DIY: Lower Control Arm/Wishbone Replacement

[JWK170]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

Are you test driving it with them? You should be. Find a place near the dealer where you can get the noise to occur and then specifically take the tech there on the test drive.

Both the second and third time I went in, I drove with the shop manager.

I couldn't for the life of me get the noise to replicate. I'm wondering if it has something to do with temperature sensitive or possibly occurs more frequently after consistent driving. It doesn't occur as frequent in cooler temps which is totally weird to me.

I have a few videos of it that I had set and they agree there is some noise, but at this point will not do anything further until they hear it themselves.

I'm just going to wait for a day that it occurs frequently and I'm going to head straight to the shop to demand they ride with me to hear the noise.

[sj22]

Getting this done at stealer today as was fed up with the noise. Was told in addition to lower arms, upper arm ball joints and bushings are worn too. So all 4 arms getting replaced out of pocket as warranty is up.

I will be calling BMW to see what is up with this. The bill for this will be a steep one but this isn't looking like usual wear and tear for a suburban driven car at 60k miles.

Such a turn off. My last rental range rover sport 2020 is now looking so attractive even with its crappy infotainment.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by sj22

Getting this done at stealer today as was fed up with the noise. Was told in addition to lower arms, upper arm ball joints and bushings are worn too. So all 4 arms getting replaced out of pocket as warranty is up.

I will be calling BMW to see what is up with this. The bill for this will be a steep one but this isn't looking like usual wear and tear for a suburban driven car at 60k miles.

Such a turn off. My last rental range rover sport 2020 is now looking so attractive even with its crappy infotainment.

BMW is known to use cheap rubber in their bushings. Really that simple. Don't hear about this issue on the M cuz They have different bushings.

[sj22]

$2400+tax usd later I can confirm I have all issued fixed.
Both lower and upper control arms replaced and the car has a new car feel. Tight and responsive. Parts replaced
31126864821/2
31126851691/2

Almost 1700 in parts itself which is where I got shafted.

Although not a mod for me, this is one of the most satisfying ones if someone is on oem joints.

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by sj22

$2400+tax usd later I can confirm I have all issued fixed.
Both lower and upper control arms replaced and the car has a new car feel. Tight and responsive. Parts replaced
31126864821/2
31126851691/2

Almost 1700 in parts itself which is where I got shafted.

Although not a mod for me, this is one of the most satisfying ones if someone is on oem joints.

Just FYI, those were all lowers - no uppers were replaced. Uppers would be 31126863785 (left) and 31126863786 (right).

[jjk1285]

I had a similar clunk sound from the left front of the car (only 26k miles, 35iX). This would only occur a few times in the morning when the car was rested overnight. Rest of the day the sound was either much quieter or non-existent. Sound would occur when the weight of the vehicle shifted forward (hard braking at LOW speed, or coming out of a small ramp). Sound was more subtle going over bumps but I heard it a few times.

I used Maverick's DIY and replaced: the sway bar end links, control arms and thrust arms ("tension strut" per BMW) on both sides without resolution. I also had to replace a torn right CV boot and rebuild the right CV joint which was painful). The sound for whatever reason (probably because the car was being jacked up and things were shifting) would go away for a couple days after I did work on the front end but it consistently came back. It drove me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I considered replacing the outer tie rods and the upper control arms which would have essentially replaced every moving part in the front suspension (except struts and drive line/wheel bearing).

Other issues I read about: loose reinforcement plate bolts (mine were tight) and worn strut mount (didn't see any disintegrating plastic junk in the engine bay side). I must have spent a good 10-20 hours researching this problem.

I finally crawled under the car and decided to tighten every bolt I could see. While doing this I noticed the two subframe bolts were not fully tight. Not loose and wobbly, but the bolt would turn with just a small 3/8 drive ratchet. I'm estimating there was only about 20-30ftlb of torque there. I torqued the bolts on each side as tight as I could with a breaker bar.....

ABSOLUTE SILENCE.... No more noise for about 3 weeks now.

I suggest everyone having this issue to first check these bolts. My car is only 4 yrs old with <30k miles and this happened. also check the reinforcement plate bolts, although mine were very tight already. -- This is essentially free. I think I spent ~$700 on the six Lemforder parts I replaced.

I'm now worried there are more bolts that hold the subframe to the chassis, but cant figure it out from the diagrams. If anybody knows of additional bolts that can be checked please chime in.



Also, now after all this work I am having poor steering return to center. The last 1/8 of a turn back to dead center, I need to manually pull the wheel back to center coming out of a turn. The car tracks straight, but If i turn the wheel a tiny bit at high speed the wheel stays turned. Anybody experience this after changing the control arms? I'm wondering if the 4 new ball joints are causing some slight binding and need a break in period? (yes, I've had two alignments already with no change to this issue, first was a KDS system and second was an old school front end shop that manually measured toe in/out).

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by jjk1285

I had a similar clunk sound from the left front of the car (only 26k miles, 35iX). This would only occur a few times in the morning when the car was rested overnight. Rest of the day the sound was either much quieter or non-existent. Sound would occur when the weight of the vehicle shifted forward (hard braking at LOW speed, or coming out of a small ramp). Sound was more subtle going over bumps but I heard it a few times.

I used Maverick's DIY and replaced: the sway bar end links, control arms and thrust arms ("tension strut" per BMW) on both sides without resolution. I also had to replace a torn right CV boot and rebuild the right CV joint which was painful). The sound for whatever reason (probably because the car was being jacked up and things were shifting) would go away for a couple days after I did work on the front end but it consistently came back. It drove me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I considered replacing the outer tie rods and the upper control arms which would have essentially replaced every moving part in the front suspension (except struts and drive line/wheel bearing).

Other issues I read about: loose reinforcement plate bolts (mine were tight) and worn strut mount (didn't see any disintegrating plastic junk in the engine bay side). I must have spent a good 10-20 hours researching this problem.

I finally crawled under the car and decided to tighten every bolt I could see. While doing this I noticed the two subframe bolts were not fully tight. Not loose and wobbly, but the bolt would turn with just a small 3/8 drive ratchet. I'm estimating there was only about 20-30ftlb of torque there. I torqued the bolts on each side as tight as I could with a breaker bar.....

ABSOLUTE SILENCE.... No more noise for about 3 weeks now.

I suggest everyone having this issue to first check these bolts. My car is only 4 yrs old with <30k miles and this happened. also check the reinforcement plate bolts, although mine were very tight already. -- This is essentially free. I think I spent ~$700 on the six Lemforder parts I replaced.

I'm now worried there are more bolts that hold the subframe to the chassis, but cant figure it out from the diagrams. If anybody knows of additional bolts that can be checked please chime in.



Also, now after all this work I am having poor steering return to center. The last 1/8 of a turn back to dead center, I need to manually pull the wheel back to center coming out of a turn. The car tracks straight, but If i turn the wheel a tiny bit at high speed the wheel stays turned. Anybody experience this after changing the control arms? I'm wondering if the 4 new ball joints are causing some slight binding and need a break in period? (yes, I've had two alignments already with no change to this issue, first was a KDS system and second was an old school front end shop that manually measured toe in/out).

You're not going to fix the steering with an alignment. It's from having 10" wheels up front. Lot of tire that likes to slide across the road. Not cut through it.

[jjk1285]

Have 8" wide wheels with 265/60r18 tires or the past 4k miles.
Originally had 10" wheels and didn't have this problem.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by jjk1285

Have 8" wide wheels with 265/60r18 tires or the past 4k miles.
Originally had 10" wheels and didn't have this problem.

Either way it's a known issue that isn't due to alignment. It's combo if shitty electric steering and wide tires and poor rubber bushings in suspension unfortunately

[Chicane_S54]

I have been reading this thread with great interest and would recommend to the admins that they sticky this....I too have the creaking when accelerating issue. The lower control arms are on order and I will also check the sub-frame bolts tomorrow. thanks to everyone for their input, especially Maverick and BimmerTy.

[KillFox91]

Do you replace the front lower forward and front lower rearward doing this ?
3 arms per side on front? Upper and 2 lowers?

[ComasF15]

Great write and good pix, thank you!

There are some tools that are not too spendy to save time on these joints. Also the threaded side usually has a hex or torx to hold it while the nut is torqued. No criticism intended, these tools will be handy to have around. The lower tools are for use with an air chisel.

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by KillFox91

Do you replace the front lower forward and front lower rearward doing this ?
3 arms per side on front? Upper and 2 lowers?

Doing what?

The service bulletin is for the front, lower, rearward arms (one on the left, one on the right) for a total of one on each side.

I personally had bushings worn out on my front, lower, forward arms (thrust arms) so I replaced those as well, for a total of two on each side (all lower).

[KillFox91]

Originally Posted by ComasF15

Great write and good pix, thank you!

There are some tools that are not too spendy to save time on these joints. Also the threaded side usually has a hex or torx to hold it while the nut is torqued. No criticism intended, these tools will be handy to have around. The lower tools are for use with an air chisel.

Got a link for that tool kit?

If I'm going to take the tie to do this myself instead of having a shop do it; I will do both lowers on each side. Seems like the best way to go rather than go back in six months or less and do the work again!

[perry8912]

Hey guys,

Is this control arm/wishbone thing for front wheels only? I did get the embarrassing squeak sound, but it was coming from the rear wheels. Any idea what may need to be replaced?

[ComasF15]

Originally Posted by KillFox91

Got a link for that tool kit?

If I'm going to take the tie to do this myself instead of having a shop do it; I will do both lowers on each side. Seems like the best way to go rather than go back in six months or less and do the work again!

I'll give you both. I didn't look for best price, just the pix. You have to use your googleFu.


https://www.amazon.com/Drake-Off-Roa...kle&sr=8-1


https://www.amazon.com/Separator-Rem...oin&sr=8-9

[MiniMotoMan]

New X5 xdrive 50i owner here. Not new BMW owner. So Im looking to get ahead of common issues here.

Is there a way to replace just the ball joints? I like the powerflex bushing option, but if the ball joint goes, then that's not a big help. Plus with the stiffer bushing from the powerflex your going to be adding some stress to the ball joints.

[smyles]

Originally Posted by MiniMotoMan

New X5 xdrive 50i owner here. Not new BMW owner. So Im looking to get ahead of common issues here.

Is there a way to replace just the ball joints?...

No. And, from my experience, balls joints in X5 almost never go bad. Like, as good as new in a 150k miles+ control arm.

[MiniMotoMan]

Originally Posted by smyles

No. And, from my experience, balls joints in X5 almost never go bad. Like, as good as new in a 150k miles+ control arm.

I haven't heard of that problem either, but maybe its because the bushings went bad before the ball joint. Typically from my experience ball joints are pretty rugged except maybe trucks that frequently haul trailers or mud tires...

When my warranty is up, Ill have powerflex in hand prior to replacement...

[smashe]

They sell just the bushings separately. No need to replace the entire control arm. Take the arm off press out the old bushing, press a new one in.

[smyles]

Risk with pressing in new bushings is they may fit too loose and end up sliding inside; BTDT. Dunno if it's due to aftermarket or counterfeit 'OEM' bushings.

[MiniMotoMan]

I have changed to polyurethane bushings in the past and I would go that route. They tend to last longer and tighten up the overall feel a bit over stock. I prefer to take the course of action that is most likely to result in only fixing it once.

Personally it seems BMW(no matter the model suffer) from similar issues, suspension wear is one of them. Unless they are aiming for service work in the future, I would think that they would have designed bushings that are more durable. Reliability doesn't hurt a brand, it creates loyalty.

But I knew BMW has its quarks when I bought it... That's why Im here, finding the quarks before its a problem.