Is e30 ball joint replacement possible?

[kco325]

I just had my car (sortof) aligned and they said my CA bushing was torn, and my tie rods and ball joints all have play, so I'm changing them all.
The Haynes manual for some reason says you cannot replace ball joints on the control arms, that you should replace the whole arm.
I have bought the ball joints already, and have a mechanic who is going to press the old joints out and the new ones in, along with poly offset CA bushings.
I just thought I'd check if anyone else has changed just the ball joints, and if anyone knows why the Haynes (and BMW) manuals say replace the whole thing?
thanks

[Jordan]

You should just replace the entire arm (that comes with new balljoints pressed in)

Its cheaped in the long run (pressing them in and out takes time.. time = money) and the arm does wear over time. Replacing it can only do good.

What are they, like $140 for a pair? thats cheap. Return the balljoints or sell then to some chump on eBay.

[kco325]

well the problem is the ball joints only cost me like 100 bucks for both inner and outer. I've had my control arms measured and dimensions are accurate. I don't know, my mechanic says he's just changed the ball joints, but it seems weird that he'd be the only one.
I don't really have an extra 300 bucks, I'm being screwed by insurance right now (being given 50% blame for an accident that definitely was not my fault, to the tune of 3000$).
Have you always just replaced the whole arm with a new one? Because when my insurance replaced my front one the first accident, when someone pulled a U turn right across me, they replaced them with ones fron the wrecker and I had no say.

[e30evolution]

get aluminum control arms from ebay..... with new ball joints... and get new tie rod ends off of ebay as well... also you probly want to get new CA bushings.... if you are doing this yourself you will most likly tear the boots on the inner ball joints when taking them out.... so you might as well hammer down with a picle fork tear the shit out of the boots, and replace with new ones.

if one is worn out the other arent far behind.

oh.... one of the inner ball joints is hard to get at, what i did was took an extra sk wrench and cut it.... put the closed end over the fastener on the ball joint held the cut off piece of the wrench next to the other and welded the handle back on.... worked like a champ

[Charlie]

No, the ball joints are not replaceable on the e30 arms. On the e36 arms, yes, you can replace the balljoints, but for the e30 arm, it's a one-piece deal.

http://eap4parts.com/ - 74 bucks a side.

-Charlie

[Rosica]

E30 ball joints on the steel arms are replaceable, but unless you can get them pressed in for free, buying new arms is cheaper and easier.

[JRowe]

I've pressed them in on other cars, and I thought I could do it on mine. I tried (using my ball joint press) and destroyed the old ball joint, leaving parts of it still in the arm. Unless you have some highly specialized tools, made almost specifically for BMW, you won't have luck pressing them in and out. Universal ball joint presses won't work. In the end, I returned the new ball joints I had purchased and got new control arms. I would advise anyone to do the same.

[nando]

ix control arms are around $200 each.. a lot of people just replace the outter ball joints (the inners are much beefier and don't go bad as easily). the outer ix ball joint is the same as any other E30.

it can be done, and having a shop press them in wouldn't cost too much. however, if you spent $100 on all 4 ball joints, and then $20 to press them in, you may as well just spend $20 more to buy all new arms and save yourself some time and hassle!

[clavinZERO]

No, the ball joints are not replaceable on the e30 arms. On the e36 arms, yes, you can replace the balljoints, but for the e30 arm, it's a one-piece deal.

http://eap4parts.com/ - 74 bucks a side.

-Charlie

They are replaceable. I personally just replaced my e30 balljoints myself.

[Boots Walker]

They are replaceable. I personally just replaced my e30 balljoints myself.

how did you do it?

[clavinZERO]

with a shop press.
push em out.... line the new ones up correctly, then press em in.
note: pressing the old ones out can = total obliteration of them ,hehe

[Charlie]

with a shop press.
push em out.... line the new ones up correctly, then press em in.
note: pressing the old ones out can = total obliteration of them ,hehe

Using a shop doesn't really count as "myself".

When I think of "myself", I think of the guys in their garage with hand tools. Seeing as the center joint is usually toast as well, it just makes more sense to replace the whole arm.

-Charlie

[kco325]

Thanks for the comments, that's why I like this board, people actually respond.
Anyway, I dont know if you all realized, I'm in Canada, so I paid almost 90$, after tax, canadian, for 4 new ball joints (2 short outer, 2 long inner). Considering new arms are about 175 a piece, It's more like 250$ difference, so I'm going to go for it. My mechanic is going to help me use his press, and I am going to double-check the control arm dimensions when it's off, just to make 100% sure, but they should be fine.
I'll let you know how it works, I'm changing those as well as the tie rods, and putting in Powerflex offset poly CA bushings...
I'm looking forward to driving my car when this is all done, should be a NICE difference.

[Charlie]

Thanks for the comments, that's why I like this board, people actually respond.
Anyway, I dont know if you all realized, I'm in Canada, so I paid almost 90$, after tax, canadian, for 4 new ball joints (2 short outer, 2 long inner). Considering new arms are about 175 a piece, It's more like 250$ difference, so I'm going to go for it. My mechanic is going to help me use his press, and I am going to double-check the control arm dimensions when it's off, just to make 100% sure, but they should be fine.
I'll let you know how it works, I'm changing those as well as the tie rods, and putting in Powerflex offset poly CA bushings...
I'm looking forward to driving my car when this is all done, should be a NICE difference.

Even considering it's canadian, where are you getting quoted 175 from? That's KY-time. Most online places sell them for 74-90 bucks US per side, figure that's what, about 120 canadian? 175 US would be the aluminum M3 arms.

-Charlie

[kco325]

175 from BMW, and online is not especially an option for that... I learned my lesson on that one. I bought a shift know from Bavauto for 80$ US... = 120$ Canadian (back when the exchange was almost 50%), plus 30 dollars shipping plus 46 dollars Customs fee (that's the big one) equals almost 200 dollars.
The heavier and bigger things get, the more expensive they are for Customs to rip you off.
People in Canada know, it's worth finding a Canadian distributor.
Price-wise, it's definitely worth it to do ball joints, plus it's a moot point know since they're already bought and opened.
If anyone wants to know about the ball joints;
The box says they are OCAP (it's got a weird panda on the cover), they are made in Italy, says TUV certified, not much in the way of part numbers on it, just E30BMW316-318 on a sticker on the side.
They look quality, and have a 1 year warranty, so for 20$ for the short outer and 25$ for the long inner (again, CDN), it's worth it to me.