[colt9987]

My car was just at dealership getting hpfp replaced and they told me i needed both my front thrust rod bushings replaced because they were cracked and leaking....can anyone shed some light on what this means and also where i could buy some online for cheaper than dealer and have my buddies shop install them

[smellfish]

Sounds like they were talking about your tension struts. Stock ones are filled with oil. I literally just replaced mine today with M3 parts. The M3 ones use solid bushings, which you can buy separate and press in to save money alternatively. Ordered both struts from Tischer for $280 shipped. I did them myself in about 2.5 hours.

[colt9987]

im not sure...i got them to write it down specifically and they wrote front thrust rod bushings....maybe they are the same can anyone verify? they did say something about hydraulic fluid leaking or something

[colt9987]

?

[colt9987]

bump

[left123]

I wanted to follow-up on this thread and see if anyone out there has a different answer. I got the exact note today from my dealer and it caused me to fail Virginia Safety Inspection. They want $646 to replace them.

[asus389]

Thrust arm/tension strut bushings are what I suspect they are talking about. They are large rubber bushings filled with hydraulic fluid that are in one of the two sets of control arms in the front suspension. Over time they wear out and crack. the fluid then leaks out and they don't suppress vibration correctly.

Symptoms of failed thrust arm bushings include a vibration or shimmy in the steering wheel around 55mph (40-60mph), twitching when coming to a stop, and also a shimmy in the steering wheel when lightly braking at high speeds. If they are really bad you can actually see the front wheel move back and forth in the wheel well if you look at the car from the side when someone is mashing on the brakes. If they are leaking you can sometimes see the fluid leaking out or the stains from the fluid on the control arms themselves (it looks black).

See part 10 here (part 9 is the tension strut aka "thrust arm"):

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...15&hg=31&fg=05

Sometimes they just replace the whole control arm instead of messing with pushing a new bushing in. Its less labor and the bonus is you get a new ball joint. IMHO the whole arm is the way to go.

[ChuckD05]

dealer replaced mine under warranty at 30k miles