How much to replace front control arms?

[dhobbs]

Had an MOT advisory stating excessive play in ball joints (for the front control arms).

The stealer quoted £700 to replace them both. What's the realistic going rate?

Looking at some 'how tos' on the E46, seems like it's an hour per side. About £120 each for the arms for Meyle HD parts.
Any advice?

Oh, there is a little bit of twitch in the steering at speed which I've already checked the tracking and wheels, so I guess this may be the cause.

Darren

 

[toolmanchris]

Is it the arms or the front control arm rear bushes?
TBH it’s usually the rear bushes that go first and they are relatively easy to replace. Did mine last week and it took me roughly 3 hours to do both sides.
If the full arms need to be done then I think it would take at least another hour on top of that

I did mine on the drive with the car on stands laid on my back. If you are able to get it on a ramp then it would halve the time it takes.

Chris

 

[dhobbs]

I had the bushes done 14 months ago by Munich Legends.
The car has done 79k so I expect these things to wear, especially on the hard suspension.

It seems relatively straight forward to do, but I expect I'll have trouble getting to all the bolts.

 

[toolmanchris]

The hardest bit for me was separating the arms from the bushes but if you are doing both then you can just unbolt the lot and then assemble off the car and re bolt in. The inboard ball joint on the arm looks to be the difficult one to remove but it will depend on how rusty they are.
If I was doing it I would give all the nuts a good soaking in penetrating fluid over 2-3 days before I started the job to give me a fighting chance of getting them all off. :wink:

Chris.

 

[AndyMitton]

I had the bushes done 14 months ago by Munich Legends.
The car has done 79k so I expect these things to wear, especially on the hard suspension.

It seems relatively straight forward to do, but I expect I'll have trouble getting to all the bolts.

I did these myself earlier in the year. Straigh forward job mate. Didn't take long. Can get to all the bolts; wise idea to have a 1/2" drive UJ socket. and make sure you have 6 sided sockets (One of them I'm sure is 16mm A/F which doesn't come in some of the 6 sided socket sets - well the one I have so had to get one)..They are far better than 12 sided ones.

You'll have to replace the bushes with the arms too

Cheers

Andy

 

[AndyMitton]

And plenty of extension bars and breaker bar. The inboard on comes off from the top.

In fact...having remembered this...I had to grind one of them off as the ball joint span in the inboard joint. But to be fair it wasn't a big deal.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Not worth £700. Indy quoted about £400 using Meyle HD. £180 for the arms and bushes on ebay, no pulling needed that way. Not fitted yet but even if it takes a whole weekend you're £2-500 better off!

 

[dhobbs]

I think I need to have a look to see if I can do it with my tools (and skills).
Definitely a job for the weekend.

I'll have to weigh up the costs vs time, but as it's an advisory there's no immediate rush.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[ekimj10]

I expect to do mine later this year and my local indie is quoting £700.00 to replace the front wishbone arms and bushes, and to replace the steering tie rods. He only uses genuine OEM spares and the labour element of the quote was approximately 3 hours. This cost does not include a full geometry check at £80.00 + vat.

 

[Machine monkey]

The only special tool needed is a ball joint splitter. That might not even be needed but it made the job a doodle. That and some extension bars and Allen key sockets. And if you can get someone with a bit of knowledge to help then even better. I did the control arms and tie rod ends in about 4 hours. And a bit of that was spent drinking tea and talking!

 

[jan_tekin]

I was going to fit the kit Merle HD kit i brought but the garage at work only wanted £70 to fit the lot, didn't see the point of getting my hands dirty so paid the cash

 

[Scooba_Steve]

£70 is a no brainer, good deal!

 

[Midhurstman]

Just done the job after buying all Meyle control arms and bushes, very straightforward. Lots of videos on you tube for 3 series (same job) worth checking out.