Control Arm Replacement

[BMVV4life]

I've been looking for some DIY stuff on it but I can't seem to find some detailed steps. Does anyone have a link to something like this? The one off e34.net is a little underdescribed as this will be my first time replacing these. Also, How hard are these to replace? Thanks

[632 Regal]

take a peek in the archives, if you have more questions by all means post them.

[Karl]

Do you have a repair manual? That's the first step. Bentley is the standard for DIY manuals.
Control arms are a common job, so it's covered in the manual. I did mine, and the job is nothing special. You need jack stands (of course), ball joint separator (aka pickle fork), BFH to drive it, and torque wrench to get things tightened right. I got a set of lower arms with 750i bushings installed--a common upgrade so they're readily available from places like BMP. That really cured the front shimmy.

There's not much of a description, because there's not much to describe. Once the wheel is off, you see the ball joint at the bottom of the strut and the bolt through the bushing at the body end of the control arm. Those two bolts are all that hold the control arm in.
Loosen the nut on the ball joint and rap it with your hammer to try to knock it out of the strut. When that doesn't work, drive the pickle fork between the ball joint and the strut to wedge the ball joint out of the strut. The only hard part of the job is convincing yourself to really hit it with the big hammer. It takes serious force to get the tapered shank of the ball joint out of its hole.
Then pull the bolt that holds the bushing to the body, and the control arm is free.
When you reassemble, have the car resting on the wheels before tightening the bolt through the bushing, so it is clamped in its normal running position.

[632 Regal]

what he said +1

[ryan roopnarine]

surely you can't be serious. the archives of this forum are full of pictures r+r'ing thrust arms in varying ways. the internet has at least 4 or 5 different sites of people doing e32 and e34 control arms with step by step instructions, as well as pictures.

[632 Regal]

please tell me of what will clean some of this crap up Ryan...? hello thats part of my design. Or is it better to link something?


surely you can't be serious. the archives of this forum are full of pictures r+r'ing thrust arms in varying ways. the internet has at least 4 or 5 different sites of people doing e32 and e34 control arms with step by step instructions, as well as pictures.