2017 F85 - Suspension (Thrust Rod / Lower Wishbone / Control Arm) Issue

[tejasgadhia]

Hi everyone, I recently went to the dealership because I had to get an oil change and let the advisor know that I had been recently hearing a little screeching type of sound from the front wheels when turning the wheels at slow speeds and when i first start the car up after a while. For $179 they took a look and shared a $4700 estimate. I have attached both the estimate as well as the service advisor's video showing the issue:

Both files can be found here as well:
https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/e...32d5664539ad8f

I was just hoping for a second opinion from someone here who would be more knowledgable than I am. Basically is the repair needed and is the price reasonable? I was already planning on selling the car before the end of the year anyways, but now this came up. Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[zero2sixtyZ]

Brutal quote mainly in terms of labor costs. Do you have a euro indy shop that you trust in the area?

I'd suggest ordering the parts (you have the part numbers in the quote) from FCPEuro, and bringing them to a euro/BMW indy shop. Each part looks like it has a 20% markup + what I assume quoted 6+ hours for control arm install?

[jab23]

From what I've gathered these are pretty common failure points. Feel like endless people here have changed the lower control arms. I have't done it yet, but I think there are way less expensive replacement parts. Either OEM or Lemforder. A quick search and you can get OEM Thrust arms and lower control arms for $1000 less than the quote.

[MNhv]

Buy the arms and hardware from FCP and take it to trusted Euro Indy. Mine did it for $420 in labor i.e. 3 hrs @ $140.

[tfunk88]

Do you ever do work on your own car? If so, it is a REALLY easy job to change out the lower control arms and front thrust arms. I just did mine a week and a half ago. Only special tool you’ll need is a 27mm wrench, and a 27mm 12pt socket is helpful for removal.

I put it up on jackstands and had at it. Remove the control arm first and then the thrust arm can be removed by rotating it towards the rear of the vehicle to clear the axle boot. When installing don’t tighten the inner bolts/nuts fully, just snug them up. The outer ball joint you can go ahead and tighten with the wrench and I think 6mm allen as a counter hold. Then with the weight of the car on the wheel on a rhino ramp (or you can jack up the front suspension) you can torque the inner bolts/nuts. They need to be torqued at ride height.

[jab23]

Originally Posted by tfunk88

Do you ever do work on your own car? If so, it is a REALLY easy job to change out the lower control arms and front thrust arms. I just did mine a week and a half ago. Only special tool you’ll need is a 27mm wrench, and a 27mm 12pt socket is helpful for removal.

I put it up on jackstands and had at it. Remove the control arm first and then the thrust arm can be removed by rotating it to towards the rear of the vehicle to clear the axle boot. When installing don’t tighten the inner bolts/nuts fully, just snug them up. Then with the weight of the car on the wheel on a rhino ramp (or you can jack up the front suspension) you can torque the inner bolts/nuts. They need to be torqued at ride height.

This is great info. May try to tackle these myself should they fail at some point.

[tfunk88]

Originally Posted by jab23

This is great info. May try to tackle these myself should they fail at some point.

Yeah, it’s relatively easy…not complex at all, only difficulty is on jackstands there’s not a lot of room to get good leverage on the bushing nuts/bolts to loosen and tighten. And make sure to have a good size hammer to knock the ball joints out of the hub. Lol

[MNhv]

I'd say the toughest part is separating the damn arm from the hub. I tried hammer, pullers and nothing worked. Which is why I gave it to my indy lol.

[tfunk88]

Ha yeah, you definitely need a hammer with some a$$ behind it. Using a regular hammer was a no-go, I used a 3lb Fiskar isocore hammer…that got it right out after a couple whacks lol

[DebrahHill]

Originally Posted by tfunk88

Do you ever do work on your own car? If so, it is a REALLY easy job to change out the lower control arms and front thrust arms. I just did mine a week and a half ago. Only special tool you’ll need is a 27mm wrench, and a 27mm 12pt socket is helpful for removal.

I put it up on jackstands and had at it. Remove the control arm first and then the thrust arm can be removed by rotating it towards the rear of the vehicle to clear the axle boot. When installing don’t tighten the inner bolts/nuts fully, just snug them up. The outer ball joint you can go ahead and tighten with the wrench and I think 6mm allen as a counter hold. Then with the weight of the car on the wheel on a rhino ramp (or you can jack up the front suspension) you can torque the inner bolts/nuts. They need to be torqued at ride height.

Thanks for the tip. I will keep it in mind.