M3 front arm balljoints

[harry_p]

I believe they can be pressed out and e30 ones pressed in?

Noticed a bit of play in one of my outers whilst doing my rack swap, so thinking of doing the balljoints as they're the only moving bit at the front that's not yet been changed!

Has anyone actually done it? Do you definitely need a press or could I improvise with spacers and a big hammer?

[maxfield]

I have used a hammer and I block of wood to knock one in before. Haven't had to push one out before, that one had fell out

[penton08]

I've fitted e30 joints to evo arms before, getting the new joints in is child's play compared to removing the old ones! The press failed to help! Big hammers did not work either. I ended up grinding the bottom off and knocking the guts out and cutting through the side like you would on a diff bush.

[harry_p]

Hmm, I kept meaning to see if you boys would be able to do it.

I've got a spare pair of arms on the way so I can stick new joints in them then swap them for the ones on the car.

I'll give it a go and see what sort of mess I can make

[pacerpete]

I have done it with a press, the old ones were fooooking in there ! They eventually succumbed. Shame the victim supplied Taiwanese 'no name no blame' replacement balljoints

[HairyScreech]

Pentons method might actually not be a bad idea if your handy with a grinder, much less stress on the wishbone than pressing or beating the old joint out.
As pete hints at, none of them are worth replacing with cheep joints, far too much pain to put scrap back in.

[harry_p]

Well, I can now confirm it can be done.

I had a practise on a spare arm, instead of butchering mine then being stuck

First one took fooking ages, but I refined the method and the second took about 15mins. But I had my suspicion the 'Evo' arms I bought off a zoner, weren't actually evo ones, so I held off pressing new joints in.

The evo arm is on top, you can clearly see how much further forward the outer balljoint sits, which is why you need them if you're 5 studding an e30 using e36 parts. Annoyed ive paid out for a pair of arms that weren't what they were supposed to be. A bit late now I've knocked the joints out. Lesson learnt. Don't trust anyone


A few bits missing,



New joints in, and arm cleaned up and given a squirt of paint while it was off.


It's all back together now, and feels much better, with no more knocking! Will still do the other side so I know they're all good.

My method was the similar to pentons.

On the bottom of the joint there's a raised rim which is crimped over a metal cap. Cut that rim away and the cap comes off and you can easily knock the whole centre out of the joint leaving just the metal outer.
I used an electric saw with a fine tooth metal cutting blade, cut two slots approx 5mm apart through the casing to as close as you dare go to the arm. Use a lump hammer and bolster to knock the top of the joint both inwards and downwards. A couple of smacks and it should start to move.

I knocked the new ones in using a large socket to only put pressure on the rim, I only had a 36, so used a large washer as a shim. A 34mm would have been a better fit.

I might actually take some work in progress pics of the next one

[martauto]

Nice one Harry and don't those bins come in handy as well? Mine have every colour paint under the sun on them.

By the way, was access to the inner joint OK ?

Mart.

[harry_p]

Tbh, that was the worst part of the job.

Not sure how much is because its awkward on all, and how much because its an m3.

Steering rack, aircon pipe, arb, aux air pump all hindered access from underneath, while manifold heatshields mean you can't even see the nut from above. To make it worse, the new joints had a 21mm nut, so I went and bought a 21mm open ended spanner. Then when I came to remove the arm from the car I found it used a 22mm nut, luckily I found an old imperial spanner which did the job.

Next time I'll trim and shape a spanner to fit through the gaps to make it easier as ill probably use the spare arms I bought along with some new joints to replace the wobbly standard e36 ones on the compact.