Rear Bushes

[E30BeemerLad]

I have come to the conclusion that the rear subframe bushes are shot on my car.

Obviously I am as keen as the next man to avoid paying someone to do this, but being realistic.....

1- is this the job from hell to do on the driveway with axle stands and limited tools?

2- Am I better off just paying a garage to renew all bushes on the rear end? Anyone had this done and what have you paid?

[TOURINGDADDY]

Im a machanic and the garage is doing mine.

[E30BeemerLad]

'nuff said fella!

Oxy torch job then is it?

Welcome back by the way, not seen you about for a bit, 'puter trouble?

[TOURINGDADDY]

the worst u could ever think of, got new puter now so its all good

[sabrje]

My local garage around the corner has a specialized 'equipment' for doing the bushes - cost me Ԛ£110 all in.... I'll attempt most stuff but from what I've read on here these bushes are about one of the worst jobs. Its probably worth ringing around a few mechanics to get quotes because I think they can vary widely.

[MikeF]

Hi,
I did my rear bushes in the driveway and its was not funny!! But I did replace them with polyflex bushes and the outcome was superb. The road noise is a little more and the ride is a little harsher (better than knackered ones though) but the car tells you alot more about what the backend is doing through the steering wheel. I recommend.
Mike

[TOURINGDADDY]

110 is a good price mate and if they got the tool i'd go there i'm gettin charged a ton vvvvvvvvvvvvvv cheap

[JimmyC]

I'll let you know next week, should be doing it in the evenings next week on mine.

Replacing them with powerflex

[adamS]

Cost me Ԛ£180 at Auto Bavaria in Newcastle

[TOURINGDADDY]

ouch.................

[Andy_magic]

What are the main problems with doing the rear bushes??

[TOURINGDADDY]

gettin the rear beam down and the bushes out

[Andy_magic]

I'm planning on changing the diff, rear wheel bearings, rear disks and trailing arm bushes anyway, may as well do the lot in one hit.

[E30BeemerLad]

think I'll make some calls tomorrow, not going near that job

now should I polybush?

[TOURINGDADDY]

yes u should poly i am. and andy_magic good luck mate pm fowler and ask him about rear beams................

[Andy_magic]

cheers for the heads up td.

I'm going to give it a go, I'm too tight to pay a mechanic, especially when I was a mechanic for 12 years

[E30BeemerLad]

how much am I into for polybushing the entire rear end? in parts I mean.

[TOURINGDADDY]

i think its bout 70 bar

[E30BeemerLad]

fair play

cheers dude

[Brianmoooore]

I'm planning on changing the diff, rear wheel bearings, rear disks and trailing arm bushes.

And the rear brake lines, and the fuel tank!

[Simon]

Both my local garages charge Ԛ£60 for the job, when I booked the car in, I said to him "bet you're looking forward to doing them?" to which he looked at me strange and said "easy!"

OK!

[Andy335Touring]

I stumped up 127 quid to have them done by a garage(33 quid for gen' BMW bush's the rest was labour and VAT), money well spent !

[Andy_magic]

And the rear brake lines, and the fuel tank!

I would but theres nothing wrong with the existing ones

[craigieeb]

here's a link which you should find handy if doing the bushes yourself
http://www.jezbraker.com/JJbRacing/Tech/bushes.htm

[Andy_magic]

cheers mate.

[Andy_magic]

Does anyone know if the Z3 rear suspension is the same as the E30

[JOSEMI]

what r the signs of rear bushes gone ??? your threads sound scary what the f

[Taylor325i]

Im a machanic and the garage is doing mine.

I'll have a bash at anything myself but after reading the article on doing the rear bushes I decided I wasn't even attempting it. I got my local guy to do mine for Ԛ£150 all in.


Taylor.

[M3GTR]

First signs for me were that you can hear a lot of noise from the diff and increased road noise. You might also hear a slight clunk when you set off or go from forward to reverse.

If you're looking at Powerflex bushes, don't forget the deal in the Bulk Buys section which I run through having a deal with Powerflex to help support my racing....major discounts on retail prices http://www.zoneracing.co.uk/store/default.htm

[M3Compact]

Does anyone know if the Z3 rear suspension is the same as the E30

Yes it is, so is an E36 Compact.

If you're looking at Powerflex bushes, don't forget the deal in the Bulk Buys section which I run through having a deal with Powerflex to help support my racing....major discounts on retail prices http://www.zoneracing.co.uk/store/default.htm

My Compact has trashed these E30 Powerflex bushes in 250 miles road testing on road tyres.

OEM trailing arm bushes are stronger than Powerflex imo.

How it was..





How it is....





Because....






Powerflex.

[JOSEMI]

cheers M3GTR - mine are fine so far then
so its best to buy original

[Andy_magic]

Cheers for that... I might just use stock bushes. I'll have to see how the finanances go

[DanThe]

Generally the main mounting bushes are the first to go, Ԛ£8 a piece from euro, as said its best to get a garage to change em. Its a lot of hassle if you dont have the specisl tool, this allows them to be changed with the beam in situ, you dont even need to remove the wheel!!!
BUT,,, its the best part of Ԛ£200 to buy

[drifty325i]

so is it easy to replace the rear sub bushes if you have the diff out? i ask this because i will have mine out next week got me an lsd yay

[Brianmoooore]

so is it easy to replace the rear sub bushes if you have the diff out? i ask this because i will have mine out next week got me an lsd yay

Replacing the bushes is relatively easy. It's getting the old ones out where the fun is.
Advantages of diff out are a reduction in weight of the beam, and you can probably move it around more to get better access.