Do-It-Yourself information for the modifications I've completed
Do-It-Yourself information for essential wear and tear items
Articles covering all the ways to maintain your car
All about the BMW 330ci
Various links that I've found valuable
A few pictures of my car and some others
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Changing Your Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (RTABs)
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Difficulty
This is not an easy job simply because it is a pain to remove the old bushing and press the new bushing in. If you've done a lot of suspension and bushing work, then it won't be bad, however if you haven't before, this could be challenging. I'd recommend giving yourself at least 4 hours if you've never done this before as getting the bushings in and out is the hardest part.
Ball Joint Press |
RTAB Tool
So the question comes down to what tool do I need to get to accomplish this job. I did some research, priced them out, and decided I'd give the free auto parts store ball joint press a shot. I had heard that it could be done, but now I can confirm that it definitly can be done. Now a special tool may make the job easier, but this get the job done and isn't a lot of hassle. |
Tools Needed
Torque Wrench
Various Sockets and Wrenches
Breaker Bar
Penetrating Oil (This will help do some of the work for you like PB Blast)
Ball Joint Press (Can be rented for free from your local auto parts store)
Parts Needed
OEM BMW M3 Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (Vorshlag P # 65-13RE-01) $55
Vorshlag RTAB Limiters (Vorshlag P # 24-12RT-01) $55
Instructions
Safely lift at least the rear of the car
1. Using a lift or a floor jack with ramps lift at least the rear of the vehicle. Instructions for jacking up your car can be found here. This can be a very dangerous step, so make sure that the car is properly secured before ever getting under it. Never get under a car that is just supported by a jack!
Remove the rear wheel
Remove the rear wheel
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Remove the rear wheel
2. Using a 17mm deep socket with an impact wrench or hand ratchet, remove the lugnuts and set your wheels aside. If your alloys are siezed onto your brake rotors, sit down on your butt and give the sidewalls of the tires a good kick until it becomes loose. If they have siezed on, make yourself a note to add some antisieze lubricant to the brake rotor mating surface before reinstalling the wheels. |
Disconnect the rear sway bar endlink
Disconnect the rear shock
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Disconnect the rear swaybar and shocks
3. Using a 5/8" wrench for the bolt and a 11/16" wrench for the nut, loosen the sway bar endlink and disconnect it. We will do this to get some more room. You can skip this step if you assess you don't need it.
4. Using a 18mm wrench disconnect the rear shock from the trailing arm. |
Put everything back together
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Put everything back together
15. Reattach the rear shock to the trailing arm using a 18mm wrench and torque it to 74 ft-lbs.
16. Reinstall and run the ABS/brake wear sensors along the trailing arm.
16. Now using a 5/8" wrench for the bolt and a 11/16" wrench for the nut, reattach and tighten up the sway bar end link to the sway bar
17. Put the wheels back on (put some anti-sieze on the rotor hat if you had some trouble getting your wheels off before) and torque down your lug nuts to 88 ft-lbs after safely lowering your car.
18. Make sure you go and get a 4 wheel alignment as soon as possible. If you've got some other projects you're working on like tie rods, RTABS, etc. then wait till you've finished them all.
19. Enjoy the firmer rear suspension.
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Conclusions
After getting my 4 wheel alignment done, the rear end seems much more firm and planted. Once again I did a lot of things at once, so it's really hard to comment specifically. I replaced them at 100k which seemed just about right.
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