The delership mentioned I would need a new suspension 15, ooo miles ago- Feeling it for sure but not wanting to pay the delership to do the work- Can somebody please help me understand whatn this will entail so that I can get the work done right elsewhere? Thank you- Portland girl
Pelican has a nice article on it: http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/101-Projects-59-Front-Overhaul/101-Projects-59-Front-Overhaul.htm Before you ready it, keep two things in mind: 1. This was written for E30 and E36 cars (3 series, 84-99). Your E46 is basically the same, in principle, but may have some detail differences. 2. Pelican is a parts store, they're trying to sell you stuff. That said, this article seems very objective and complete (to me). My thoughts are (since my car is in the same position): All the wear in the parts that wear contribute to sloppy steering and handling. So if your goal is to get that tight, new car feel, it doesn't make any sense to replace some of the parts and not the rest. The reason not to replace everything is if one or more parts wore out faster than the others and is causing a problem AND you're broke. This happened to me in grad school when the outer ball joints crapped out. Everything else was worn, and I knew that the right thing to do was the whole job, I just couldn't afford it. So my front end is still sloppy and I spent my money putting the job off another year or so. hope this helps, -- Aubrey Granner '93 325i
For the love of GOD don't let the stealer do the work or else you are looking at a bill of at least $2.5K. Your best bet is to get the parts yourself. When they said that you need a new suspension, did they mention shocks/springs/control arms, etc...? I know that the control arms on any E46 are pricey, even at Bavauto.com. Let us know what parts they told you......
Are you having problems with it? Tire wear unevenly? Unhappy with the handling or comfort? There are lots of things you CAN replace: Set 1 (the rubber common wear items): RTAB, RSM, CAB Set 2: front struts and rear shocks upper strut hat Set 3: hard wear items front Control arms front sway end links tie rods rear lower control arm bushing
