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CirrusSR22 · 10-29-2010, 08:52 AM

Today I did ball joints (control arms), 1996+ M3 control arm bushings and tie rods. All Lemforder/Sachs/ZF stuff. The P80 rubber emulsion will dry overnight (hopefully, it's cold) then I will try an alignment with the new toe adjustment plates I got on eBay. I even loaded the car as instructed!

I had a clunk up front on slow bumps so I just assumed it was the ball joints. Thought I'd do the tie rods while I was in there since they originals. I'm at 199,000 miles. The control arm's ball joints didn't seem too bad (85,000 miles on these Lemforders) but they will probably have to be changed before too long, knowing how E36s go.... The outer ball joints on the tie rods were bad. One was totally gone with a torn boot and all. The other wasn't too great either but the boot wasn't torn. The inner ball joints had no play that I could feel by hand.

I did notice the ball joint on one of my front sway bar links is bad, so I just ordered a pair from Pelican.

10-29-2010, 08:52 AM	#774
CirrusSR22 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 1,587 iTrader: (3) Photo Gallery	Today I did ball joints (control arms), 1996+ M3 control arm bushings and tie rods. All Lemforder/Sachs/ZF stuff. The P80 rubber emulsion will dry overnight (hopefully, it's cold) then I will try an alignment with the new toe adjustment plates I got on eBay. I even loaded the car as instructed! I had a clunk up front on slow bumps so I just assumed it was the ball joints. Thought I'd do the tie rods while I was in there since they originals. I'm at 199,000 miles. The control arm's ball joints didn't seem too bad (85,000 miles on these Lemforders) but they will probably have to be changed before too long, knowing how E36s go.... The outer ball joints on the tie rods were bad. One was totally gone with a torn boot and all. The other wasn't too great either but the boot wasn't torn. The inner ball joints had no play that I could feel by hand. I did notice the ball joint on one of my front sway bar links is bad, so I just ordered a pair from Pelican. Last edited by CirrusSR22; 10-29-2010 at 10:24 AM.