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      01-04-2013, 01:10 AM   #89
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DallasBoosted View Post
The DIY is literally nothing more than:

1: jack up car/jackstands etc/take off tire
2: support knuckle with jack, raise it to normal driving position
3: remove fender liner (its like 4 of those little coarse thread screws) so you can get to tension arm bolt
4: unbolt tension arm, get nut off ball joint
5: unbolt wishbone, get nut off ball joint
6: get the ball joints out of the knuckle
7: reverse steps to reinstall new parts, taking care to torque the chassis-end of the arms with the arms up in the normal ride-height position. Do the headlight rod in here somewhere on the drivers side.

Lower car, go get an alignment, the end
Lol, that is it...I guess I will still post my DIY....man I had 2 frozen nuts because Somone slit the screw in half to stick a screwdriver in for leverage when you are supposed to use a torx socket?? Idiot caused me 2 hours...ended up cutting the damn thing off. Man does the car ride like shit afterward...alignment is needed lol! I was rubbing badly to after the install....switched out bump stops wich cured the rubbing but found out my shocks are screwed!! I can compress the shock and it slowly decompressed lol!! Coilovers being ordered.
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      01-04-2013, 07:42 AM   #90
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Thanks.

I just ordered mine. Will be doing them next week.

What are your impressions on them so far?
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      01-04-2013, 07:47 AM   #91
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sle39lvr View Post
Thanks.

I just ordered mine. Will be doing them next week.

What are your impressions on them so far?
This move is a no brainer... it is just the cheapest and best mod.

The steering is so much more precise, the tramlining is all but gone, get the M3 wishbones for more negative camber (if you go to non RFT tires, you need more camber to offset the softer side walls for cornering). The front and rears just solidify the car. You have more feel.

You don't even have to think about this mod, do it. (and get the M3 front wishbones too)
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      01-04-2013, 11:09 AM   #92
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sle39lvr View Post
Thanks.

I just ordered mine. Will be doing them next week.

What are your impressions on them so far?
Haven't got the alignment yet so it feels terrible until I do that lol!!
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      01-04-2013, 01:34 PM   #93
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Driving to the alignment place and car felt like I was driving on rocks, very rough...is this normal? Wasn't like this before the install? My shocks are probably bad and this made it more evident.
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      01-04-2013, 02:11 PM   #94
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robc1976 View Post
Driving to the alignment place and car felt like I was driving on rocks, very rough...is this normal? Wasn't like this before the install? My shocks are probably bad and this made it more evident.
Part of that is that the control arms aren't attached to the car by water balloons anymore, so you're going to feel a little more road grit. The roughness of the ride won't be affected by alignment in any way that I know of.
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      01-04-2013, 02:25 PM   #95
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DallasBoosted View Post
Part of that is that the control arms aren't attached to the car by water balloons anymore, so you're going to feel a little more road grit. The roughness of the ride won't be affected by alignment in any way that I know of.
Man, it is rough...I think my OEM shocks (probably blown) and H&R springs just made it really rough....trying to locate some coilovers now.
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      01-04-2013, 07:29 PM   #96
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What I am scared of is....steering being even heavier. I have non-sport stock suspension still. 18" OEM staggered set up with PSS tires. I can't even imagine the steering being heavier than how it is now, hope it won't become too much of an issue.
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      01-04-2013, 07:32 PM   #97
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sle39lvr View Post
What I am scared of is....steering being even heavier. I have non-sport stock suspension still. 18" OEM staggered set up with PSS tires. I can't even imagine the steering being heavier than how it is now, hope it won't become too much of an issue.
i am on stock suspension with H&R springs with 245/30/20. I just ordered BC BR coilovers
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      01-04-2013, 07:48 PM   #98
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robc1976 View Post
245/30/20
This probably causes the roughness more than anything. You basically have zero tire absorbing anything.
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      01-04-2013, 07:52 PM   #99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DallasBoosted View Post
This probably causes the roughness more than anything. You basically have zero tire absorbing anything.
i agree...I am sure with coilovers it will help a ton, my shocks I just took off are completely gone lol!! I may switch to 19's again.....I only got he 20's because of he heels design...wish they came in 19's.
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      01-07-2013, 11:10 AM   #100
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Alignment specs:



Car handles unbelievably, roughness is gone. Great mod!!
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      01-07-2013, 05:46 PM   #101
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I have an e93 with stock sports suspension with 42k miles. Wheels are 18" Msport wheels with Bridgestone RE960AS RFT (I wanted the 40k mile tire warranty). I have no desire to replace the shocks or struts at this time. Will the front m3 bits make a difference? I am thinking about buying the TRW ones.
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      01-07-2013, 06:21 PM   #102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unrealii View Post
I have an e93 with stock sports suspension with 42k miles. Wheels are 18" Msport wheels with Bridgestone RE960AS RFT (I wanted the 40k mile tire warranty). I have no desire to replace the shocks or struts at this time. Will the front m3 bits make a difference? I am thinking about buying the TRW ones.
I used TRW in this tutorial...everything stock except the arms.... Suggest ordering tie rod ends to.
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      01-07-2013, 07:40 PM   #103
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robc1976 View Post
I used TRW in this tutorial...everything stock except the arms.... Suggest ordering tie rod ends to.
I would be surprised if tie rods needed replacing at 42k? Were yours worn?..and at what mileage?
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      01-07-2013, 07:44 PM   #104
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unrealii View Post
I would be surprised if tie rods needed replacing at 42k? Were yours worn?..and at what mileage?
42,000 no need...mine are at 108,000..,only old part left lol!!!
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      01-07-2013, 08:04 PM   #105
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I bought the TRW M3 wishbones a couple weeks ago and competed the install shortly after. I passed on the tension struts because I upgraded them to Meyle HDs about 10k miles ago.

The install was a little tricky for me. I needed to very gently bend the aluminum bracket to get the bushing side of the wishbone in. Others have suggested filing down the bushing or the bracket, but I found this was slow going. Even after careful bending, the bushing took some mild persuasion to get the wishbones in their brackets. Very tight fit.

The wishbones cause significant toe-in. A while back CALWATERBOY gave me a nice youtube link showing me how to measure toe using jackstands and strings. I took measurements before install, then measured afterwards and then adjusted tie rods to bring measurements as close to "before" as possible. Afterwards, car felt great. Probably needs a professional measurement and adjustment soon, but for now it's very drive-able.

I can feel a big difference with the wishbones alone. Steering is more responsive and more stability during spirited driving. Steering feels heavier, which I like. No increase in ride harshness.

A great mod or upgrade, can't imagine anyone would be unhappy with it.
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      01-11-2013, 09:33 AM   #106
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Ok, I am the OP of this thread and I just got M3 control arms done.

I got the TRW ones from ECS (link) and they were same as OEM M3, but the M Logo was ground off. Close to $200 less.

Installation: I got non-sport suspension with 70K miles and the left wishbone bushing was already leaking! Installation was not that hard. Since M3 wishbone is a little thicker on the subframe side, had to bang it in. Front was toe'd-in after new parts, but trying to correct it manually didn't work. I recommend just driving as it is to the alignment shop. Got the alignment done and -0.7 chamber on both sides on non-sport suspension.

Impressions: First thing I didn't like about stock E90 steering was, center vagueness. It's mostly gone. Steering is definitely tighter and feel like its a new, tighter rack. It got a bit heavier, which in my case wasn't a good thing. I can throw it in to corners more vigorously and the front end seems to be better mannered. Right harshness, I have to say it does tighten the front end, and it DOES send more jitters/bumps through front suspension.

I think my steering was heavier than it should be and even heavier now. I might do a power steering flush and see if it helps. I WOULD like more center sharpness and more road surface feedback to the steering. I know this is only OEM non-sport suspension and do have a list of mods coming. (link)

Overall, this is a mod is a must for anyone in my opinion.
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      01-11-2013, 10:18 AM   #107
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sle39lvr View Post
Ok, I am the OP of this thread and I just got M3 control arms done.

I got the TRW ones from ECS (link) and they were same as OEM M3, but the M Logo was ground off. Close to $200 less.

Installation: I got non-sport suspension with 70K miles and the left wishbone bushing was already leaking! Installation was not that hard. Since M3 wishbone is a little thicker on the subframe side, had to bang it in. Front was toe'd-in after new parts, but trying to correct it manually didn't work. I recommend just driving as it is to the alignment shop. Got the alignment done and -0.7 chamber on both sides on non-sport suspension.

Impressions: First thing I didn't like about stock E90 steering was, center vagueness. It's mostly gone. Steering is definitely tighter and feel like its a new, tighter rack. It got a bit heavier, which in my case wasn't a good thing. I can throw it in to corners more vigorously and the front end seems to be better mannered. Right harshness, I have to say it does tighten the front end, and it DOES send more jitters/bumps through front suspension.

I think my steering was heavier than it should be and even heavier now. I might do a power steering flush and see if it helps. I WOULD like more center sharpness and more road surface feedback to the steering. I know this is only OEM non-sport suspension and do have a list of mods coming. (link)

Overall, this is a mod is a must for anyone in my opinion.
Agreed!!

Also suggest getting these HD Meyle inner/outer Tie-Rods from Harold@HPAutowerks:





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      01-11-2013, 10:24 AM   #108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robc1976 View Post
Agreed!!

Also suggest getting these HD Meyle inner/outer Tie-Rods from Harold@HPAutowerks:





Looks very promising. Could you give me some details on this? Impressions..
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      01-11-2013, 11:40 AM   #109
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sle39lvr View Post
Looks very promising. Could you give me some details on this? Impressions..
I just installed my coilovers but have not installed these quite yet, doing these on Monday then getting a alignment. These have a much better bushing and are just all around a better component and are actually less than OEM. $154.00 for the pair is cheap!!
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      01-11-2013, 11:41 AM   #110
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sle39lvr View Post
Ok, I am the OP of this thread and I just got M3 control arms done.

I got the TRW ones from ECS (link) and they were same as OEM M3, but the M Logo was ground off. Close to $200 less.

Installation: I got non-sport suspension with 70K miles and the left wishbone bushing was already leaking! Installation was not that hard. Since M3 wishbone is a little thicker on the subframe side, had to bang it in. Front was toe'd-in after new parts, but trying to correct it manually didn't work. I recommend just driving as it is to the alignment shop. Got the alignment done and -0.7 chamber on both sides on non-sport suspension.

Impressions: First thing I didn't like about stock E90 steering was, center vagueness. It's mostly gone. Steering is definitely tighter and feel like its a new, tighter rack. It got a bit heavier, which in my case wasn't a good thing. I can throw it in to corners more vigorously and the front end seems to be better mannered. Right harshness, I have to say it does tighten the front end, and it DOES send more jitters/bumps through front suspension.

I think my steering was heavier than it should be and even heavier now. I might do a power steering flush and see if it helps. I WOULD like more center sharpness and more road surface feedback to the steering. I know this is only OEM non-sport suspension and do have a list of mods coming. (link)

Overall, this is a mod is a must for anyone in my opinion.
i think when the tie rods get wore at the knuckle you loose that sharp turning response and also get some vibration!
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