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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > All-Wheel-Drive (Xi / xDrive) Talk > Sway Bar End Links recommendation?



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      01-05-2013, 02:48 AM   #1
avenger2540
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Sway Bar End Links recommendation?

Hi,After I install my kw v1 my endlinks are gone,so I will like to know if u guys recommend the oem,or any other brand that any body may already used,If there is some adjustable endlinks for ur awd,some people said that is better to put adjustables when we drop the car,because the position of the sway bar,so please guys let me know before I do my purchase,and what brand out there is better? thanks...
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Last edited by avenger2540; 01-05-2013 at 11:51 AM..
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      01-05-2013, 11:53 AM   #2
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Bump,I really need this soon,I will like to know if they do adjustable for ur awd more then anything?
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      01-06-2013, 12:16 PM   #3
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I think I'm going with m3 sway bar and endlinks on my xi
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      01-06-2013, 01:20 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boosted-M View Post
I think I'm going with m3 sway bar and endlinks on my xi
It wont work for the front xi,http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251639
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      06-27-2016, 01:32 PM   #5
unktone
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bump

Also looking into adjustable end links for my lowered XI. Snapped one on Friday...I think from the steep driveway at work, always turning in right, probably compressing considerably on the passenger side - most weight on that wheel, and snapped it off.
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      06-28-2016, 10:03 AM   #6
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I have Ground Control end links in the front and Hotchkis for the rear.

http://www.ground-control-store.com/.../II=856/CA=231
http://www.hotchkis.net/product/2007...rt-suspension/

Ground Control when you place your order you need to tell them in the comments that it's an xi, and the stock end link length is 13.5".
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      06-28-2016, 10:45 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unktone View Post
Also looking into adjustable end links for my lowered XI. Snapped one on Friday...I think from the steep driveway at work, always turning in right, probably compressing considerably on the passenger side - most weight on that wheel, and snapped it off.
You'll want to replace both. UUC sells some good end links too.
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      06-28-2016, 02:05 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AtlasM View Post
I have Ground Control end links in the front and Hotchkis for the rear.

http://www.ground-control-store.com/.../II=856/CA=231
http://www.hotchkis.net/product/2007...rt-suspension/

Ground Control when you place your order you need to tell them in the comments that it's an xi, and the stock end link length is 13.5".
Both of these will make noise within a short period of time due to exposed rod ends. UUC are exposed too.

You want booted rod ends. The bearings will be protected from road debris and prevent accelerated wear, that will eventually cause play and clunking noises.

You can boot them yourself, look into what rod end bearing manufactures like FK bearing offer.

Or Buy end links with boots....HPA and whiteline comes to mind

Last edited by matteblue3er; 06-28-2016 at 02:12 PM..
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      06-28-2016, 03:06 PM   #9
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Interesting about the boots, I didn't see them mentioned anywhere on HPA's site.

All I found on Whiteline's site was front end links for the rwd cars not awd, and their max length is 315 mm which is shorter than the stock awd 13.5" link.

I went with the Ground Control ones in the front because they at least had fancier rod ends, and Hotchkis in the rear because they at least have ball joints on one end of them. To be honest I hadn't really considered the need for boots.

I took your advice and checked out FK Bearing and they have several boot kits that contain 6 boots in the package. Ground Control's site mentions the end links use a 10mm rod end and FK part # RERS-2 matches that size. Searching online it looks like these also go by the brand Seals-It, which Summit Racing sells here.



Since I'm actually having these end links put on my car on Thursday, I had them sent to my mechanic with expedited shipping so they should arrive to go on with all my other suspension stuff.

Good looking out!
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      06-29-2016, 08:18 AM   #10
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HPA uses OEM style rod ends where the back side is enclosed and the bolt side is booted.

http://hpashop.com/Replacement-Joint...ment-Joint.htm

The black part is a seal/boot.

But what you're doing is fine as long as the boots fit snug against bolts/reducers.

Also, as long as the end link is the correct length, or can be adjusted to the correct length, it will work for either RWD or AWD applications.
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      06-29-2016, 09:52 AM   #11
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Before I bought the Ground Controls, I was also looking at the HPA front links and for some reason I spaced out on the fact that they have those OEM style ends. At least with the boots I feel like that'll provide a decent amount of protection. Ground Control talks about their "proprietary rod ends," and maybe I'm imagining things but maybe those would deflect less than the OEM style ends and engage the sway bar more? That's just a guess by me--totally hypothetical.

I still don't think the Whiteline front links will work because when you lower our cars you need the front end links to be longer than stock. The stock xi front end links are 13.5" but the max length of the Whiteline links is 315 mm which is 12.4".

For the rear, Hotchkis was pretty much my only option. The 3 I found for the rear were Hotchkis, AKG and Ground Control, but only Hotchkis said theirs work with OEM style sway bars, the AKG and Ground Control specify they only work with aftermarket bars. I'm using an E93 M3 rear bar. Also AKG when I called them said not to use their links on a street car if you want it to be quiet because their links are noisy. The Hotchkis links have a sealed ball joint at one end and the others don't.





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      06-30-2016, 10:14 AM   #12
e90Toronto
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How crucial is it to replace OEM endlinks? I just got coilovers about 2 weeks ago and lowered my car slightly. I am wondering because shipping to me from California plus border fees can add up quickly.

I guess my question is should I look into replacing my endlinks as soon as I lowered the car or do I have some time before they start to go?

I have 57 000 miles on the car currently and drive daily on bumpy Toronto roads.
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      06-30-2016, 02:52 PM   #13
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The factory end links won't exactly disintegrate as soon as you lower the car, but by lowering the car you're changing the alignment of the sway bar with the rest of the suspension, and the lengths of the stock links are no longer ideal. This puts more stress on the links and makes your sway bars not as effective. I got the adjustable links as a proactive step to be able to line up the sway bars properly.

Also I called both Ground Control and Hotchkis and asked about lubrication for the heim joints with the boots I'm putting on them at matteblue3er's suggestion. Both of them use teflon-lined bearings so they don't need much in the way of lubrication, but Ground Control suggested synthetic high-temperature marine grease would be a good choice to put inside the boots.

My car is at my mechanic's right now having all this stuff put on.
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      06-30-2016, 03:23 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e90Toronto View Post
How crucial is it to replace OEM endlinks? I just got coilovers about 2 weeks ago and lowered my car slightly. I am wondering because shipping to me from California plus border fees can add up quickly.

I guess my question is should I look into replacing my endlinks as soon as I lowered the car or do I have some time before they start to go?

I have 57 000 miles on the car currently and drive daily on bumpy Toronto roads.
I've been using stock end links since I installed H&R coilovers. They wear faster due to more stress. And as mentioned there is a performance down side. I've done them on other setups I just got lazy with this one.

I've been meaning to replace them with adjustable links but I want to upgrade my front sway since I have an E93 M3 bar in the back. I've just been procrastinating.....for about 50k miles
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