may be only genuine that work at this point.

If you are buying Chinese electrical parts (MAF, O2 sensors, DISA) you are going to be frustrated.

FCPEuro is a solid supplier, as are Pelican Parts, ECS and EEuroparts. There are no sources of good parts with two day turnaround and free shipping. It is not a thing.

I do know not to get cheap sensors. Hard parts like the suspension are a bit of a risk but aside from the bushings the other parts should be fine.

The other O2 sensor had been replaced at some point recently, hence why I didn't replace both. Logs showed that only one was misbehaving.

Currently no vacuum leaks and most, if not all of the hoses have been replaced by PO. I have receipts.

 

[swooshdave]

These are junk. Hamburg-technic is a Chinese supplier with a German name and the quality is very poor. Do a search and you will find stories of very short lifespan.

Sadly, I don’t think Lemforder sells pre-pressed bushings for the xi.

I ended up getting the ECS bushings.

 

[burntoutrubber]

I ended up getting the ECS bushings.

I really do want to caution you about Chinese parts. ECS carries some good brands, but they really have no minimum quality standard, and their house brand parts are Chinese junk.

It is your car, and very earnestly you can do whatever you want, but my experience is that the Chinese stuff creates so so so much frustration, and having to re-do a job (and rebuy the part!) is such an anger-bringer. The temptation is huge, but I recommend staying off Amazon, Rockauto, and eBay (except for used parts), and not buying random brands on ECS and others.

You will also find that the forum members that really know their stuff will fade away when you buy crap parts because it is not worth the effort to help folks fix things if they are not willing to buy parts of a minimum quality.

I recently replaced the hard pipes under the intake with Rein - a good OEM brand that has switched production over the years to Turkey and China. They leaked within weeks. I had a warranty, so I upgraded to genuine for a bit more money but redoing that project just sucked.

You have an Xi, so you are going to be punished when you deal with suspension parts.

On another note, I would strongly recommend refreshing the intake - there is a guide here somewhere. It will save you a lot of hassle and irritation.

 

[burntoutrubber]

I do know not to get cheap sensors. Hard parts like the suspension are a bit of a risk but aside from the bushings the other parts should be fine.

This is definitely not true. Cooling parts are a huge risk. Steering parts are not a "risk" per se, as you won't die, but the aftermarket stuff is terrible and leaks. Aftermarket gaskets, especially the rubber tranny ones, are also prone to leaking. It is astounding how bad the aftermarket products are for our platform.

I have owned 5 e46s, and I have rebuilt all of them from tired (150k+). I currently have three, two with about 170k, and one with 210k. I have replaced every part you can probably think of, and could likely build one from parts at this point.

 

[swooshdave]

This is definitely not true. Cooling parts are a huge risk. Steering parts are not a "risk" per se, as you won't die, but the aftermarket stuff is terrible and leaks. Aftermarket gaskets, especially the rubber tranny ones, are also prone to leaking. It is astounding how bad the aftermarket products are for our platform.

I have owned 5 e46s, and I have rebuilt all of them from tired (150k+). I currently have three, two with about 170k, and one with 210k. I have replaced every part you can probably think of, and could likely build one from parts at this point.

Noted on the cooling parts. I am taking notes on when to get the good stuff.

I also weigh how hard it is to replace a part. If it’s difficult I’d probably use the good stuff.

But a 4 door with excessive miles is basically disposable. My job is to keep it alive until it isn’t.

 

[burntoutrubber]

Fair enough

 

[swooshdave]

New bushings were suppose to be here on Monday. Now pushed to Tuesday. Looking at all the weather reports I can see why. We're going to be hunkered down for a couple of days and be covered in ice. Ice can be way worse than snow.