[sygazelle]

I bought my VAC UCA and LCA monoballs from Kies Motorsports. Same price as VAC directly but Kies paid for shipping.

Originally Posted by gameson

where do you buy yours?

Lower control arm

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Suspensi...3-F34-F36.html

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Suspensi...3-F34-F36.html

Should i get adjustable version?


Upper control arm

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Suspensi...3-F34-F36.html

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Suspensi...3-F34-F36.html

[gameson]

I see. SoCalCarGuy said it’s powerflex urethene, so i thought that was the one. I didn’t know you have to replace the bushings and the arm as a whole set instead of bushings only.

Yeah at $500 a set, i may have to replace slowly since i am buying suspension as well.

Originally Posted by johnung

NO, those are the wrong bushings that you are looking at in your links!

I have the same monoball bushings that he is talking about. They make a huge difference in steering. The entire control arm is swapped out so you get a new arm and ball joint too. It saves on labor too. Takes about 2-3 hours to swap out a pair of Lower and a pair of upper control arms. Below are the correct links.

Note: if you are short on cash then do the Upper Control Arms first. The stock UCA bushings tend to fail first and you will notice a bigger steering improvement with UCA's than the LCA's. I did my LCA's later. No big deal.

FOR RWD F30's

https://www.kiesmotorsports.com/prod...d&_ss=r?aff=22

FOR XDRIVE F30's

https://www.kiesmotorsports.com/prod...d&_ss=r?aff=22

[johnung]

Originally Posted by gameson

I see. SoCalCarGuy said it's powerflex urethene, so i thought that was the one. I didn't know you have to replace the bushings and the arm as a whole set instead of bushings only.

Yeah at $500 a set, i may have to replace slowly since i am buying suspension as well.

They don't sell these bushings separately because it's too easy for someone to screw up trying to press them into the arm and then try to return them. That's labor that you save too because no press work is needed. It's better to replace the whole arm because you get a new ball joint with it.

[gameson]

For the LCA, i read that the f8x LCA is also monoballs. My car is RWD. Comment from FaRKle!

Would it be ok to use the f8x LCA? I can find brand new LCA F8X for $200, so a set is $400, save over $150 from the vac monoballs.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=31_1123

Part number 31122284529 and 31122284530 item 11 from diagram.

Also, would you recommend the aftermarket one like delphi ? i can get them for even cheaper, lol

https://www.fcpeuro.com/Parts/?keywords=31122284529

Fcp euro sells both oem and delphi

Originally Posted by johnung

They don't sell these bushings separately because it's too easy for someone to screw up trying to press them into the arm and then try to return them. That's labor that you save too because no press work is needed. It's better to replace the whole arm because you get a new ball joint with it.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by gameson

For the LCA, i read that the f8x LCA is also monoballs. My car is RWD. Comment from FaRKle!

Would it be ok to use the f8x LCA? I can find brand new LCA F8X for $200, so a set is $400, save over $150 from the vac monoballs.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=31_1123

Part number 31122284529 and 31122284530 item 11 from diagram.

Also, would you recommend the aftermarket one like delphi ? i can get them for even cheaper, lol

https://www.fcpeuro.com/Parts/?keywords=31122284529

Fcp euro sells both oem and delphi

NO, don't get F80 control arms for your F30. They are not the same length so they will actually move the position of your front wheels so that they are no longer centered in your wheel wells. They change the alignment too.

FaRKle! may have been discussing bushings in his video, but the problem is that the F80 and F30 control arms themselves are not identical. Guys who track their F30 cars have been messing around with F80 control arms for years before monoball bushings were available for the F30. The F80 bushings are considered an early version, designed many years ago before the F80 was introduced. The newer VAC monoball bushings are actually better.

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by johnung

NO, don't get F80 control arms for your F30. They are not the same length so they will actually move the position of your front wheels so that they are no longer centered in your wheel wells. They change the alignment too.

+1...this

more specifically, it increases positive caster and has a similar effect to adding negative camber. there are pros and cons to increasing positive caster. some cons are increased steering effort, increasing turning radius (due to increased wheel base) and the possibility of the outer tire shoulder rubbing the front of the fenderwell liner at full lock, especially if you decide to run wider tires.

the bottom line is it changes suspension geometry and opens up another can-of-worms. as a tracking consideration, sure...for a daily, nah.

just keep OEM LCA stock for now and save for VAC UCA. its expensive but worth it, in terms of time. super easy install, no alignment required.
.

[gameson]

Alright. I wonder if Kies does a Black Friday sale, i will pounce during that sale, few more months to go.

Just curious, what is the lifetime for the thrust arm and lower arm when it’s due replacement?