Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (RTAB) Replacement

[smorris_12]

The pretensioning bit is easy: only properly tighten the bolts when the car is sat squarely on its wheels rather than when they're dangling with the car on a trolley jack.

Easier said than done considering you cannot access the bolt for this bushing once the bracket is in position and the tire is on the ground

I said sat squarely. I didn't say on the ground...

Actually, that advice probably serves a whole load of other bushes far better than the RTABs. I think, when I did my E46, sometime in the fifteenth century, I must have marked off how bracket and arm sat in relation to each other and duplicated the angle when tightening up the new ones.

As I say, it was a while ago. Empires have risen and fallen since

[jetrep]

The pretensioning bit is easy: only properly tighten the bolts when the car is sat squarely on its wheels rather than when they're dangling with the car on a trolley jack.

Easier said than done considering you cannot access the bolt for this bushing once the bracket is in position and the tire is on the ground

I said sat squarely. I didn't say on the ground...

Actually, that advice probably serves a whole load of other bushes far better than the RTABs. I think, when I did my E46, sometime in the fifteenth century, I must have marked off how bracket and arm sat in relation to each other and duplicated the angle when tightening up the new ones.

As I say, it was a while ago. Empires have risen and fallen since

I did something similar. If I recall correctly the manual specifies using a tool of some sort to establish the correct angle. I did my best to duplicate it. It wasn't my favorite part of the job.

[bigwinn]

Also, shout out to plenty for giving me lots of help/advice during the process and selling me the RTAB tool.

If anyone is interested in buying the RTAB removal tool from me please let me know.

Cheers

Great write up

What were the symptoms or did you just inspect and see deterioration?

[Chengy]

Also, shout out to plenty for giving me lots of help/advice during the process and selling me the RTAB tool.

If anyone is interested in buying the RTAB removal tool from me please let me know.

Cheers

Great write up

What were the symptoms or did you just inspect and see deterioration?

Thanks!

I had an inspection done by a BMW independent and they reported the bushings needed replacing.

Think the back feels tighter now, although that might just be psychological - classed as preventative work I think in my case.