****UPDATE**** - There have been reports of leaking dampening fluid from the Lemford tension struts from multiple users, myself included at or before 30k miles as there appears to have been a faulty production run of them on the market. FCP will replace these free of charge if you purchased from them.
Posting this up to help anyone else interested in updating/refreshing their front suspension. I was experiencing front end "clunk" from time to time as well as the truck pulling left or right over uneven roads and vibrations at certain speeds.
The lower control arms and tension struts were the main culprits. I also replaced the upper A-arms but feel now this was unnecessary, even after 165K miles as they looked and felt almost new after I removed them to my surprise, unlike the lower control arms and tension struts which had completely shot ball joints and rubber. Replacing them also nearly doubles the labor time.
After completing the front suspension refresh, the truck now drives like new again and highly recommend this, it will make you fall in love with your X5 all over again
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I used OEM Lemford parts, they fit perfect and I did not need to do an alignment after.
FCP Euro has an excellent combo of the parts here:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...der-kit-512243. They also offer a combo with the upper A-arms included but it is quite pricey. You can also find the parts at Autohausaz for slightly cheaper but you must piece together all of the nuts/bolts yourself and they do not offer lifetime warranty. Please note that M's use different control arms as they have stiffer rubber components.
Below are PDF's I created from ISTA covering all the suspension components. Also below is an excellent video I found for the tension control arms.
A couple of tips for all of those doing this work yourself:
1 - Make sure you have excellent floor jack & jack stands, 2 ton min. I used:
https://www.harborfreight.com/2-ton-...ump-64542.html and
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-...nds-91760.html.
2 - You will need a 27mm Socket and a torque wrench capable of 165nm.
3 - Everything (with the exception control arm swivel joint nuts and the sway bar links) must be tightened with the suspension in the normal driving position, this means you must put the full weight of the truck on the jack stands positioned perfectly under the control arms to properly load the suspension. Watch the video below for more details.
4 - There are two different versions of the sway bar links, those with active suspension and those without.
5 - Expect this to take 4-6 hours for the avg. DIY'er for the lower control arms, 10-12 hours if you also do the upper A-arms.