Major e36 MOT failure! Balljoints, how much to change?

[dobbie82]

My brothers 1997 P plate 318i failed its MOT on rear suspension bushes, both front ball joints, tyres, considerable oil leak, and a few other bits

(considering he paid 4500 from a BMW Specialist dealer only 9 months ago I am shocked at the list! too late to complain now though)

He is getting the bushes done at the Garage (3 hour job apparently) are the balljoints a DIY job?

I changed the balljoints on his MK2 golf but I supect this is a bit more involved!

Is he better off buying two wishbones complete with balljoints?

[tim_s]

My brothers 1997 P plate 318i failed its MOT on rear suspension bushes, both front ball joints, tyres, considerable oil leak, and a few other bits

(considering he paid 4500 from a BMW Specialist dealer only 9 months ago I am shocked at the list! too late to complain now though)

He is getting the bushes done at the Garage (3 hour job apparently) are the balljoints a DIY job?

I changed the balljoints on his MK2 golf but I supect this is a bit more involved!

Is he better off buying two wishbones complete with balljoints?

all the bushes etc mentioned are really common failures for e36s, most have had replacements by now.
3 hrs would be for the Z axle bushes, they're not that difficult to do yourself in all honesty and not 3 hours garage labour. i've done one in an hr or so, and if i had garage facilities it would be even quicker. also make sure they use the updated part, its the orignal-style parts that have the problem. not sure if BMW do the updated part, would have thought so though, but i them off GSF. the rear alignment needs resetting afterwards.

for the fronts, BMW don't sell the outer balljoints on their own, only GSF etc. - they fail for a pastime. they need pressing in, easy garage job, wouldn't bother trying yourself as it would just be a pain without a press. golf ones are rivetted in on a plate iirc (from my vw days), not pressed. you can buy the wishbones complete from GSF/euro though, might be cheaper to buy them and bolt them up than having a garage do just the balljoints.
hth
tim

[JazzMan]

How many miles has it done?

If the ball joints are like the ones on the E46 you need to replace the whole lower wishbone as its a PITA swapping the balljoints. May as well do the lower front control arm/wishbone bushes while your at it down there

I've not done the whole arm on mine, but I did do the bushes which wasnt a huge problem. There are guides on e46fanatics.com for doing control arms and bushes. Process should be similar on an E36

[dobbie82]

its done about 80k I think. its not a high milage car

[fuzzy]

doesnt seem that bad a list to be honest,nothing that couldnt be put right in a day i would think,

[dobbie82]

Its a shocker of a list to me probably because I maintain my car throughout the year, and none of my cars (out of about 8 cars MOT'ed at 3 garages) have ever failed an MOT on something unexpected. (had a few surprise passes though!)


It has done probably less than 3000 miles since its last MOT (probably even less as my brother only has a 2 mile commute to work!)

[JazzMan]

My brothers car is 1997 E36 compact we've had in the family from new. Its got 60k on there. The front ARB bushes are looking a little second had. The control arm bushes are OK but we are going to replace them with powerflex anyway. The shocking this for us is that one of the engine mounts has completely torn in half. Whats even more shocking is that this was not picked up at the MOT. This coming weeking we have planning in - new engine mounts, gear box mounts, front lower wishbone/control arm bushes, silkolene syn 5 for diff & gearbox and set of H&R anti roll bars (it does have a rear bar from stock)

Ball joints & bushes are just items that wear out with age. Perfectly normal as they are constantly understress I get the feeling the MOT stations can sometimes be a little over sensitive as the results vary hugly depending on where you go!

[tim_s]

from my experience as i said last time, both of these are very common failures on e36s.

my brother's 90k T plate e36 coupe has had both front wishbones done by BMW before his ownership (70k), and I did his rear Z axle bushes. My old man's T plate e36 sport touring has had the front balljoints done twice since his ownership (it is on 140k now though). one set only lasted about 25k.
the e36 suffers from high wear of both of these, like i say make sure you use the uprated design of Z axle bush, the original design is crap.
when you say rear suspension bushes it is the z axle bushes you mean? it could also be the subframe/axle carrier mounts, 3 hrs would be a good book time for those.
as far as pressing in new balljoints is concerned, last time i just took the arms off and paid £20 to have both sides pressed in by a local garage.
i was wrong pvsly though, the outer balljoints are available from BMW.
dunno about the MOT station being over-sensitve, e36s are just heavy on those particular bushes. having said that, i've always easily noticed the bushes having failed - wandering and shaky steering with the balljoints, rear end wollowing around and knocking with the Z axle bushses. other point on this i guess is that worn balljoints and Z axle bushes are pretty dangerous, especially the former.

[dobbie82]

ok thanks for all the help guys (anyone else is more than welcome to add more!)

I've known the tester about 15 years and he wouldnt make jobs that don't need doing, but equally he wouldnt pass a car that wasnt roadworthy. (Who on earth would want their car to pass with dodgy steering?) He has a e36 325i himself so probably knows the quickest way to change them.

oh and my brother had been complaining of a clunking for a few weeks

[JazzMan]

in that case it sounds like your MOT tester is a good one then I know how you feel though my E46 needed new front wishbone bushes after 39K miles! I think BMW need to work on their parts in that area!

[boybimmerm3]

E36 front outer ball joints can be replaced without needing a complete new arm. Dealer parts dept proably keep them in stock, are common. Just need pressing out and pushing in with a special tool. Piece of cake to do.

[Templ8e30]

According to Total BMW magazine the e36 balljoints are a cack design with the E30 joints being much better.

Best of all the E30 wishbones fit the E36, buy a set of E30 wishbones and fit them. My wife has an E36 and I intend to fit E30 arms when the time comes.

Cheers,

Iain T