318i Tech Procedure -
Control Arm/Control Arm Bushing Replacement

Changing the control arms and the control arm bushings is a task that every E30 needs done each 100K miles. You'll know you need to replace the control arms and the control arm bushings if your front end feels loose. You can verify this by taking the front wheels off the ground and pushings and pulling on the front wheel. It should not feel loose. The loose front end will show up in the handling of the car as well. Another common symptom is if the steering wheel shakes while breaking even though your rotors are good and your wheels are well balanced.

In reality, the wear items on the control arms are the inner and middle ball joints. Some people try to replace just the ball joints. Most people just replace the entire arm as it is safer and easier. When buying new control arms, buy Lemfoerder control arms. They cost about $75 each. The generic ones don't hold up as well. I've heard horror stories.

This is also a chance to upgrade some parts with M3 parts. Don't bother looking at the M3 control arms. While they are lighter and made of aluminum instead of steel, the sway bar on the M3 connects to the spindle and not the control arm so you'd need to do a lot of work to get the M3 control arms to work in an E30 that is not an M3. The M3 arms are also $200 each!

You can, however, use the M3 offset control arm bushings. There are several benefits to using the M3 offset bushings. First, they are solid and will last longer. The stock E30 bushings are not solid and as I saw from my old ones, they fall apart easier. More, solid material is just more sound. The pictures say it all. Secondly, the M3 offset bushings slightly changes the geometry of the suspension. They increase caster slighly. You will need a front end allignment after installing these bushings. M3 offset control arm bushings are about $75 for a pair.

Required tool list:
Wrenches/Sockets
Spanners
Jack
Block of wood
Heavy Hammer
Laundry Detergent for Lube

Click on the thumbnails for larger pictures.

	Put the car up on a steady set of jacks. You will be spending a lot of time under the car and you don't want to be crushed.
	Take off the wheels.
	Here is a picture of my driver's side control arm. It is the L shaped piece. To the far left is where the control arm connects to the control arm bushing that is inside the lollipop. In the middle of the arc of the control arm is the ball joint. To the right is another ball joint that connects to the spindle.
	Use a 17mm socket to remove the two bolts that hold the lollipop to the frame. Be careful with these bolts. Don't strip the threads.
	Use a 17mm socket to remove the ball joint from the spindle. Use a soft mallet to pop it out. You may need to use a jack to push up on the spindle to help this process.
	Use a 17mm socket and a spanner to remove the sway bar links from the sway bar. Remove the rest of the sway bar as described in my sway bar replacement tech proceedure. There is a bolt in the passenger side control arm that is very hard to get to and removing the sway bar gave me enough room to get to the bolt. I'm sure it is possible to do this proceedure without removing the sway bar, but why not take this opportunity to replace your sway bar mount bushings and sway bar links.
	Remove the bolt holding the control arm center ball joint. Here is a picture of the driver's side. This one is easy to get to.
	This is a view of the passenger side center ball joint nut. It is the rusty bolt in the middle of the picture. The headers make it tough to get to. I also removed a heatshield, but it may not be necessary. Removing the heatshield was my first attempt to get room to get to the bolt before I took the sway bar off.
	Here I managed to get my wrench on the bolt enough to loosen it. I then attacked it from above with U-joint socket and a number of extensions. This nut is a pain to get off so be patient and use PB Blaster penetrating oil.
	Here is a picture of the removed control arm.
	My control arm bushing was in very poor shape.
	The bushing should be solid. No wonder the front end was shaking.
	I was able to twist the lollipop and control arm right off the control arm.
	Remove the sway bar link brackets from the old control arms and move them to the new ones. Mine were so rusty, I had to use a ton of penetrating oil. The driver's side one came off with a lot of force. My passenger's side one sheared. New brackets cost $4 from BMW.
	Remove the old control arm bushing from the lollipop. I used a saw to cut the outer shell of the old control arm bushing.
	Use a screwdriver to pry out the old bushing.
	Here is the empty lollipop.
	Here is the new E30 M3 offset control arm bushing resting on the lollipop. Notice how the hold is offset and the rest of the bushing is more solid than the normal E30 control arm bushing. The control arm bushing is pressed into the lollipop with the arrows alligned.
	My low tech solution was to use a block of wood and a BFH (big f.... hammer) to push the bushing into the lollipop, making sure the arrows stay alligned. Center the bushing inside the lollipop.
	Here it is, almost done. Notice the arrows?
	Use some laundry detergent to lube up the control arm bushings.
	Also lube up the end of the control arm.
	With the lubricant, I was able to push the bushing on the control arm enough to hold it on. The stick end of the lollipop should face in the direction of the end ball joint. If you think of the the L shape of the control arm as a plane, the stick end of the lollipop should be placed a few degrees below the plane - at 8PM and 4PM. See the picture of the old control arm bushing and lollipop for a reference.
	I made this piece of wood to help me bang the lollipop and control arm bushing onto the control arm. Once the control arms are pushed on, it is important to get the control arms back on the car as soon as possible before the lubricant dries. The car needs to be on the ground so the control arm can settle in the bushing. Roll the car back and forth to help settle the car.

Difficulty:
3 /5

Disclaimer: I am not a professional mechanic. Information this page should be used at your own risk and discretion. Different models and model years may be different than my 1991 318i. Read: If you screw your car up following my instructions, sorry. Isn't it sad that in this sue crazy world you have to put a disclaimer on your web page?