Upper Control Arm Bushing

[Luftpost]

I am getting the well known shimmy while on the hwy and at breaking, so I am leaning towards the Upper Control Arms.

About 1 1/2 years ago my local BMW repair shop replaced the "Center Link", (actually replaced it twice over a 2 year period under warranty). When I look at the center link from under the car, it looks as old or older then the rest of the front end components so I am a bit skeptical of what they actually replaced. Anyway, my control arms have the Green bushings....are those the 750 bushings? I have read that people have been using the M5 bushings. What is the source for those?? Just curious which bushings I have so I can fix it right this time.

http://webpages.charter.net/saschaott/Suspension/Bushing.jpg

Looks like it's time to throw some money at the old girl:(

L

[genphreak]

Yours are 750 bushings, or perhaps 750 copies.

Check to see if the arms are lemforder, is so, they probably have life in them yet and go looking elsewhere.

M5 bushings, BMW. Expect to pay. Can be bought onine- see the thread about touring roof racks for a link.

Poly bushings are a no brainer, AUD $120/set in Australia. M5 ones are more refined- much less noise gets transmitted when driving..

[BigKriss]

I thought the green bushings were the stock ones and the yellow ones are the 750 type. the m5 bushs can be bought from places like bmaparts.com yeah the m5 bushes are good ones.

[Interceptor]

I thought the green bushings were the stock ones and the yellow ones are the 750 type. the m5 bushs can be bought from places like bmaparts.com yeah the m5 bushes are good ones.

White ones are stock, green ones are 750i, black ones are M5. M5 are solid rubber, just did mine a few days ago. It sure did away with the shimmy. But, in my case, the main problem were the bearings on the outer end of the arms. They were quite loose and the rubber boots were shot.

A pair of upper control arms (Lemfoerder) and OEM M5 bushings = $250.

[Luftpost]

But, in my case, the main problem were the bearings on the outer end of the arms. They were quite loose and the rubber boots were shot.

I have two shops in St. Louis that specialize in BMW. The first said they would just swap out the bushings to the 750 version. The second shop said the ball joints can go bad, so you might as well replace the whole arm.

Interceptor.....do you mean your ball joints went bad??

L.

[BigKriss]

yes replace the whole arm that has m5 bushes in them, bma sell that item

[Interceptor]

Interceptor.....do you mean your ball joints went bad??

Yes, that was the problem. The bushings looked pretty good, actually. No apparent wear on them, yet, there was a shimmy @ 55 mph (90 km/h). When I removed the control arms, the ball joints were quite loose and easy to move around with only one finger!

[Luftpost]

Thanks for the great info guys!