front control arm bushings

[lilgrem]

one of my front control arm bushings let go on me recently and i'm wondering if there are aftermarket high performance poly bushings available and if it would be a good idea to use them or to stick with stock oem or if there are any other options from bmw

[Panzer_M]

I'm using 95 M3 w/ off-set..but I am thinking of going with GroundControl's LCA bushings.

[CirrusSR22]

I have the 96+ M3 bushings and I was VERY pleased with the results. The steering felt much more firm and direct.

They are more expensive than the normal non-M3 bushings, but I'm sure they will last longer.

[lilgrem]

panzer how did the increased caster affect handling ie was the steering effort greatly increased? bump steer? tracking and stability? my car handles great now i would hate to mess that up

[Juni]

I have a brand new set of poly bushings that I never installed. You can have mine for $40 shipped.

[lilgrem]

thanks juni i may take you up on that but i'm going to explore a couple of local options first.

[DustenT]

Originally Posted by Panzer_M

I'm using 95 M3 w/ off-set..but I am thinking of going with GroundControl's LCA bushings.

I have the same ones, 95 M3 offsets, really nice improvement. Moves the front wheel up about an inch in the wheel well.

[IndianaTravis]

bavauto.com also has poly lower control arm bushings, as well as all metal ball joints, etc.

[e36 323ti]

Originally Posted by lilgrem

one of my front control arm bushings let go on me recently and i'm wondering if there are aftermarket high performance poly bushings available and if it would be a good idea to use them or to stick with stock oem or if there are any other options from bmw

I use Powerflex poly. eccentric bushings on my 323ti. You could also use the BMW eccentric bushing from e36 m3 3.0 (which is also eccentric, and almost solid). By using eccentric bushings the caster increase, and the car feels much more alive.

[mohaughn]

I'd recommend going with the Meyle HD control arms. They are considerably cheaper than the M3 controls arms(1/3 the price). And then go with a good name brand bushing. Powerflex, bavauto, just about any decent online bimmer performance store has them.

turnermotorsports.com has the steel control arms for 87$(not sure if they are the HD control arms or not) and delrin bushings for 89$ a pair, offset for 99$. The m3 aluminum control arms are 240$ a piece.

bavautu.com has the poly bushings offset or standard on sale for 45$ a piece. The meyle HD control arms are 85$ a piece. Or you can just get the standard bushings for 15$ a piece. They have solid rubber M3 bushings for 60$ a set. But they don't look offset in the picture.

[L84THSKY]

I'm gonna have my front wheels realigned. I figure why not replace the front control arms, ball joints and cabs at once prior to having the alignment done. I would do the work myself. That being said, I would need the offset CABS pressed into it's brackets for simplicity, the Mehyle arms and solid metal ball joints.

My front Camber kit needs to be reoriented to allow camber adjustment. That will leave little or no caster adjustment. If I use the offset CABS, will I be able to adjust the caster to the right position? What positive effect does the offset CABS provide? What does it feel like on the road. I think I would buy all parts from BavAuto.

If I went with non concentric bushings, how do I know what angle the offset bushing should be pressed into the bracket? How hard is it to do the swap, assuming I have a shop press the bushings?

Originally Posted by mohaughn

I'd recommend going with the Meyle HD control arms. They are considerably cheaper than the M3 controls arms(1/3 the price). And then go with a good name brand bushing. Powerflex, bavauto, just about any decent online bimmer performance store has them.

turnermotorsports.com has the steel control arms for 87$(not sure if they are the HD control arms or not) and delrin bushings for 89$ a pair, offset for 99$. The m3 aluminum control arms are 240$ a piece.

bavautu.com has the poly bushings offset or standard on sale for 45$ a piece. The meyle HD control arms are 85$ a piece. Or you can just get the standard bushings for 15$ a piece. They have solid rubber M3 bushings for 60$ a set. But they don't look offset in the picture.

[mohaughn]

If I went with non concentric bushings, how do I know what angle the offset bushing should be pressed into the bracket? How hard is it to do the swap, assuming I have a shop press the bushings?

There are alignment marks on both the bushing and the control arm. If you are ok with spending a bit more money you could use the treehouse racing eyeball arms which do not require pressing in a bushing. You can also buy the standard bushings from bavauto already pushed into the bushing housing. I have the meyle control arms and offset bushings, but I've not installed them yet, so I would have to defer the other questions to dusten or somebody else that has them installed. From what I have read the install seems to be very easy, you just need a pickle fork to get the control arms off. I think there is a good writeup on the entire process on unofficialbmw(could be pelican parts where I read it). I'm going to do them myself and also have a shop press the bushings in for me. I'm actually planning on replacing all of my bushings in this fashion. 135k miles with all original bushings.

I'm planning on running camber/castor adjustable front shock mounts instead of the shim kits. Not sure what kind of adjustable camber kit you have. I know that the M3's have adjustable shock hats with the offset bushings, so you would basically be setup very similiar to the front suspension of an M3.

This tutorial shows the alignment marks- http://www.understeer.com/lcab.shtml

There are quit a few other instructions on doing this swap. I would just ask bavauto to make sure the offset bushings have the marks.

[L84THSKY]

Does that make the wheel look off centered from the wheel well? How about when turning, could 235/45/17 wheels now start rubbing on turns?

Originally Posted by DustenT

I have the same ones, 95 M3 offsets, really nice improvement. Moves the front wheel up about an inch in the wheel well.