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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > All-Wheel-Drive (Xi / xDrive) Talk > Control Arm Bushing Upgrade for XI?



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      06-06-2018, 03:57 AM   #221
2011335xi6MTMsportE90
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Update: ended up going to a shop and had both bushings pressed out and installed for only $150. I spent 3 days fighting with this and many trips to home depot and oreilly's for tools. I'm all for doing things myself but in this case wish I had just gone to the shop first. That experience has made me rethink diying the rear subframe bushings... back to the powerflex bushings, they are amazing!! I think this will be my favorite mod. Steering response is dramatically better. Feels much tighter, bumps actually feel better. They upset the car less and they feel more absorbed. Just a more solid feeling. When making quick maneuvers such as lane changes or avoidong potholes the steering response is linear now without the rubberband delayed feeling of chassis movement. No nvh, no downsides. I'm not sure what the duromoeter of these bushings is, but they're purple if that means anything in the powerflex world. I'm guessing it's a milder flex like 65 or 80. Anyway, these are a nice option for those who don't want to mess with pressing in the strongflex bushings since they are 2 piece albeit a bit more pricey. Also, you can adjust the metal cylinder in the middle to add I think 0.5 degrees of positive caster which I asked the shop to do. I'll have to double check to see if they actually did it, but either way this is a great mod.
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      06-07-2018, 08:59 PM   #222
kenmar
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I spent less than that to install StrongFlex yellows and it only took my shop 45min to do the job. Well worth paying for it to save the anguish that others have encountered. I also didn't want to buy a bigass press just to install them. Along with poly rear upper strut mounts, they make a significant improvement to the floaty XI handling. These two minor mods actually made a more noticeable improvement than when I installed Koni yellows (on OEM springs).

Unfortunately, I do get occasional creaks if I park with the wheels turned which does go away after a few turns. If it gets worse over the next couple of years, I'm going to get new bushings and redo the job but with copper antiseize instead of the supplied lube. I discovered on my VW that copper antiseize works wonders compared to the traditional goo that poly bushing kits come with. It eliminated a persistent cold-weather squeak from my Eibach antiroll bars.

Along with my M3 rear end parts, the XI now handles amazing When I first got my E90, I kept my old E36 around because I actually enjoyed driving it more. With all my suspension changes, I can finally say I now prefer the E90

Last edited by kenmar; 06-07-2018 at 09:09 PM..
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      06-08-2018, 02:38 PM   #223
2011335xi6MTMsportE90
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Kenmar, good to know Thanks! I did the dinan upper bushing kit because of supposedly more travel and less potential to bottom out. Not sure how much effect it had since I put in h&r coils at the same time, but the car handles amazing now and rides better than stock imo, so I guess they're working. I may still change out these powerflex tension strut bushings eventually to a harder duromoeter strongflex if indeed these powerflex bushings are a lower durometer. Considering I've experienced 0 downside from them, I figure a harder durometer bushing won't hurt. I'll plan to have the shop press that in though, ha.
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      06-27-2018, 10:51 AM   #224
hughrd1_e90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajsalida View Post
OK I installed the yellow Strongflex tension strut bushings today. Wow do they ever wake up the steering and tighten up feel in front.

Some notes on install:

I tried several things as receivers on the hydraulic press that did not work. I went to my buddy with the welding/machine shop and he had some scrap 3" steel box tubing. So square OD 3", about 5" of it. ID was perfect, just a hiar bigger than 71mm, for good support at 4 points around the TS hole, and the bushing fit right inside when pressed out. I used the Home Depot 2" conduit thing that PhaseP mentioned as a press tool, but just with a 2" pipe cap/plug. Those suckers were in tight though, used every bit of the 12 ton press getting them out. Took multiple huge pops at full force to get them out. No way you could do this with a hand wrench type tool.

Pressing in the Strongflex bushings I used a metal jack pad/cup off of a floor jack, upside down. Worked perfectly. Word of caution: when you lube up the TS outer lip, inner surface, and the bushing to press it in, be super careful to not stand in front of the press, or have anything you care about within about 50 feet of it. I knew this ahead of time so I set it up on my deck with all the cars and bikes far away, then stood well to the side while pressing. Good thing too, one of them let go while pressing and the bushing + jack cup shot out about 30 ft. That would have hurt standing in front, and would have dented the shit out of my car or bikes had I done it in the garage where the press usually sits. All good though, put the car back together and the test drive was bliss.

Now I just hope that liquid squirting everywhere was from the bushing and not something else. I did not have time to replace the control arms, mainly because the ball joint tool I have sucks and I barely managed to get the TS off its ball joint using it. I need a better tool for the ball joint on the CA.

Anyway highly worthwhile mod. Steering on my XI is now approaching the feel of my mildy modded E36 M3 (koni/eibach pro-kit springs and bars)which is saying something. No squeaking or harshness at all. I did make sure to carefully lube both the inner side of the TS hole + lip, outer surface of the bushings, and the inner bushing hole sleeve surface with the supplied graphite lube.

Other mods on the XI are Koni Yellows + Eibach pro kit front/ZSP rear springs, UUC front bar, M3 rear bar and bushings, Powerflex yellow upper rear shock mounts, and whiteline rear subframe bushing inserts. I only drove it about 20 miles but already thinking the rear now feels a bit more compliant than the front. At some point will do real subframe bushings and some other tweaks. For now very pleased with this mod.
What end links are you using on the UUC front sway bar?
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      07-03-2018, 07:19 PM   #225
.RJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2011335xi6MTMsportE90 View Post
What happened to the turner monoball upgrade?
Anyone know?
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      07-06-2018, 12:51 AM   #226
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https://syncrodesignworks.com/produc...ro-thrust-arms

Totally didn't read through 11 pages. Dunno if this has been posted
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      07-10-2018, 03:52 PM   #227
hughrd1_e90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikes4 View Post
https://syncrodesignworks.com/produc...ro-thrust-arms

Totally didn't read through 11 pages. Dunno if this has been posted
Getting these installed tomorrow
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      08-28-2018, 12:32 PM   #228
.RJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hughrd1_e90 View Post
Getting these installed tomorrow
Review?
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      08-28-2018, 01:14 PM   #229
hughrd1_e90
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Quote:
Originally Posted by .RJ View Post
Review?
I flew down to the guy my self with my old arms and had him press the bearings in. Car handles great, steering is firm and stays centered when braking, with my old shot bushings you would almost have to counter steer when braking. 100% reccomened this mod for anyone that has a xi
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      09-29-2018, 06:19 PM   #230
.RJ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hughrd1_e90 View Post
I flew down to the guy my self with my old arms and had him press the bearings in. Car handles great, steering is firm and stays centered when braking, with my old shot bushings you would almost have to counter steer when braking. 100% reccomened this mod for anyone that has a xi
I installed the Syncro thrust arms along with KW V1's - really happy with the combo. Good product.

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      10-09-2021, 08:52 AM   #231
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsuo111 View Post

Bty, here's a video from FCP Euro actually showing the deflection of stock bushings compared with less compliant analogs:


That's a cool video.

I'd like to see a synchro or Turner monoball vs. powerflex video. Also would be cool if someone did rear suspension stock/worn bushings and ball joints vs. monoball trailing arm bushings, M3 upper arms, and adjustable toe arms with bearing ends.

I have the syncro thrust arms and now looking to refresh the rear, chasing a loose feel. The thrust arms did come with NVH, more than looking for on a daily - even if they tightened things up a LOT. Banging over holes and joints not ideal though so maybe powerflex would have been a better fit since I have a separate track car and a racecar.
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