[kdog_x]

I ended up getting mine out, it was also a good excuse to pick up a lathe lol. Plumbing pipe was a perfect fit after shaving it down. I also rented the big $250 ball joint kit from Advance auto for the cups / press / etc. It takes some serious force to break those suckers loose, I would have sworn I was going to damage something with the force it took. There's just barely enough room to get the tools in there.

[oranga]

Im chasing a weird noise on my car too. Whenever I accelerate pretty hard, I notice a creaking sound coming from the right side, hard to say where fore/aft though. Is that kind of what you were experiencing?

[kdog_x]

Originally Posted by oranga

Im chasing a weird noise on my car too. Whenever I accelerate pretty hard, I notice a creaking sound coming from the right side, hard to say where fore/aft though. Is that kind of what you were experiencing?

I was getting a bad creaking sound over every bump, like the springs in an old mattress, the car sounded like a jalopy for a couple months. I didn't really know for sure that replacing the ball joints would fix it. Most of the online videos said that play would be felt if you grab the wheel at 12 and 6 and wiggle it, but the play didn't seem excessive, and I couldn't recreate the noise that way. (Car needed to be loaded down I think)

I grabbed and pulled on every component back there with the wheel on and off and couldn't locate the noise or find anything loose. I also had already replaced the whole rear shock asssembly, so I took it off again and compressed it by hand just to confirm it was not a blown shock that was the source. Most of what I found online said that these are a common failure point for F30 and E90 vehicles, so with 150k+ I figured this was the most likely cause. There are youtube videos of people drilling holes in the rubber part and pumping them full of lube (due to the difficulties replacing them), so that's always an option... but I didn't try that. I did spray the heck out of every component back there with penetrating oil and it had zero effect on the noise.

[Redkin]

Reviving an old thread here as I'm facing the same issue...

Those who have successfully replaced this, did you press on the joint on the inner portion (highlighted below in red)? Or press on the outer portion (highlighted in yellow)?

I'm concerned with damaging the new one if I press via the inner portion (red). But after looking at the photos of the official tool, it appears to be pulling from the inner portion of the joint.

[kdog_x]

The cup fits over the rubber and pushes on the yellow part in your picture. I think pushing on the red part would just tear the rubber.

[Redkin]

Thanks, that was my thought as well...one of the earlier posts with the official tool confused me. I think I found an orientation of the press adapters that will work so I'm going to give this a go tomorrow.

[Eschmacher]

I thought I was going crazy for a sec, but that's my picture lol. Yes, pushing from the inner piece will tear the rubber.
Getting the new ball joint seated was a colossal pain in the ass. Make sure your tool comes in the right size. The generic one off amazon was not well suited to this particular sized ball joint.

[Redkin]

Yeah it was a great photo for what I was asking so I robbed it!

I found an adapter set from Advanced Auto that is a perfect fit to go around the joint to receive it along with one to press on the outer (yellow highlighted) ring.

[WingZeroX5]

Has anyone tried to replace the rubber mount that is also near that ball joint? The rear control arm kit from FCP came with it, which I was going to replace anyway as a complete rear refresh. BMW calls this a rubber mount

Purchased the BMW tools because i'm 0-3 with Amazon's ball joint kits. None of them fit...might as well do the job right and have all the tools for wrenching. However, the washer ending in 469 might be for the ball joint and not the rubber mount.

Originally Posted by Redkin

Yeah it was a great photo for what I was asking so I robbed it!

I found an adapter set from Advanced Auto that is a perfect fit to go around the joint to receive it along with one to press on the outer (yellow highlighted) ring.

What kit did you go with?

EDIT: googling that 27164 results in a honda kit!

[Eschmacher]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

Has anyone tried to replace the rubber mount that is also near that ball joint? The rear control arm kit from FCP came with it, which I was going to replace anyway as a complete rear refresh. BMW calls this a rubber mount

Purchased the BMW tools because i'm 0-3 with Amazon's ball joint kits. None of them fit...might as well do the job right and have all the tools for wrenching. However, the washer ending in 469 might be for the ball joint and not the rubber mount.



What kit did you go with?

EDIT: googling that 27164 results in a honda kit!

I don't remember which kit I got for this, but it was the same one I got for the ball joint off amazon. I have replaced that bushing as well, with a super pro one. I would not recommend anything harder than stock for this unless you're going to be at the track all the time. I swapped that bushing and the corresponding arm and it causes the shock from bumps to go straight into the chassis. Very jarring and not comfortable.

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

[lens]

Originally Posted by Eschmacher

I don't remember which kit I got for this, but it was the same one I got for the ball joint off amazon. I have replaced that bushing as well, with a super pro one. I would not recommend anything harder than stock for this unless you're going to be at the track all the time. I swapped that bushing and the corresponding arm and it causes the shock from bumps to go straight into the chassis. Very jarring and not comfortable.

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

^

If you're also having issues finding bushings for the lower control arm (where you align the camber I believe) there are none, and you have to go aftermarket, either you get the poly kit, or you pay BMW 360$ per control arm.

I went with the Whiteline bushing kit.

[kdog_x]

I pressed them in dry. Dont know if that's the official way to do it, but that didn't seem like a place you'd want lubricant. I would think it Could maybe encourage it to walk or just make noise.

I did clean the housing with an Emery cloth to get any grit out of there though. it might not hurt anything if it's a lube that would flash off like WD or PB. The area was sprayed liberally with PB before I started. If you decide to lube it I'd avoid thicker stuff like anti-seize or gear oil or the like.

[Dagstar]

Originally Posted by kdog_x

I pressed them in dry. Dont know if that's the official way to do it, but that didn't seem like a place you'd want lubricant. I would think it Could maybe encourage it to walk or just make noise.

I did clean the housing with an Emery cloth to get any grit out of there though. it might not hurt anything if it's a lube that would flash off like WD or PB. The area was sprayed liberally with PB before I started. If you decide to lube it I'd avoid thicker stuff like anti-seize or gear oil or the like.

You must have been responding as I was deleting my post, but looking at realoem, lube(83192405829) is listed as an installation tool for that lower rubber mount, but not the control arm mount behind the wheel carrier. As stated, PB sounds like that way to go for the latter. Thanks!

[idontlikereverse]

Im gonna revive this old thread again as well... My car came from Quebec so anything under the car is an uphill battle.

Is there supposed to be a lip around where the bushing goes into? I know on some older models you have to chisel off a similar lip but mine has so much corrosion its hard to tell.

[kdog_x]

Wow, That's pretty ugly! Chicago streets tend to have the same effect on cars.

Hard to tell if it's just the angle of the shot, but that looks like it's a little mangled to me. That bushing is very difficult to press in, I replaced it on one side, but I ended up damaging the bushing on my first attempt so I didn't attempt on the other side. I had to use a hose clamp to make that bushing smaller before I could push it in successfully. It was a huge pain and I thought I would damage the second one as well. I think what you have pictured is the joint underneath the one I have removed in post #23. It looks like there should be a solid lip all the way around from my picture there.

My "ball joint" that I originally made this thread for is creaking like an old farm truck again, so I will be sliding under there to re-replace it again. Maybe this weekend. I made a puller device out of some threaded rod... going to see how it goes. Waiting on my 28mm wrench and socket to show up so I can use the puller. The replacement 'ball joint / bushing" survived about 60k before going back out.

[idontlikereverse]

Yeah, I never should have bought a car from Quebec. They salt heavily and don't fix potholes (or avoid them) judging by the state of my suspension

I believe this one is the same as the one I am replacing:

View post on imgur.com

But I cant find any pictures online where there is an edge with a lip. I think i'm going to chisel away at it and see if there is anything I can remove.

Also I forgot to mention, but the outer part of the bushing/ball joint is still there which may have made it look strange. I had just pushed out the guts, but now I made a tool that should be just the right size to push it out/in.

[Polo08816]

Has any come across a comprehensive bushing tool kit that 100% works for this DIY?

[idontlikereverse]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

Has any come across a comprehensive bushing tool kit that 100% works for this DIY?

I think the universal C clamp ball joint presing kit is fine if you can go get a piece of pipe that fits the diameter of the bushing you will press in and out. I happened to have some lying around that i cut a piece off. I also used it to make a diy version of the bmw tool which kind of worked to push the new one in, but not out.

Also an update in case someone ever finds themselves in the position I was in: the lip around the bearing was from pushing the guts out, which sheared the edges and gave it the uniform edge/lip look. I could not tell where the bushing began and ended because of the rust which caused me to push the middle.

In the picture you can see what I mean sorta. I used a socket and the unversal c clamp thing to push this one through. I still had to use enough force on a breaker bar that it made me feel like things were going to break.

Lastly the torque specs for most bolts youll take off can be found in the pdf here: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=994489

and any other ones you might remove should be here: https://blog.fcpeuro.com/how-to-repl...arms-328i-335i

[Eschmacher]

Originally Posted by idontlikereverse

Also an update in case someone ever finds themselves in the position I was in: the lip around the bearing was from pushing the guts out, which sheared the edges and gave it the uniform edge/lip look. I could not tell where the bushing began and ended because of the rust which caused me to push the middle.

I knew it! That hole looked way too small. I actually made a comment yesterday that it looked like you pressed out the center and the outer shell was still in there, but deleted it because I wasn't 100% sure.

[kdog_x]

Got a few pictures while I had mine out. There is a bit of a lip on there. Not sure if it was caused from the cup used to press out the bushings or if that’s just the way it looks. It does take some serious force to press these bushings out. I would think the BMW tool needs to rest on that back ring as well.

I made an attempt at removing it with a piece of 1/2-13 threaded rod and washers, along with an appropriate sized piece of pipe and receiving cup to better imitate the BMW tool. 1/2" rod was the largest thing that fit through the bushing. I couldn't get it to budge whatsoever. Even the ball joint press requires a long breaker bar and some serious cranking.

I did clean the bore up before pressing in the new one, this was a shot immediately after removal of the old bushing. I put some lubricant on the new one this time around (PB), not sure if that was the right move, I guess time will tell. It did cause it to press in very easily. I got about 2 years- 60k out of the old one before it started creaking again, I believe I pressed that one in dry.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by kdog_x

Got a few pictures while I had mine out. There is a bit of a lip on there. Not sure if it was caused from the cup used to press out the bushings or if that’s just the way it looks. It does take some serious force to press these bushings out. I would think the BMW tool needs to rest on that back ring as well.

I made an attempt at removing it with a piece of 1/2-13 threaded rod and washers, along with an appropriate sized piece of pipe and receiving cup to better imitate the BMW tool. 1/2" rod was the largest thing that fit through the bushing. I couldn't get it to budge whatsoever. Even the ball joint press requires a long breaker bar and some serious cranking.

I did clean the bore up before pressing in the new one, this was a shot immediately after removal of the old bushing. I put some lubricant on the new one this time around (PB), not sure if that was the right move, I guess time will tell. It did cause it to press in very easily. I got about 2 years- 60k out of the old one before it started creaking again, I believe I pressed that one in dry.

Would any of these bushing press kits work as an alternative to the BMW tools?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SQZTR77...1zcF9kZXRhaWwy

https://www.amazon.com/YUAN-Universa...2-63e904010ad0

[idontlikereverse]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

Would any of these bushing press kits work as an alternative to the BMW tools?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SQZTR77...1zcF9kZXRhaWwy

https://www.amazon.com/YUAN-Universa...2-63e904010ad0

I think both of those would work without a doubt. Its a bit tricky without the right tool but I would try going to a hardware tool shop and renting. The one I used only had 3 different sizes for each side and would slip off if it wasnt placed perfectly but worked in the end.

The pushing side can also be a socket if you have one lying around. As long is its just a bit smaller than the diameter of the bushing ur pushing it will work. Of course you can use the new bushing to find something that works/has the correct diameter.

Also if you have a second person around it helps a lot to keep everything in place as you tighten it.

Lastly i think the bushing press tool might be better than the bmw tool. I re created the bmw tool using a long bolt where I could thread it and it would pushing the socket through, but mine was so stuck that it would bend or shear the thread before budging. YMMV and id imagine that the materials they use are stronger to avoid this but still not worth the hassle of getting that tool imo.