Bushings or control arms or both

E92_

Hi I noticed recently my car bmw e92 was having stability problems. Alignment was fine but felt handling wasn’t great. I pointed this out to mechanic while getting car service last week and he said bushings on front were worn and that I need new ones. I rang back yesterday to order new bushings but he said that bmw don’t supply bushings on their own and that I’d actually need two new controls arms with the bushings on them. Is that normal and is there much of a price difference between just getting bushings and control arms and bushings done. Thanks

Kenny Logins

I don't think there's much of a saving by pressing new bushings in... I just replace the whole arm on my cars when required. New balljoint as a bonus.

E92_

Kenny Logins wrote: »

I don't think there's much of a saving by pressing new bushings in... I just replace the whole arm on my cars when required. New balljoint as a bonus.

Thanks would there be a benefit to getting a new balljoint?

newmember2

E92_ wrote: »

Thanks would there be a benefit to getting a new balljoint?

...it definitely won't do any harm

E92_

So basically if the bushings go it’s necessary to get new control arms and ball joint. I’m new to dealing with the garage and they wouldn't give me a rough estimate of price not even ballpark. But price difference isn’t significant between bushings alone and control arms?

Idbatterim

yeah thats the usual situation, just get both new control arms. Where you based op? I avoid, potholes, ramps etc like the plague. The bm's like going through the suspension related components, certainly with bigger alloys etc they do anyway... I often sourced through ebay, febi or meyle etc ...

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/BMW-E81-E87-E90-E91-E92-E93-FRONT-LOWER-SUSPENSION-CONTROL-ARMS-LINKS-TRACK-ENDS/162243009035?hash=item25c66fda0b:g:zhYAAOSwh2xYBfei

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meyle-FRONT-Track-Control-Arm-Kit-WISHBONE-316-050-0101-HD-to-fit-BMW/272238703243?fits=Plat_Gen%3AE92&epid=24034143537&hash=item3f62b0f28b:g:BH4AAOSw8vZXMaLZ

Leonard Hofstadter

On E46s you have to buy the entire wishbone even though it may be just the bushing that's frayed, I expect it's the same situation with the E92.

Make sure you get good quality ones, like Lemforder (or whatever the OEM brand is for an E92), BMWs don't take kindly to skimping on parts; cheap wishbones might not even do 15,000 km before needing to be replaced again.

Orderofchaos

Idbatterim wrote: »

yeah thats the usual situation, just get both new control arms. Where you based op? I avoid, potholes, ramps etc like the plague. The bm's like going through the suspension related components, certainly with bigger alloys etc they do anyway... I often sourced through ebay, febi or meyle etc ...

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/BMW-E81-E87-E90-E91-E92-E93-FRONT-LOWER-SUSPENSION-CONTROL-ARMS-LINKS-TRACK-ENDS/162243009035?hash=item25c66fda0b:g:zhYAAOSwh2xYBfei

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meyle-FRONT-Track-Control-Arm-Kit-WISHBONE-316-050-0101-HD-to-fit-BMW/272238703243?fits=Plat_Gen%3AE92&epid=24034143537&hash=item3f62b0f28b:g:BH4AAOSw8vZXMaLZ

I bought a cheap kit like this https://m.ebay.ie/itm/283607642842?ul_ref=https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/5282-53468-19255-0/1?ff3=2&pub=5575376664&toolid=10001&campid=5338268676&customid=EAIaIQobChMI3P_zmPuK5QIV0_hRCh2W5QuYEAQYCSABEgLvu_D_BwE&lgeo=1&item=283607642842&srcrot=5282-53468-19255-0&rvr_id=2136811241223&rvr_ts=a7dd072516d0ad4c0d552b61ffffd151&_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1&ul_noapp=true for my E60, no issues in over 60k miles. 2 hours labour to fit on mine so worked out very cheap.

E92_

Hey thanks for the links. I live in NE Dublin. I actually began to notice the problem a few days after hitting a speed ramp relatively hard so I was cursing myself. However I was told the problem was caused by wear and tear and usually need to be changed around 100k miles which my car nearly has. I even changed four tyres recently but made no difference so I guess control arms are next step then!!

P.s sorry if this is a silly question but is wishbone and control arms different things?

Leonard Hofstadter

E92_ wrote: »

P.s sorry if this is a silly question but is wishbone and control arms different things?

They're the one and same thing