Best bushing overhauls

[BristolE30]

Hey zone

Been wanting to do some Bushing overhauls to better the ride feel on my 325i.

What do people recommend starting with? I was thinking shock mounts to start

[tha881]

Has anything been replaced suspension wise within the last few years? It all depends what your budget is, there is no cheap fix unfortunately and if you can just do the whole lot in one go, otherwise it will cost you more on alignments.

Rear shock mounts are well worth doing, it's an hours work tops, do them yourself. Its worth fitting new rear shocks while you're there.

The front top mounts do last a lot longer, again not a particularly difficult job but you need spring compressors, and while you're there probably worth fitting new dampers and springs.

Then you have the lower front arms (£150 a pair) and lollipops. Eccentric m3 are the ones to use as they are solid and give better turn in feel. Will alter the tracking though.

After all this your tracking will need doing so new track rod ends are a must.

Rear sub frame bushes are probably going to give the biggest improvement though, and although they're cheap they are hassle to fit.

Rear trailing arm bushes are generally fine, my car is still on the originals. Diff bush is well worth doing though.

If you just want quick fixes then use solid concentric front lollipops (£15) do the rear shock mounts (£15) and get a garage to do the rear subframe bushes (£20 + £100 labour) it shouldnt need alignment from this and you will feel an improvement.

[BristolE30]

Has anything been replaced suspension wise within the last few years? It all depends what your budget is, there is no cheap fix unfortunately and if you can just do the whole lot in one go, otherwise it will cost you more on alignments.

Rear shock mounts are well worth doing, it's an hours work tops, do them yourself. Its worth fitting new rear shocks while you're there.

The front top mounts do last a lot longer, again not a particularly difficult job but you need spring compressors, and while you're there probably worth fitting new dampers and springs.

Then you have the lower front arms (£150 a pair) and lollipops. Eccentric m3 are the ones to use as they are solid and give better turn in feel. Will alter the tracking though.

After all this your tracking will need doing so new track rod ends are a must.

Rear sub frame bushes are probably going to give the biggest improvement though, and although they're cheap they are hassle to fit.

Rear trailing arm bushes are generally fine, my car is still on the originals. Diff bush is well worth doing though.

If you just want quick fixes then use solid concentric front lollipops (£15) do the rear shock mounts (£15) and get a garage to do the rear subframe bushes (£20 + £100 labour) it shouldnt need alignment from this and you will feel an improvement.

Thanks for this mate, really helpful!

Will start with the quick fixes then move onto the subframe bushes!!

[HJ1981]

I have polyurethane lower control arm bushings (grade 80a) with bilstein HD shortened dampers, my god is the ride stiff as hell, like crashing over bumps, i am switching over on Monday to M3 offset ones. I guess it also depends what dampers you have on? i can not speak from experience, only from Bilstein HD shortened ones (they are stiff as hell).

I support what tha881 mentioned, i got those Z3 rear upper mount reinforcement plates from the dealership (to be safe). Only one tip, if you remove that rear subframe, i highly recommend you replace those 30+ year old rubber brake lines. One can access them with the subframe inplace, but access is tight and the likelihood of stripping those seized on connectors is high. You can go stock rubber or stainless, it is up to you, but i was shocked to see them in good condition, till someone pressed the brakes and they swollen up in size.