E30 Front lower wishbone balljoints....

[Paulsimon8]

Are the front lower wishbone balljoints on the E30 replaceable? I know they are on the E36, but not sure about the E30.

Cheers

Paul

[fuzzy]

i believe they are on the steel ones but not the alloy,i just replaced all mine today,the complete steel arm with 2 balljoints is only £32 or you can fit the alloy ones for £181 each from ECP

[Paulsimon8]

Ahhh - The steel ones that came with the M3 parts are damaged, well, the steel wishbones are perfect, but one of the balljoints has snapped due to the donor car being rolled

Trip to the factors for some QH items methinks tomorrow then

[Simon13]

gsf sell genuine arms for a fraction of the dealer cost!

£90@bmw
£35@gsf! steel ones of course

[Paulsimon8]

Simon - Do GSF have a website that I could look on?

Or, Are the wishbones on all E30's the same? or are the M3 items unique in the angles and position of balljoints etc?

[Brianmoooore]

Thought the M3 ones were the alloy ones as well, although I seem to recall reading that not all were.

[stonesie]

http://www.gsfcarparts.com

usually very good on price (sheffield branch anyway )

[Simon13]

they are all the same i'm pretty sure of this.

Brian it was the early M3's which used steel arms, but i can't remember when they changed over to the ali ones might of been around 89.

Tourings were the only other E30's to have them as standard

GSF website is a bit shite if u ask me, just go in and ask, ask for a german one. They should have them in stock too

[Brianmoooore]

.

Tourings were the only other E30's to have them as standard

Just 325 tourings, that is. 316 - 320 tourings had steel arms.

[ant2]

e30 325 touring and m3 had the same part number for the ally lower arms according to the etk

[Paulsimon8]

Cheers Boys

Down to the breakers for me to collect a pair of 325i Touring Alloy front arms for 30 quid the pair

[Brianmoooore]

Cheers Boys

Down to the breakers for me to collect a pair of 325i Touring Alloy front arms for 30 quid the pair

Take a magnet with you.

[Paulsimon8]

I can tell the difference between steel and alloy

[tjd200]

got the same problem - only due to a perished gaiter - a curse bmw for making the wishbone a single part (I only need to replace a balljoint...)

So same dilemma of steel & alloy (for a tourer)- can't afford one and don't want the weight penalty of the other. Would go the scrappy route but don't want to replace the wishbone only for the same thing to happen again (as I'm assuming the mounts get buggered every time you change).

Which reminds me - could use poly bushes here, then perhaps wouldn't have this problem. Anyone done this and noticed a difference?

[dodgem]

So what are the advantages of the ali wishbones?

I'd assume they are both lighter and stiffer than the steel ones, which seems to be enough of an advantage for unsprung weight already - any other reasons to use ali wishbones?

And from what i've read, the ball joints aren't replaceable seperately from the control arm, no (not according to the Haynes manual anyway )

Simon

[tjd200]

unsprung weight issue?

[tjd200]

Also does anyone know for sure the steel ones are an exact match? Could be some difference in the geometry, size etc. Sure it'd only be minor but there must be some reason for different parts.

Only other guess is that it is bmw's overall attempt with the touring to compensate for the inherent chassis weakness of the estates larger 'box' (compared to the saloon) - to try wherever possible to bring it's handling characteristics in line with the other models.

very interested to hear from someone who has a beter understanding of this - would be good to get to the bottom of it.

[tjd200]

guess this topic should be moved to tech...