» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM 06-01-2024 03:04 PM 7 Replies, 427,611 Views | | | | | | 06-28-2006, 05:05 PM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 2,525 | Front control arms/ball joints So it looks like my suspension upgrades may start sooner than I thought. I'm having a safety inspection done on my car today before taking it out to Sebring and my mechanic found that the stock front ball joints are failing. So if I'm going to be replacing the ball joints, I figure I should just upgrade the entire front control arms to the meyle control arms with the heavy duty full metal ball joints included. If I get the bavauto kit for 99$ is there anything else that I should be doing at the same time? I'm thinking there are bushings in there that should be replaced as well. I see on DustinT's sig that he is using the M3 lcab's. Is this the standard recommendation in the group? Anybody know where to get the meyle(is this the same as mehle??) heavy duty control arms, ball joints and bushings cheaper than bavauto? | | | 06-28-2006, 05:59 PM | #2 | aka Stabby Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mead, CO Posts: 5,336 | the m3 bushings are solid (unlike the stock ti ones). you can get offset (increase caster a bit by pushing the wheels slightly forward) or centered (like stock). 95 m3 bushings are offset, 96-99 m3 bushings are centered. __________________ 1996 318ti, California package, 267k miles current mods: bilstein sports, bavauto springs, e30 m3 LCABs, solid metal ball joints, bavauto RSMs w/reinforcements, e30 3.73 LSD & halfshafts, supersprint cat-back exhaust, turner rear sway bar reinforcements, IE poly subframe & RTABs + camber/toe kits, powdercoated e36 32x front calipers, sport mirrors, H&R 28mmF/19mmR sway bars, x-brace, auto solutions SSK w/poly bushing upgrade, BMW CD43 head unit, DICE HD Radio w/iPod integration and "stealth" HD antenna, staggered style 68s, orange electronic TPMS, leather arm rest, JT Designs metal undertray acquired and awaiting install: heated seat kit, cali top switch relo, lumbar support kit, park distance control kit, heated washer nozzle kit, m-coupe rear subframe, trailing arms, differential, and halfshafts, m-coupe front/rear brakes with master cylinder, under hood light kit, mud flaps, rear sun blind, auto-dimming rear view mirror, tilt steering wheel retrofit, apexcone 5000K HIDs with 55W ballasts 2002 X5 4.4 Sport Package, 53.5k miles Current Mods: e46 m3 steering wheel | | | 06-28-2006, 07:13 PM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 2,525 | Awesome.. I see that bimmerworld has the control arms for the same price as bavauto, and the offset bushings for 69$ for a pair. Looking through the other threads I see my mechanic is inline with what other people have paid to have these replaced. Ahh the joys of having older cars... Has anybody on here done this themselves? http://www.dol.net/~stimpee/carmrepl.htm That site makes it look pretty easy. One of the my coworkers has the pickle fork to remove the old ball joints. Might be an easy way to save 200 and learn something new. | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |