::.. 'Group Buy' for E34 M5 UPGRADE 10-PIECE FRONT CONTROL ARM KIT

[Qube]

Okay, before you read on, it's not really a 'group buy'. It's more of a 'partner' buy. I have the opportunity to get two of these kits for $300 USD each (plus shipping). Pickup locally in Toronto is fine. If anyone is interested, let me know. I am taking one for myself. Regardless if anyone else wants to buy in, I will be getting it in 7 days.

---> This IS an FCP Groton kit, so all standard good AND bad about them apply <---

Regular ad copy follows...



Why does the front of end of my BMW shimmy upon braking?

These cars' suspension was intentionally designed to be responsive and nimble, unlike large American sedans which allow heavy weight to rest on the front wheels. As a light suspension, it is more prone to transmitting vibrations through the steering wheel. In the 3-series and 5-series, these vibrations are caused by deteriorating components in the suspension. As these various components wear, the evidence of their wear becomes apparent through vibrations in the steering wheel most noticeably upon braking, and particularly between 50-65 mph (80-105kph).

Failure syndromes:
- The 50-60 Mph shimmy.
- Severely enhanced brake shimmy.
- Clunk noise (cause by defective ball joint).
- Bushings torn or with small cracks.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

Replace all worn steering elements: These include control arms, thrust arms, tie rod assemblies, sway bar links, idler arm, and center tie rod assembly (a.k.a. drag link)

When you purchase you will recieve the following BRAND NEW items:


LEFT UPPER THRUST ARM CONTROL ARM with Ball Joint and HEAVY DUTY 750il BUSHING UPGRADE (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 31121141097..List Price 216.00)

RIGHT UPPER THRUST ARM CONTROL ARM with Ball Joint and HEAVY DUTY 750il BUSHING UPGRADE (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 31121141098.. List Price 216.00)

RIGHT LOWER CONTROL ARM ALUMINUM M5 UPGRADE WITH BUSHING (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 31121139987.. List Price 282.00)

LEFT LOWER CONTROL ARM ALUMINUM M5 UPGRADE WITH BUSHING (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 31121139988.. List Price 282.00)

LEFT TIE ROD COMPLETE ASSEMBLY (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 32211135666..List Price 45.50)

RIGHT TIE ROD COMPLETE ASSEMBLY (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 32211135666..List Price 45.50)

LEFT SWAY BAR LINK (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 31351134582.. List Price 30.00)

RIGHT SWAY BAR LINK (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 31351134582..List Price 30.00)

IDLER ARM (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 32211136450..List Price 66.00)

CENTER TIE ROD ASSEMBLY (OE REFERENCE NUMBER 32211138854..List Price $113.00)


MANUFACTURED IN GERMANY BY HT- MEET AND OR EXCEED OEM SPECIFICATIONS

TOTAL LIST PRICE OVER $1326.00

FITS THE FOLLOWING VEHICLES:

BMW 525i M20 (E34) 1988 - 1990
BMW 525i M50 (E34) 1990 - 1996
BMW 525i Touring (E34) 1992 - 1996
BMW 530i Touring (E34) 1993 - 1996
BMW 535i (E34) 1988 - 1996
BMW M5 (E34) 1990 - 1992
BMW 530i (E34) 1993 - 1996
BMW 540i (E34) 1993 - 1996

[Evan]

Qube, why are they giving these parts away? It's so tempting.

[tnt525i]

i purchased this kit last week myself lol

[632 Regal]

the only thing I got was the thrust arms half a year ago and im getting the 55mph shimmy and a strange clunk I cant identify, might not be the FCP but its all pointing that way.

[Qube]

Qube, why are they giving these parts away? It's so tempting.

Not giving ;) I just have a great hookup... which is fully legit :D

[kyleN20]

i heard fcp was a easy, but later painful route from jonk i think, his advice was to save for lemfoder. correct?

[mattyb]

I might be very interisted in this. I would of course pay shipping to OZ and a handling fee for your time, but would you mind stuffing it in to a box for me and sending it off? What is your opinion of the parts supplier and the quality? i am badly in need of a complete new front end but dont really have the money to buy lemforder for a complete front end set up. not this time around anyway.

[genphreak]

I might be very interisted in this. I would of course pay shipping to OZ and a handling fee for your time, but would you mind stuffing it in to a box for me and sending it off? What is your opinion of the parts supplier and the quality? i am badly in need of a complete new front end but dont really have the money to buy lemforder for a complete front end set up. not this time around anyway.Matty they charge $250 for a pair of thrust arms here and they are the same type FCP ship. I think if I were ripping the arms off again, I'd jam Grunt's bushing in 'em to be sure the bushings did not wear out prematurely as these always do. Grunties are available locally- you should be able to find the dude, I heard he was located in Northmead or somewhere and made urethane bushings for all sorts of things, the original dude sold out at some point or other... no idea what is happening now but the bushings are available from gruntsbushings.com. Heasmans buy them direct, I just don't know who to send you to I'm afraid. I have the alloy LCAs- they are fine, so long as you get them the right way round... :) Nick

[mattyb]

thanks mate. i had a chat to kris last night and he mentioned the premature wear issue. Do you think there is a supplier for a package like this in oz at this price? im of the thinking that id rather pull the whole lot off and do it inone hit. As for the quality i am prepared to do it all again in a years time when I can afford to buy all the absolutely nice peices. I do a lot of freeway miles and at the mo it all feels like a bag of shite and I need a quick fix to get me through 12 months or so, therefore I am resigned to being labelled a philistine or Infidel for now. However it gives us all a chance to do it again and drink some more beer in another year or so!

Qube, sorry to hijack the thread a little mate. I had a look at ebay last night and it appears easier for all if i just got them direct and shipped to OZ. Its only $50usd and they do all the running about etc.

[Qube]

I don't mind shipping. Mind you I won't get them until next week ;) Check out eBay, if it's good for you go for it!

[genphreak]

Hey Matty, there are a few aussie suppliers but they don't compete. You can't go wrong with the FCP pack, even tho the jury is still out on the longevity of the components. Personally I can't see how the parts can be much worse than Lem, its not like they are made from SE Asian steel, the tooling is not a simple matter for this stuff, its TUV certified and on inspection the quality appears to be there. Be careful not to damage the bj boots when you do it and have the right thread lock and pickle forks, ball joint pullers handy. Kriss and I broke 2 BJ pullers doing it, even witha good soaking of penetrant the night before. Experience sure helps... we don't like bashing pitman arms when there's an expensive steering box on the other end, so good tools are not to be underestimated.

Forget getting them here, the only thing I haven't tried is appraoching ZF themselves to ask if they can bring in some parts for you- if one were to offer to give them their part numbers (from the ZF website-parts finder thingy) they might... big might tho.

I reckon $50 for shipping is an excellent deal :) Nick

[derick]

sold..... thank you very much come again :)

[Qube]

Derick, the arms are here and I have to say HELL it was heavy with two kits, two guibos, and four sets of ceramic brakes in the box!

Let me know when and how you want them and I'll sort it out ;) I won't have access to email so we'll touch base here. Thanks!

[Qube]

Derick, where you at bro? If I don't hear from you again before end of week then I'll open it up again to everyone interested :)

[derick]

sorry about that, i lost all your contact info. if you still have my cell # give me a call tommorow morning

[rob101]

its not like they are made from SE Asian steel,
yeah i mean asian steel must be crap the iron ore comes from australia!:p

[genphreak]

yeah i mean asian steel must be crap the iron ore comes from australia!:pLOL, ours is very good I thought. The russian stuff is (was?) the worst; full of impurities, which is why Fiat, Ferrari and Alfa had all the rust problems- it was a bad deal the Italian government had done to get steel out of old Russia.

[rob101]

LOL, ours is very good I thought. The russian stuff is (was?) the worst; full of impurities, which is why Fiat, Ferrari and Alfa had all the rust problems- it was a bad deal the Italian government had done to get steel out of old Russia.
yeah i don't know, i mean seriously you can get crap steel anywhere just don't specify good steel:p , but I was thinking the other day about sockets etc. chrome vanadium is chrome vanadium i don't know why people are so picky with not getting tools made in china, just means the dude pulling the lever is asian. but what you don't want is tools made out of carbon steel. i was thinking this because i recently got a small supercheap gold socket set, bloody brilliant and it cost 1/3 of a sid chrome or other "uber" tool maker.

so i spoke with our supervisor who has had 30 years+ experience as a mechanic and he said he bought a taiwanese socket set. lasted him 10 years in the dealership he work at when he was starting off using it everyday said in the end the sockets were flogged out which he said happens with all tools.

i think the difference is in specified material grade and heat treatment and thats it. i wouldn't blame the steel blame the people who specify the steel;)

[Wilbranka]

I just finished installing this same 10 piece kit from FCP on 4/11/2006 and it worked out great. I purchased my kit on eBay for $345.00 with the shipping included.

[632 Regal]

still holding up?
I just finished installing this same 10 piece kit from FCP on 4/11/2006 and it worked out great. I purchased my kit on eBay for $345.00 with the shipping included.

[Qube]

sorry about that, i lost all your contact info. if you still have my cell # give me a call tommorow morning

Actually, I don't have it. No access to my older emails at this time. Check your PM...

[Qube]

Still holding up well. We'll see after track day this Tues...

Derek, so am I still holding this for you or what's up?