Thrust arm bushing shape under load?

[DueyT]

Sorry I don't have a pic...my S.O. has the digicam at the moment -- anyway, getting into my Insp II yesterday, I was looking at the front suspension and noticed that under weight/load (front was on ramps), there appears to be a 1/4" - 5mm air space between the rubber bushing material and the triangular plastic insert of the thrust bolt sleeve. The space/gap is on the outboard / wheel / tension side of the bushing. I cannot see any cracks in the rubber, but I was kind of thinking that, even under load, the bushing should completely surround the inset sleeve with no gaps around it. Is this a sign of the bushing going?

I don't really have a noticable 50 mph / 80 km/h vibe (yet?) but would prefer to preventitavely avoid stressing any other component and replace the thrust arms with the preferred 750i pieces from Patrick and Yves.

I'll try and post a pic when I get the camera. Any sage advice?

Thanks in advance, !

Duey

[George M]

most people tend to look at things in a binary fashion...easier to process info that way.
Reality is every part on your car is somewhere on its lifecycle curve...neither all good or all bad....kind of like us :-)
The best barometer is performance...if your car drives well...I wouldn't change the bushings....unless you have your suspension all apart for other work. Second best indicator is mileage...thrust arm bushings having the earliest mortality of any front suspension components...seem to really go south...particularly true for a V8 car with its weight...with fewest miles. If you have 60K miles on your arms...consider changing the bushings...arm ball joints will likely go about twice that so second iteration should include changing both arms and bushings.
Lastly...your car looks great and tastefully modded. The rear lip on your no.5 wheels looks a bit more pronounced...you running a rare staggered set up Duey?
Cheers.

[DueyT]

Thanks for the input George, much appreciated! Looking at the records, I've put on 20k kms since I bought the car and now one arm has ~45k on it and the newer has ~30k (kms) on it. Driving around at lunch time, I think there may be the faintest bit of the dreaded 50-55 vibe (or maybe I'm just thinking there is)...go figure. May be best to R&R the arms with the 750 parts...I'd rather spend a bit now and keep the beast in fighting trim.

Thanks for the kind words on the beast, George...your sharp eyes are bang on! The #5's are 8" front and 10" rear. 235/40-17 rubber up front and 255/35-17 on the back...a very nicely balanced set-up. Oversteer is nicely controlled with throttle (when I remember to turn the ASC+T off ) This set-up was actually the standard configuration for Canadian '95 540i/6's with the Sport package...other bits including the Recaro sport seating and the lowering kit (1.5" front / 1" rear).

Cheers,
Duey

[George M]

Very nice car Duey...those wheels with your car lowered is a great set up...aggressive yet elegant. Duey...you say that wheel package came std. on your car?...does that mean those wheels are hubcentric? I am personally looking around for a rare set of staggered throwing stars...8" in front and 9" in the rear. Before you automatically swap in the 750 bushings, check in with Winfred as I believe he is a fan of the M5 bushings...they may be even beefier...something to consider. Sounds like the arms themselves may still have a lot of life and you would do well just to push in new bushings.

[632 Regal]

Wow Duey! Quite a nice looking ride, even better looking than the older pictures I saw. Anytime you need to trade up you give me a call!

[Geoff Hoad]

Just following on from George's sage advice. I decided to replace all the front suspension components (execpt dampers and springs which were nearly new anyway) at 160,000 kms (100,000 miles). Bought all the bits over a few months. Lemforder or BMW. Replaced the lot in one session, (with a little help from my local garage who rented out theor hoist and mechanic for two hours at the grand cost of $A64) then took the car for a four wheel alignment on a Beissbarth laser unit at my local BMW shop.

Amazing tranformation. Whilst I was happy before and had no noises the car now drove like a go-kart and turned better and held the road better than I could have imagined. Nearly 30,000 kms later the smile is still on my face!

So George's inferences about pre-planned maintenance are very valid indeed. In fact I have extended this philosophy to the rest of the car and now slow and progressively replace things before they break. The only thing I took too much time on was the water pump. Ended up with the car on a flatbed and lucky no damage to the engine.

And whilst I pamper the car it gets driven as well...

[632 Regal]

You can tell cause the steerings on the wrong side!

Just kidding.

I like the replace before you need to phylosophy also, keeps things fresh.

[Geoff Hoad]

Dunno Jeff, I think when the wife is in the car it gets driven from the left hand side anyway!

[Jr ///M5]

Just wait till Sue gets that, "little bit of information"...=)

Are we coming out of our winter hibernation mode? Let me ask you this....just how clean is the BB?? You ready for the Aussie meet? Can't wait for your write up on the meet, you always do a great job with the story and pictures. It's just like being there!

Have fun at the meet!
Jr

[Geoff Hoad]

Jr. Buddy, Pal, Mate. Sue doesn't need to know, does she? Isn't this just between old mates, gulp!

The Show 'n Shine is three weeks away and since it took me seven days to prep the car last time I had beeter get cracking. Mind you it shows how slow I am. The good Lord did a lot more in the same time!

I think the state event will be tougher than the Nationals in the respect that the judging isn't done by class of car but by year groupings. That bring a lot of cars into a smaller grouping and there are some well prepared cars there. But will try my best.

A bit of feedback from the Nationals suggests the car was close to being a contender for best in show so that's the standard I need to aim to. Funnily enough, when I came back to work the next week after the Nationals a number of people who had seen the car before asked if it was new. So I must have done something right.

On a similar subject I taught Stephen how to detail the three series and now he is conducting classes at school with his mates who drive their own cars on how to get theirs as good as his! That boy is a class act. Next I will be getting complaints that he's charging them huge amounts for detailing their cars!

All the best,