Jeff Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Exciting news in the xi model's the front outer ball joints can be replaced Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 straight6pwr Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 from my experience i have found its not worth it to get new joints pressed versus just getting a new arm unless you have an extra set of arms around. the time, cost, and inconvenience of bringing all the parts to a shop to press them outweighs the extra $$ to just get the whole shebang.unless you are paying the shop to do all the work anyways, then it is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jeff Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 for the e46 330xi/325xi they are supposed to be non replaceable and i think it is worth the $30 vs. the $150 for a control arm. it takes 20 mins to get the arm off 15 mins to get the ball joint out 30 mins to put it back togeather. so for the little over an hour of labor its well worth saving the $120. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 need4speed1299 Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Thanks for the information. The more options for the repair, the better. Lower ball joints are usually an easy repair(with the correct tools of course). A good trick is to Jack up the lower control arm to hold the ball joint in place so you can get the nut off. Otherwise they break loose and just spin. Another trick, if the ball joint is stuck in the hub, tap the side of the hub where the ball joint presses into. Mushrooming the threads ontop of the ball joint sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jeff Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Thanks for the information. The more options for the repair, the better. Lower ball joints are usually an easy repair(with the correct tools of course). A good trick is to Jack up the lower control arm to hold the ball joint in place so you can get the nut off. Otherwise they break loose and just spin. Another trick, if the ball joint is stuck in the hub, tap the side of the hub where the ball joint presses into. Mushrooming the threads ontop of the ball joint sucks.i like the jack under the ball joint trick some times they want to be a pain.thought it was interesting that the non serviceable ball joint/control arm {as they say} turns out to be serviceable. the ball joint that goes in the control arm is used in a e36 non m.i bought 1 for a 1992 325i and it is the same size as the one that i took out of the control arm. measured 49mm. i will post some pictures up tomarrow morning my phone died when i was working on it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Jeff Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o544/ljx124/177713E8-6A88-49CF-ACB6-29456944B07E-186-000000145984DE44.jpghttp://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o544/ljx124/2F371FDE-2313-402E-853D-4751A59D1C47-186-0000001460F34F66.jpghttp://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o544/ljx124/F5F99CA9-9237-4F9E-936A-C26B7A5C22A7-186-00000014676B5BFF.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Exciting news in the xi model's the front outer ball joints can be replaced
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