Replacing front lower suspension

[coldweatherblue]

Hey guys I'm finally getting around to replacing the rubber in my front suspension and have a few q's before I take on the job..

I have hand tools/jacks/etc but have never done suspension work before.

to anyone who has bought the full suspension kit from blunttech: do the CAB come pre installed as it appears in the picture?

http://bmw.blunttech.com/Upgrade-Parts-Maintenance-Kits/BMW/3-Series/E30/E30-Suspension/Complete-E30-Suspension-Rebuild-Kit-p97032.html

I'm gonna buy the kit but only work on the front for now.

Do I need a ball joint puller to do this job if I'm getting pre-installed CAB, etc?

So I've read the bentley procedure and this pelican article:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...g_overhaul.htm

honestly they make this job sound like a cakewalk. I have a feeling it's more of a pita than that..

How much of a PITA is it to change control arms, tie rods, sway links? any tips/pearls outside of whats in bentley?

Thanks.

[Northern]

The biggest pain I've ever run into was the ball joint stud seizing into the knuckle.

I dont have a pickle fork so I've mostly threaded a disposable nut partially onto the balljoint and hit it with a BFH, or for the inner balljoint, using a very long punch down through the engine bay to hammer on.

[Northern]

Also, I dont think the kit comes with the bushings presed into new lollipops, but I'm sure if you contacted blunt, he could make it happen.

[mr ilia]

1 - Tire rods and sway bar links would be easiest to change.
2 - You will likely would want to remove front sway bar, as the acess to control arm nuts would be easier. With the sway bar out, you may want to replace the sway busings and retaining housing.
3 - Getting ball joints or seised bolts, was not a problem for my northern car.
4 - The most difficult thing I found, was the acess to the control arm nut on the passnger side.
5 - Pressing CABs in and out was not a problem for me, i just used big hammer to do this.

[coldweatherblue]

thanks for replies guys.. e30 is my daily so i'm trying to get all the parts/tools/knowledge I need to replace all the rubber in one weekend w/o having to use a shop and without too much cursing/cutknuckles/etc.

[SkiFree]

Do you have a repair manual? If not, get one prior to doing any of this.

[coldweatherblue]

Do you have a repair manual? If not, get one prior to doing any of this.

see OP.

I have my trusty grease covered bentley and have read a few online DIY articles .. they all make it sound pretty easy. I'm just trying to guage exactly how much cursing and bloody knuckles will be involved to maximize chance of successful replacement w/o having to take a lot of rides to the autoparts store and being w/o my car for a week.

[Cletonius]

Buy a 7/8" crowfoot. You'll thank yourself later; the inner ball joints are cake with this. If you don't have one you'll probably have to cut a wrench, I did.

You don't need to pull the swaybar, but it will make things easier in the long run.

When you push the cabs onto the control arms, make sure the end is nice and shiny clean. They won't go on if there's any corrosion. It should be easy to push them on by hand with a little dawn on them.

[the_thryll]

I don't have much experience working on cars, but was able to replace my control arms , control arm bushings, sway-bar links, and sway-bar bushings without too much trouble. Google "bavauto replace control arms" to find videos of this part this job. Below are some things that I learned that may help you:

(1) I probably should have bought the 7/8" crowfoot for removing the 22mm nut of the inner ball joints as Josh said. I removed this nut on the driver side from above in the engine bay like this guy did: http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318ism3cabush.html
Removing the nut on the passenger side was slow going from any angle.

(2) I bought cabs pressed into the brackets because no shops near me were willing to this. Buying these pressed in may save you time and be worth the extra cost, depending on your situation.

(3) The hardest part of this job for me was pressing the cabs onto the ends of the new control arms. I didn't have enough leverage to push them on by hand while lying on the ground under my jacked-up car (I weigh 155 lbs). Here's what worked for me: Lube the center of the cab with dish soap. Push the cab onto control arm as far as you can by hand. If you're able to push it on all the way, good job. If not, hammer it on the rest of the way using a small sledge and a large socket (I used a 22mm deep socket).