[BozoBlaster]

I have been experiencing a slight clunk when braking at slow speeds, and at high speeds, 55+mph, there is a rotational vibration while accelerating and tends to smooth out when coasting but comes right back under acceleration again. Also steering tends to pull one side or another when there are wheel ruts, or dips in the road, tends to be more pronounced at higher speeds. Because of the clunking, I took off my front wheels to make sure that the brake calipers weren't getting loose ( had this issue with my Nissan work van and a bottom caliper bolt had actually fell off causing the caliper to flap up and down very fast while braking, luckily this happened in a neighborhood and for a brief time while I arrived at my job) so I wanted to confirm that that wasn't the issue which it wasn't. While I was down there I found my control arms were kind of wobbly when putting torque on them, I figure they shouldn't be able to move like that. I think the main problem side is the passenger, when braking the lug nuts loose on the passenger wheel it seems like the whole wheel assembly rotated backwards instead of pivoting like a front wheel should, I did not get a video of this but I got a video of after when I reinstalled. I just wanted to confirm that if the bushings on my control arms are failing that this would be the symptoms so when I replace them that this issue won't persist. Here are some videos I took pivoting my control arms on the passenger side, I also used my cheater bar to try and rotate the wheel when it was reinstalled.
Wheel rotating;
This video does not do justice of when I was taking the wheel off, it had more play than in this video but the nuts were definitely over torqued and I had to put everything I had to break them loose on the passenger side.
[u2b ] https://youtu.be/gWYLEc19n-8?si=iDbrYxmnnnF57Dw0
Upper control arm pivoting;
https://youtube.com/shorts/nBf0CIhIV...yPwMMOYI7weh7k
Lower control arm pivoting;
https://youtube.com/shorts/guTk-tr0w...OZcJHCjHLS7yE5

[BozoBlaster]

Went ahead and ordered the upgraded m3 control arms since theyre literally only 20-25 dollars more than the recommended OEM ones, so I'm crossing my fingers. I guess if that doesn't solve the issue then at least I will have tighter steering with more reliable bushings.

[335i54n]

seems like you got a lot going on, you can check out a lot in your driveway but sometimes need a lift really

worn out suspension-brake judder and tires/bent rims/driveline/steering issues etc?

[BozoBlaster]

A lift isn't really an option in the near future, especially considering I don't have access to a garage yet, and I did just blow a good bit of money on acquiring parts / routine maintenance for converting to a single turbo. Got new tires like maybe 1500-2000 miles ago so I feel like I can rule that out, but I have been experiencing a shuddering for some time now, about 2-2 1/2 years since I've owned the car. I made a post about it here so I don't have to go into detail again; https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1862454 but with that issue I've got my fingers crossed its just a bent rim and nothing transmission/driveline related. The control arms I ordered are of course on back order so once I get those and put them in I will definitely get back about that.

[335i54n]

you can check for bent rims in driveway-dont need that much speed to check and play in the suspension. definitely upgrade the rear end mounts with more power imo.

yeah seem trans related but would double check data log for performance issues, if the fluid not burnt, its worth it to try the solenoid/seal kit. otherwise used e90 trans are not too much

[BozoBlaster]

For sure, I forgot to mention also, front strut mounts are both shot, passenger side seal is almost completely torn and sits noticeably lower than the driver so I have got plans go get BC racing BR coilovers after I finish with my current project. That might've been that way since I've owned the car as well so could that maybe be a contributing factor for the shuddering? I can post photos of the mounts tomorrow. How might I check for a bent rim? Would that have been something that could've been noticed by the tire shop when they balanced the wheels while they mounted the new tires? My not so near future plans were to try and source a DCT transmission, at the time for some reason that is what I thought I had already in the car but after much research found out that all automatics have the manual mode so I was a bit bummed, I don't have many resources available so I usually try to upgrade instead of just replace if I'm delving that deep into something. Rather just do it once than twice. As I mentioned the other day on my other thread, the shuddering hasn't gotten worse after the amount of abuse I've given it other than the whole 3rd to 4th issue but never really happens once I've truly got the entire car up to temperature instead of just engine oil. In the mean time though I guess I should look into solenoids, does that require dropping the transmission or can that be done in place? I'm learning as I go but I'm very mechanically inclined so it comes easy and I can trust myself to do it right as I learn. Helps a lot to have friends in the community like you as guides. I do appreciate it and I hope this can help others that stumble across this thread as well. Thanks for your time and patience friend!

[whyzee125]

That sounds like classic control arm bushing symptoms to me. The M3 arms should make a big improvement.

Not surprised about the strut mounts though, if your bushings on the control arms are shot there could be other pieces of the suspension that's pretty worn as well. Those two are common, most of the rest holds up fairly well.

[BozoBlaster]

Dang, I kinda wish I hadn't bit the bullet yet on this single conversion and got the coilovers first.. In the mean time I've definitely not been trying to take corners hard and just been driving like a grandma on their way to church on a Sunday. I guess this is what it takes when you try to have nice things on a budget. I still have a decent list of parts to get before executing the conversion, don't anticipate the project being done til around the beginning of spring time as anyway, I should probably put those off and prioritize the suspension since that is more of a need than a want. The main reason for the conversion is that I have the dreaded wastegate rattle that is absolutely horrendous, not making boost til around 3-3.5k rpms with the twins is terrible so looking into getting upgraded twins there isn't many good options and have heard reliability is lacking more so than the options for the singles being that you can use just about any that will fit under the hood with the proper manifold and such so I decided that would be a better and more reliable increase in power. I've been coping but to try to get the gates to not rattle mainly in deceleration I've been braking with my left foot with my right still slightly on the gas to keep a small amount of load on the turbos. Kinda crumby but its been almost working, can't really do much on the acceleration side.

[335i54n]

all the info/diy videos are online, kinda messy but pretty straightforward to refresh the trans

yeah, would definitely reconsider ST. you can adjust the wg a lot and buy time. also imo fbo e50 with stock RB is where its at for budget but if i could smog/legally go ST i probably would do the same

[BozoBlaster]

I'm already balls deep, the turbo just arrived yesterday, just a few t's to cross and i's to dot with my parts list and its on to implementation.. I've tried adjusting the wastegate actuator arms and its definitely given me some time but at this point I'm just twisting the bladders inside the vacuum actuator. Also, e85 on pump isn't very available in my area unfortunately. This is also another ( only wanting to do it once) situation anyways I figured if I wanted to go single in the future anyways I might as well only do it once than twice. I do have an idea for passing emissions but I'm not sure if anyone has done it or if its even possible so I need to get with a preformance tuner shop and ask them about it since I'm going to need a tune after all this regardless. My idea though is to extend the o2 sensors down to my secondary cats on the exhaust portion under the car before and after each side like they were on the stock downpipes. Sounds like it would work in theory but I might not be considering a lot of important details..