subframe and Trailing arm bush

[superman39]

Hi there people I have a bmw 318ti compact m sport 98 reg with 2.0 liter straight six conversion.

I am looking to change the bushing on the trailing arms that bold to the chassis of the car and also the front lower wishbone arm rear bushes. has anyone got any instructions on how to do this or any guides on how to go about doing it? how much of a pain is it to do. Thanks

[spidertri]

Here's a write up for the control arm bushings. Getting the old ones off is a pain but using a small drop of dish soap makes putting the new ones on pretty easy. I put new controls arms on at the same time so I didn't deal with taking the old ones off.
http://www.understeer.com/lcab.shtml

Trailing arm bushings are fairly straightforward but involve taking apart a lot of the rear suspension. I disconnected the rear brake lines, unbolted the axles from the diff, rear shocks, swaybar endlinks, parking brake cables, sensors, and then took out the bolts for the trailing arms. You'll need to make or buy a tool to push/pull the bushings out. AKG motorsport sells a tool for relatively cheap. CirrusSR22 has a good thread about it.

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9861

[limit]

The trailing arm bushing is a bit tricky to change, they give little to no space to work with

[Biolite]

Concur with above. The RTAB you can R&R without taking too much apart (although, I did with when I replaced the rear suspension). The old ones can be pressed out with a length of all-thread and and some nuts and washers. Do a Google search for an RTAB replacement on an E30 and you should come up with some how-to's. Would recommend putting poly-urethane bushings in 'cause they're much easier (I used powerflex).

For the sub-frame bushings, it is definitely a pain either way. I would recommend removing the entire sub-frame and then you're free to manipulate the thing in a press to get the old bushings out. Also, a little heat with a torch really helps out with those. You can get a puller made for the sub-frame, but it's pretty pricey. There are some articles on making your own with some hardware from harbor freight, I'll have to do some digging to find that again though. Again, go with poly-urethane to make the installation easier, and make sure to put the anti-seize they supply on them otherwise you'll get some noise. I was actually able to get the sub-frame out with disconnecting the calipers, trailing arms, shocks (i removed the springs), and unbolting the diff, but dropped it a bit with a jack. With some manipulation you can snake the sub-frame out.

[familytruckster]

The subframe bushings are cake if you search around and look to see how the E30 guys do it. A little heat and the literally fall out, and you can make a puller cheap from plumbing parts from home depot.

I think it took me a few hours for the one side, the other was no more than 5 minutes.

Good large jackstands (6 ton) and removing the rear control arms make the trailing arm bushings easier.

[superman39]

thanks guys info really helped. sorry about late reply been really busy with work. Anyone know a good place to get the poly bushes please?

[spidertri]

Ireland Engineering or AKG Motorsport.

[familytruckster]

Or powerflex...which is available at many retailers.