Thrust Arm replacement question....

[MO525]

With regards to "loading" the car in order to final torque the bushing bolt.
The Bentley manual recommends two people in the front seat, one in the rear and 46 lbs. in the trunk.

What do you folks do?

Bruno's site mentions nothing but setting the car back on it's own weight and torquing them.....MUCH easier, of course.

By the way....a BIG thanks to BMA for rushing my order out.
It came in just as promised and their prices are simply amazing!

Thanks a bunch,
Bill

[BHBMW]

Well,

I did mine a few months ago and I did not have people sitting in the car or extra weight in the trunk. By now the 525i has seen quite a few miles and some moderate ;-) driving conditions, so far no issues.

Good luck,
BH

Oh if no one has told you and you don't need to save the ball joints a pickle fork is your best friend. I found that shortening mine to about 2 1/2 inches with a steep taper at the end worked the best. Using it in that configuration it only took me about 10 min to get the arm out and the new one back in. Now that doesn't include the 45 min of prototyping on the first side to get the tool modified to work for me. :D

[winfred]

the way i've done it for years is, i ass down the bolt with the ball joint end in about the position it will be in under load, then pull down the ball joint end into it's hole and tighten, it's not a exact science it just needs to be close to keep the bushing happy. crawling around under a car trying to ass down bolts just sucks if you have a lift ;) one way to make it easyer if you must do it under a load, put the car up on ramps or some other safe non tipable or squashable object

[MO525]

the way i've done it for years is, i ass down the bolt with the ball joint end in about the position it will be in under load, then pull down the ball joint end into it's hole and tighten, it's not a exact science it just needs to be close to keep the bushing happy. crawling around under a car trying to ass down bolts just sucks if you have a lift ;) one way to make it easyer if you must do it under a load, put the car up on ramps or some other safe non tipable or squashable object

SUCCESS!
The passenger side was out and in within an hour.
The driver's side joint was a nightmare. Took a solid three hours.

To "preload" the bushings-per Bentley-I did my best using ramps and my wife and brother in the front seat with my daughter in the backseat.
VOILA!
Perfect fit and a superb improvement in ride and steering.

BMA for $180. Best money I've spent in years.

Thanks for all the tips, folks.
Bill

[George M]

Mo525...what took you so long?...three hours for a single thrust arm? What no 46 lbs in the trunk?...how about a full tank of gas?

[MO525]

Mo525...what took you so long?...three hours for a single thrust arm? What no 46 lbs in the trunk?...how about a full tank of gas?


The "ball joint" was a booger on the driver's side, passenger side was simple, both bushings came apart EASILY.
Full tank of gas, wife and brother in front seat, daughter in back seat, full tank of gas, baby's "hardware" (stroller and assorted stuff) in trunk.
As close to perfect as I could get.

From what I gather, most folks don't even bother to load the suspension.
So I feel my good faith effort was as close to perfect as I could do.

So...what did I miss this time, George?

[George M]

I missed nothing. I have forgotten more about suspension design than you have ever considered as I designed steering and suspension as an automotive engineer for ten years. I just wanted to see if you would waste further time and bandwidth by espousing a practice based upon a statistical norm that has little application to any particular driver. Next time, put Aunt Gertrude in the back seat...a little more toward the middle....will make a word of difference to your toe adjustment.
George

[MO525]

I missed nothing. I have forgotten more about suspension design than you have ever considered as I designed steering and suspension as an automotive engineer for ten years. I just wanted to see if you would waste further time and bandwidth by espousing a practice based upon a statistical norm that has little application to any particular driver. Next time, put Aunt Gertrude in the back seat...a little more toward the middle....will make a word of difference to your toe adjustment.
George

[George M]

Truce brother. I am sorry the tone of our exchange wasn't more positive. The beauty of the board is for members to voice their opinion on best practices/lessons learned etc....which has saved most of us that participate a whole lot of time and grief.
My purpose in sharing my lessons learned was simply to help other people, not create any discontent. Some of the responses that I received...not all...is a major reason that more don't go out of their way to share their knowledge with others with less experience.

Best Regards,
George

[MO525]

Truce brother. I am sorry the tone of our exchange wasn't more positive. The beauty of the board is for members to voice their opinion on best practices/lessons learned etc....which has saved most of us that participate a whole lot of time and grief.
My purpose in sharing my lessons learned was simply to help other people, not create any discontent. Some of the responses that I received...not all...is a major reason that more don't go out of their way to share their knowledge with others with less experience.

Best Regards,
George

I do apologize about getting "snippy" with you.
Don't get me wrong, we "less experienced" Beemer owners do appreciate input from the old pros.
I am one who preaches "watch what you type in e-mails" all the time.
So often, what I mean to say may be taken differently by the receiver of the message/e-mail. :)

I do apologize.

Have a great weekend,
Bill