Front Lower Wishbones

[bastosm3]

outer ball joints are knackered, do i

a) get entire wishbones and replace

b) get m3 alloy wishbones and replace

c) just buy ball joints and struggle to get the
old ones out of the old wishbones

[whipsey]

where abouts in northants are you mate? i have a press

[stonesie]

A) Theyre about £50 a side for decent quality ones, the cheap ones are a false economy because they will probably need changing again next year.

Add to that a pair of genuine offset M3 lower arm bushes (about £22 from the OEM parts section) to sharpen up the steering and once it's been tracked it will feel much better to drive

[fuzzy]

how much are the main dealer arms?

[stonesie]

Put it this way, sit down before you ask... Especially if your after the alloy ones


Edit
After a search i came up with £92.81 each for the steel arms, no price for the alloy ones and it would be worth re-checking the price as it was an old thread.

[fuzzy]

i remember the alloy ones being about £185 each or there abouts? but i cant remember if that was main dealer.

[BadDave]

i remember the alloy ones being about £185 each or there abouts? but i cant remember if that was main dealer.

I think they've gone up to about £200 ish each now



New ball joints are about £6.50 Ea (inner & outer)and if you've got access to a press, it's much cheaper than new wishbones.

[dannyboy759]

Yeah alloy ones are 200 quid plus, not worth it although the ball joints last longer than the steel ones for some reason!
Could get group A stuff for that price!!

[fuzzy]

how much are steel arms from the main dealer? im guessing £70 ish?

[stonesie]

After a search i came up with £92.81 each for the steel arms, no price for the alloy ones and it would be worth re-checking the price as it was an old thread.

[fuzzy]

id missed that edit...

[Demlotcrew]

Yeah alloy ones are 200 quid plus, not worth it although the ball joints last longer than the steel ones for some reason!
Could get group A stuff for that price!!

They are heat treated, its impossible to change the ball joints in ali arms.

Andrew

[Jhonno]

The Alloy arms are £240+VAT from BMW now..

[bastosm3]

i think i might take the balljoint route, i have use of a press, cheers for the help.

[fuzzy]

do original bmw balljoints fit in ECP cheaper arms?

[dannyboy759]

do original bmw balljoints fit in ECP cheaper arms?

BMW dont make balljoints for the standard E30 arms! you can only get them aftermarket which is strange as BMW makes then for the E36 for some reason the E30 ones where never designed to be changed! and the after maket ball joints from GSF ECP and so on dont last as long as an original BMW control arms!

[bastosm3]

what are the arms from GSF like ?

[dannyboy759]

Tobe honest if you go for the more expensive ones, theres usally a few options! they are made by Febi Bilstein and so on some of the same companies that supply BMW!
I had two for the front of my 325, i forget the make now but they were in the same sort of comparison to the OEM with regards to quality

[fuzzy]

i think the ECP version of the control arms i bought were about £35, theyve lasted a year so far...