I just did thrust arm in 20 minutes.

[Bimmer Nut Ed]

I had replaced one thrust arm on my daughters 535, and I just decided to do the other now, since I already had the part. I hesitated, remembering how hard it was to get the ball joint off with a pickle fork on my own 535.

I think I figured out how to make the job super easy. This is the second time I tried it, and it worked like a charm both times so I thought I'd share it with you all. Might not be a new idea, but it's new to me.

First off, take the nut off the bottom of the ball joint, all the way (take it off all the way just to make sure the threads are clean so that after you release the joint, you can still unscrew it easily enough), then put it back on, just far enough so the nut is all the way on but only so far so the bolt end is flush with the top of the nut. You know what I mean, essentiall just screw it back on about 1/2 inch. This is what you beat on with a hammer. No need for pickle fork at all. But the trick is, take your floor jack and a short 2x4 (about a foot long), and lift up on the thrust arm itself (use the 2.4 on end). Don't put too much pressure on it as to lift the car, but "just enough" to keep constant good pressure. It only takes a couple whacks, and off it comes.

Hope it helps.

[Russell]

Looks great - but is it safe?

[Rigmaster]

Looks about as safe as crossing the street.......I mean, you could get killed by a piece of frozen turds falling from a jet just sitting in your house looking at BMW porn.....

Seriously, the method Ed describes should be perfectly safe, just make sure that the car is properly supported on jack stands, and don't put TOO much pressure on the arm with that jack, and don't hit the ball joint stud with TOO much force- so as to mushroom the head and then you have to get out the Dremel tool to grind the stud down because it won't fit thru the hole anymore (as me how I know this......)

I just helped Andyman do this on his 540i a couple of weeks ago, and we used a pickle fork, but we took the 3 bolts out of the bottom of the strut housing, which separated it from the steering arm, and gave us plenty of room to fit the pickle fork in there- worked like a champ..

Bret.

ps- where is Andyman anyway???

Bret.

[Russell]

thanks for the follow-up. This was my thinking as well

[winfred]

that about covers it, goes even faster on a lift :D

[Mobius]

Yeah, this is a decent method, just keep an eye on the jackstand while you're doing it. Don't lift the weight of the car off the stand - if the joint is on that hard, you're going to need a puller. You don't want the whole car to come crashing back down on the stand when the joint pops.

My thrust arm bolts (on the bushing end) were on so tight that I had to fit my jack under the open end of a wrench to crank on the bolt hard enough to break it loose. I bought a brand new wrench for this (I wanted one that fit perfectly) - a real nice, expensive, professional-type one... And it's bent just a little bit like a rainbow now.

God that was a bitch.

[MBXB]

I tried this and one arm from each side would NOT budge so I had to take the plate and resistant arm to a local machine shop. These guys had to clamp it down in a bigass vice and pound it out with a bigger pickle fork and a bigger hammer than I had. The dude worked up a sweat.

[winfred]

that means that whoever did it last overtightened the **** outta it


I tried this and one arm from each side would NOT budge so I had to take the plate and resistant arm to a local machine shop. These guys had to clamp it down in a bigass vice and pound it out with a bigger pickle fork and a bigger hammer than I had. The dude worked up a sweat.

[Tiger]

Sounds like impact gun was used on it.

[winfred]

a impact wrench is not evil but it's misuse can be, i use mine on all of that crap but i know when to quit


Sounds like impact gun was used on it.