Front End - Piss me off

[Scott C]

Well,

I am now putting new bushings in the upper arms, got 20K out of the 750 (Green) bushings, at least the balljoints are okay this time (Lemforder!). For those contemplating replacing their front end parts, take heed.

I have to admit, I do drive this "gently" although there is the occasional pothole. I just hate this design.

By the way, the symptom was accelerated tire wear on inside and out.

Scott

[Scott C]

I actually run my front tires at close to 40PSI, they were at 32 psi when the rounding occurred and these are new tires with less than 5K miles.

I went with the M5 bushings although I was tempted to try the Poly Grunt bushing that Jon K uses.

[mikell]

Better to be pissed off than to be pissed on.

[e34.535i.sport]

It is a poor set up i'll give you that - when one thing goes they aqll seem to go! Those control arm bushings are sh*te. I haven't had any uneven tire wear luckily though as my tires are pretty new! I assume you made sure they were at the correct PSI?!

[Jehu]

I've had M5 Bushings in for about 40K miles and as far as I know they're still fine. had the car to BMW Indy last week who did motor and tranny mounts ,looked at everything else and didn't mention the control arm bushings. No bad wearing i can see. Try the E34 M5 bushing ...

[Scott C]

If the 750is are fluid filled the M5's are not. If the concern with most about Urethane is the hard impact or lack of impact absorbtion I can't imagine them being much harder than the M5s so if they last far longer I may try them next time.

Thanks for the link by the way - I had already ordered (from the same place) when I noticed you posted a link!

I was worried about accelerating wear on the rest of the components if the bushing was too stiff. While I don't drive harshly, we have the mother of all potholes up here as a result of the winter and that does takes its toll on the suspension.

Scott

[Jehu]

I actually run my front tires at close to 40PSI, they were at 32 psi when the rounding occurred and these are new tires with less than 5K miles.

I went with the M5 bushings although I was tempted to try the Poly Grunt bushing that Jon K uses.

If the 750is are fluid filled the M5's are not. If the concern with most about Urethane is the hard impact or lack of impact absorbtion I can't imagine them being much harder than the M5s so if they last far longer I may try them next time.

[Scott C]

Finally took time to do front end this week end. This is what I found - the Lemforder 750 bushings (and arms) actually are not damaged visibly in any way and still feel tight.

The symptom I am trying to fix is excessive wear on outer edges of front tires and maybe I presumed too much about the contribution of these bushings. I am going to put the M5 bushings in (this will be fun) anyway although I am surprised at the amount of open space in them (compared to 750).

Idler arm seems fine, tie rod ends still tight and ball joints have no perceptible slop.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott

[Scott C]

Wow that time is pretty goofy

[xspeedy]

I'm not very experienced, but maybe too much toe? If your upper bushes are bad, you should see a lot of wobble under braking.