Wow - new front control arm bushes = new car!

I

itguy

Member
 Melton Mowbray, Leics
Evening all

Fitted some new front lower control arm bushes today and have just taken the old girl out for a spin round the block.

The old ones looked original to me and at 78k and a 2003 car, well past their best.

Wow. What a difference.

Before I was having a steering wheel shimmy at 55mph, vibes through the car and a general feeling of laziness in the steering especially around straight ahead.

Have had it previously 4 wheel aligned, wheels road force balanced etc, changed ARB drop links too.

All previous problems now seem to have gone and it's handing wonderfully - reminds my of the old e46 318i I had in 2000, it just loved to be chucked at roundabouts!

Had it up on the ramps today to have a proper inspection and noticed a little oil film around the passenger LCAB inner rubber and sure enough, it was burst and was slack as a yak.

For anyone who thinks their Z4 isn't quite the sports car feel they were expecting, i'd highly recommend checking these first!

I'm going to get it 4 wheel aligned again on monday now they are fitted but I'm as chuffed as a chuffed thing now and back in love with her.
 
Lemforder from Euro car parts @£57 the pair plus vat.

I'm sure I could have probably got them cheaper but I wanted to get the job done today so had to go where they had stock etc.
 
Lemforder is the brand my indie uses - always great when something transforms your experience :thumbsup:
 
Like these ? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E46-Z4-FRONT-LOWER-WISHBONE-CONTROL-ARM-REAR-BUSH-BUSHES-SPORT-LEMFORDER-CI-/151016857770?_trksid=p2054897.l4275
 
Yep exactly those.

Dead easy to change, just remove the big steel undertray/support panel and then v easy access.

Undo the two bolt that hold it on and then just use a small/medium sized gear puller to get it off the control arm (or cut it off with an angle grinder if you don't have pullers). Slide the new one on and bolt up.

Simple!
 
I found the same improvement when I had mine changed
Old


And new



I used the meyle ones, think they were the same price (£55ish) they arnt oil filled like the originals but what you lose in comfort you gain in precision :wink:
Always like seeing my car up high on the lift as it gives you a chance to have a good look round it


Regards
 
How easy were they to fit? It looks straight forward, I've been thinking about poly bushing a few components.
 
My nephew fitted mine while I watched & ate jam doughnuts :roll:
Looked easy enough, ran a drill through the old bush to make it loose,copper slipped the new one and it slipped on ok :thumbsup:
Regards
 
I need to do this but sadly dont have a high lift. How easy is access from simply under the car, anyone know?

Can the casing thats preventing access be removed without the lift?

:)
 
Smartbear said:
I used the meyle ones, think they were the same price (£55ish) they arnt oil filled like the originals but what you lose in comfort you gain in precision :wink:
Always like seeing my car up high on the lift as it gives you a chance to have a good look round it.
Click to expand...

I'm having the Meyle HD ones fitted later this week, is there really much a difference in comfort?, given the limited mileage I do in the Zed I wonder if the oil filled Lemforder's would have been a better choice as they'd likely last me ages anyway, I chose the Meyle's as they seem to be recommended here, I didn't realise that those were solid rubber.

Edit:- what I didn't realise is that the original ones weren't solid anyway, I just thought the Meyle's were better than OEM.
 
I read that on their own site but to be fair I can't tell any difference in comfort-I did lose the steering shimmy my car had though which was my main reason for changing them, I don't think you will be disappointed & they are supposed to be longer lasting than the bmw originals which seem to be quick wearing.
Regards
 
Are there any tell tale signs or tests to do in order to see if and when these need replacing?

Reason I ask is that my RTAB's were shot but to look at were perfect. The only sign was a witness mark on the RTA bracket where they were allowing too much lateral movement.
 
sniffer said:
Are there any tell tale signs or tests to do in order to see if and when these need replacing?

Reason I ask is that my RTAB's were shot but to look at were perfect. The only sign was a witness mark on the RTA bracket where they were allowing too much lateral movement.
Click to expand...


Mine had pretty bad vibrations under heavy braking?

standing in front of your car and kick you front tyres and you'll see the wheel shake in the arch, they'll move back and forth, mine was shot @ 80K but i decided to replace the whole control arm,

Reminds me i must look at my RTAB's, as thats about all I've got left to replace
 
I've just had an MOT done at my local BMW dealer, the car passed the mot but I was not surprised to find that the dealer recommended I have some repairs done to some faults on the car. The total bill would of been well over £500. ( even though it passed the mot!!).

The reason I mention this is they told me my brake reaction bushes were badly worn and needed replacing, having never heard of these I did some digging and it turns out they are the bushes theses threads are about. The cost for the dealer to replace the £262. Strangely I haven't asked them To do the repair, especially as I now have seen in the thread the bits are well under £75 so they want £200 labour for a job that can be done in a relatively short time!

I guess I now know why they are called stealers not dealers!!

Ps my car has under 40k miles on it, is this a bit low for these bushes to fail?
 
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