[Motastic]

So i have a question.

I hit a pothole blah blah blah, have to replace strut but when the tech was down there, saw that my tension strut bushings were busted on both side. he recoemended replacing those.

went to ecs and saw this http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/31120393540/ES49020/ - $81.48

but if i replace the whole control arm which comes with the bushing it's only http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/31126769797/ES49248/ - 98.06 a piece.

Do you just recommend at this point replacing both control arms, since it just comes with all brand new bushings?

[Motastic]

well i couldnt wait any loner, lol I want my damm car to start riding fine and driving straight so just ordered new control arms just incase the control arms were bent

[Thumperx]

Yeah, I agree with you Dennison. Sometimes it's a tough call "when" to frugal and when not to be frugal. This one of those times and circumstances to do it right. Good call.

Don not forget to have the car aligned by a good to great alignment shop or tech. That's your cherry on the top to a good alignment.

[onebadmofo]

I have those control arms if you need them.

[Motastic]

Exactly that was my take on it. Let's not be cheap and than later on regret it it the arm itself is bent and have to replace it and than that's $82 down the drain at that point.

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by Motastic

well i couldnt wait any loner, lol I want my damm car to start riding fine and driving straight so just ordered new control arms just incase the control arms were bent

I think you did the right move. I thought about just changing bushings but buying tension struts was not that much more. Just put on some Meyhle HD tension struts and it made a big diff in steering response and turn in.

[Motastic]

so the Meyhle ones are better?

[Motastic]

http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...-31126769798my

http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...-31126769797my

are those what are you talking about?

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by Motastic

http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...-31126769798my

http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-...-31126769797my

are those what are you talking about?

I think so here is copy paste from fcpeuro of my order.

Item Description Price Qty. Total
BMW Control Arm Assembly Front Left Front - Meyle 31126769797MY
SKU: 31126769797MY $89.95 1 $89.95
BMW Control Arm Front Right Front (E88 E89 E90 E91) - Meyle 31126769798MY
SKU: 31126769798MY $89.95 1 $89.95

I put them in night before last. Took the first old one off. It had 92k miles on it and no signs of bushing damage or ball joint boot damage. My thought was "I bought these new Meyhle HD's for nothing.". But then after putting the new ones on, took the car out and car was noticeably better in terms of steering response and turn-in. Confidence inspiring. My car also had a very slight lateral "wobble" going over bumps at low speed; this is gone now.

I got lucky and found these when fcpeuro had a 15% off coupon and they have free shipping on orders $150. Glad I did it and it was an easy mod for a noob like me.

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by Motastic

so the Meyhle ones are better?

supposedly they are...stronger bushing and ball joint. Someone recently posted pics of the oem vs meyhle HD and pointed out the differences. I eyeballed them side by side and thought the same about the bushing. The ball joint seemed stiffer but I'm guessing they all loosen up once their on the car.

[mlifxs]

only reason I can think of for not picking them would be if you wanted to upgrade to M3 along with the M3 wishbones for bigger $$. I decided not to go that far.

[Motastic]

how hard was it to put these bad boys in?

also i am not ever planning to do the m3 suspension portions, never will track the car, just ordered coilovers too...just want a little bit better handling and less bodyroll which i am thinking the coilovers and this will fix

Originally Posted by mlifxs

I think so here is copy paste from fcpeuro of my order.

Item Description Price Qty. Total
BMW Control Arm Assembly Front Left Front - Meyle 31126769797MY
SKU: 31126769797MY $89.95 1 $89.95
BMW Control Arm Front Right Front (E88 E89 E90 E91) - Meyle 31126769798MY
SKU: 31126769798MY $89.95 1 $89.95

I put them in night before last. Took the first old one off. It had 92k miles on it and no signs of bushing damage or ball joint boot damage. My thought was "I bought these new Meyhle HD's for nothing.". But then after putting the new ones on, took the car out and car was noticeably better in terms of steering response and turn-in. Confidence inspiring. My car also had a very slight lateral "wobble" going over bumps at low speed; this is gone now.

I got lucky and found these when fcpeuro had a 15% off coupon and they have free shipping on orders $150. Glad I did it and it was an easy mod for a noob like me.

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by Motastic

how hard was it to put these bad boys in?

also i am not ever planning to do the m3 suspension portions, never will track the car, just ordered coilovers too...just want a little bit better handling and less bodyroll which i am thinking the coilovers and this will fix

not hard really. I'm a green noob, put a car on jack stands for the first time, a week ago....and I have the basics for tools, no impact wrench or other good stuff

CALWATERBOY has a good DIY which includes torque settings for the bolts. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ht=calwaterboy

For me, the first side I did took an hour and a half, the second side took 25 minutes once I understood what to do.

There are basically two nuts, one for the bushing, one for the ball joint. The threaded bolt of the ball joint has a female torx that needs to be held stationary when you undo the bolt. You'll also need to find a way to keep the steering knuckle from moving as you loosen and tighten the ball joint nut (I braced it with a tool)

You have put a load on the car when you tighten the bolts, CALWATERBOY has a pic of how you might do that. I found this step to be a little tricky in terms of making sure the the setup did not slip as I tightened the bolts (both have to be torqued pretty high).

[Motastic]

sounds good! thanks for the input.

They should be here some time next week along with my coilovers and than i will attempt to put all it of it on at the same time

-Mo

[mlifxs]

cool, good luck