Daniel said:I've read recently a few post about people having trouble with their control arms and the control arm bushings. If I understand correctly, it sounds like the bushings are wearing very prematurely.
I'm just curious how many have had this problem, and is this a bigger issue than just a few random cars.
ChrisTO said:
i don't think the problem is random but more of a defect in the parts/design. there is a TSB out for it, but not a full blown recall probably due to the fact that it's not a safety issue and more of an annoyance.
Daniel said:I've read recently a few post about people having trouble with their control arms and the control arm bushings. If I understand correctly, it sounds like the bushings are wearing very prematurely.
I'm just curious how many have had this problem, and is this a bigger issue than just a few random cars.
Interesting. A few weeks ago I started noticing a squeek when I turned the steering while my car was motionless. (I've got ~26k on the car now.) When I take it in for Insp. 1 in a few weeks I'll have to have them look at the control arms.AG said:
I just had my control arms replaced a few days ago. The write-up says the ball joints were making noises, so the control arms and bushings were replaced. The people who do have control arm problems indicated they started showing up with 20~25k miles on the odometer. My car (11/2000 build 330i) had 26k miles. As far as I know, they were replaced with the newer 66mm bushings.
rg said:
My car is a 6/00 production 330i with SP, currently ~25,800 miles.
Mystikal said:
OT: Wow, what month did 330's start rolling off the line? I thought it was July, like all of the other model year changes. :dunno:
rg said:I wonder if this means that the control arms are/were more of a problem on the sedans and the coupe parts are more robust.
rg said:Today I had my 330i in for the front end noises (see previous post in this thread). Sure enough the diagnosis was that the control arm ball joints and bushings needed to be replaced.
The invoice has the following part numbers
31 - 12 - 6 - 758 - 519 WISHBONE
31 - 12 - 6 - 758 - 520 WISHBONE
(part numbers for some misc. nuts)
31 - 12 - 6 - 757 - 623 BRACKET SET
(the last being, I gather, the bushing/bracket assemblies)
Prices are not listed as this is under warranty.
What is interesting is that the control arms are significantly different in design. I would describe the old ones as looking like "solid boomerangs" whereas the new ones are quite a bit wider and have several lightening holes in the flat portion. For those of you that have the Bentley manual, see page 310-18. The old ones looked just like the "sedan" part shown whereas the new ones look like the "coupe" part shown. I wonder if this means that the control arms are/were more of a problem on the sedans and the coupe parts are more robust.
BTW this should provide a relatively easy way to determine whether your car has the new or old control arms.
TD said:FYI, production for the 2001 330s did start in 06/00.