Bushing pricing?? Any help/guidance greatly appreciated!

[asudevil]

Hello all! Well after the addition of the 20" M wheels I installed on my 09' 4.8i, I had to have BMW make some warranty repairs to the ride and while it was in there they went through their normal inspection and said they can't complete a 4 wheel alignment due to the fact that my front lower control arm bushings are too worn. No big surprise considering we are approaching the 100k mile mark on the X5. However, I was just curious what everyone pays for this service to be done to their E70's? I was planning on having a local indy shop make the repairs for me before they do an alignment on it. Any help on a good number to shop around for would be appreciated for those of you that have gone through this same ordeal before. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say. Cheers!

[neliconcept]

bumping this as I also have this question and need to get my fronts done.

[mitch808]

It could be $1 to $2000. There is no rhyme or reason for what some shops charge, and local labor rates vary a lot especially between two locale's such as NYC and Houston.

That said, there could be urethane bushings from the aftermarket that will work, and will be an upgrade (Lowest cost option). Of course the suspension pieces need to be removed, old bushing pressed out, and new bushing pressed in. It's a quick operation, but still paying for a lot of labor.

An OEM bushing may be available, or just buying a replacement suspension arm that has all new rubber. It probably varies by part.

Here is a great alternative to an OEM bushing:
http://powerflexusa.com/e70x506-13.aspx

I have never bothered to see what is in the OEM catalog, or perhaps an OE type bushing from the likes of Moog or similar. What I can tell you, having done something like this on another of my heavily modified project cars, is that for bushings, that was only 1/7th the cost of the getting it installed...

[Kdavis61]

I paid $650 at Murray BMW of Denver.

[neliconcept]

My local dealer is quoting me 970 ish so I know what the dealer will charge. I hope that I can get it done for around 500 somewhere locally. About to make some calls however. Thanks for the reply!

[neliconcept]

Ok so to add more to this post. I have to replace the thrust arm bushings also called the tension strut arm from some parts websites. An indy shop quoted me around 440 for the parts and installation. I'm hoping to have my balljoints checked as well. I just realized that their are two lower arms that act as the lower control arm unlike other cars that run double wishbone with a single lower control arm unit (interesting!)

Hope that helps anyone else out as well.