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      02-22-2021, 01:50 PM   #1
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E70 Front Suspension Refresh Guide

****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 .

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.

Attached Images
 
Attached Images
File Type: pdf Tension Struts.pdf (418.9 KB, 1432 views)
File Type: pdf Front Control Arms.pdf (488.2 KB, 1341 views)
File Type: pdf Sway Bar Links.pdf (394.1 KB, 676 views)
File Type: pdf Left Front Wishbone.pdf (636.8 KB, 710 views)
File Type: pdf Right Front Wishbone.pdf (307.7 KB, 549 views)
File Type: pdf torque values 31_35.pdf (150.5 KB, 1363 views)
File Type: pdf torque values 31_12.pdf (155.4 KB, 1373 views)

Last edited by Sophisticated Redneck; 10-21-2022 at 09:42 PM..
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      02-24-2021, 01:17 AM   #2
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Excellent! Thanks very much for this - I am about to refresh my front end...
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      02-24-2021, 06:28 AM   #3
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I also replaced everything shown in your photo . Bought Lemforder parts from eBay and BMW dealer agreed to do it for labor costs only.
BUT an alignment is a must .
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      03-27-2022, 06:06 PM   #4
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I used this guide mostly for the torque specs.

I completed the full front suspension rebuild including the struts (Sachs), strut mounts, strut bushings, upper A-arm, tension rod, lower A-arm, tie rod ends inner and outer, sway bar end links, plus all the hardware. I also replaced the rear shocks with new Sachs units. The car is QUIET finally! Drives like a go-kart again! It took me 30 mins to do both rear shocks. A hour per side to disassemble and about 2 hrs per side reassembling. Such a love hate relationship with this car.
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      04-04-2022, 04:08 PM   #5
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for those who did the upper a arms, I have a question about the drivers side.

did you guys remove / move around the coolant reservoir?

or is there a neat way to maneuver around it?
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      04-04-2022, 04:54 PM   #6
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I unbolted the reservoir and left it in place, only nudging it out the way so I could sneak a ratcheting wrench down on the nut.

It was kind of a pain but didn't see an easier way to get at it and didnt feel like draining coolant to remove the reservoir entirely. It's also very easy to drop the nut which I somehow avoided.
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      04-04-2022, 09:30 PM   #7
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Same.
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      04-06-2022, 03:05 PM   #8
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Hey all- especially you, sophisticated. On facebook, a guy by the name of Kevin Sing will press spherical ball joints into the thrust/ tension arm where it has the fluid filled bushing that fails. My bushings failed again afte 11k, and I immediately went for Kevin's ball joint. Changed the steering response for the absolute better, and the braking is SO much more sure footed and predictably tracking. Highly recommend.
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      04-07-2022, 09:41 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro235 View Post
Hey all- especially you, sophisticated. On facebook, a guy by the name of Kevin Sing will press spherical ball joints into the thrust/ tension arm where it has the fluid filled bushing that fails. My bushings failed again afte 11k, and I immediately went for Kevin's ball joint. Changed the steering response for the absolute better, and the braking is SO much more sure footed and predictably tracking. Highly recommend.
Are you sure they're fluid filled?

I thought they were just a rubber bushing?

Doug
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      04-07-2022, 02:11 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro235 View Post
Hey all- especially you, sophisticated. On facebook, a guy by the name of Kevin Sing will press spherical ball joints into the thrust/ tension arm where it has the fluid filled bushing that fails. My bushings failed again afte 11k, and I immediately went for Kevin's ball joint. Changed the steering response for the absolute better, and the braking is SO much more sure footed and predictably tracking. Highly recommend.
Excellent to hear, I don't use Facebook or have an account as I don't care much for their salamander-alien-pretending-to-be-human overlord. Can you put up a contact link or PM me his email?
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      04-07-2022, 02:24 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by douglee25 View Post
Are you sure they're fluid filled?

I thought they were just a rubber bushing?

Doug
Absolutely sure they're fluid filled- mine blew and leaked the fluid out all over. The inner part, not the one on the knuckle. I'm at work so it's difficult for me to clip and uplaod a picture, or I'd put an arrow pointing to that bushing.
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      04-07-2022, 02:27 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sophisticated Redneck View Post
Excellent to hear, I don't use Facebook or have an account as I don't care much for their salamander-alien-pretending-to-be-human overlord. Can you put up a contact link or PM me his email?
I reached out to him for contact info, and will get back to you on how to reach out! I know he does just about every e60/e70 major bushing as uniball, and he does e39 and e38 suspension monoball parts too.

Edit: He can be contacted at kevinjsing@gmail.com. Enjoy! With JUST doing the single front monoball in the thrust arm, I really didn't pick up any noticeable NVH, other than some road/ drivetrain noise while HARD braking.
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Last edited by Spyro235; 04-07-2022 at 03:22 PM..
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      04-07-2022, 02:39 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro235 View Post
Absolutely sure they're fluid filled- mine blew and leaked the fluid out all over. The inner part, not the one on the knuckle. I'm at work so it's difficult for me to clip and uplaod a picture, or I'd put an arrow pointing to that bushing.
Good to know!
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      04-07-2022, 04:40 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wcs531 View Post
I unbolted the reservoir and left it in place, only nudging it out the way so I could sneak a ratcheting wrench down on the nut.

It was kind of a pain but didn't see an easier way to get at it and didnt feel like draining coolant to remove the reservoir entirely. It's also very easy to drop the nut which I somehow avoided.
Thanks for the response, this is exactly what I needed to hear.

Looking over the steps on newtis.info, any mentions of spilling coolant really makes me dread these tasks. But now I can dive in with confidence!




Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro235 View Post
I reached out to him for contact info, and will get back to you on how to reach out! I know he does just about every e60/e70 major bushing as uniball, and he does e39 and e38 suspension monoball parts too.

Edit: He can be contacted at kevinjsing@gmail.com. Enjoy! With JUST doing the single front monoball in the thrust arm, I really didn't pick up any noticeable NVH, other than some road/ drivetrain noise while HARD braking.
does he have a website selling these arms with monoball pre installed?
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      06-10-2022, 06:16 PM   #15
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Got the Tension Struts and Control arms delivered today.

Seems pretty straightforward but my question is can I do both the tension strut and control arm at the same time or is it best to swap them one at a time?
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      06-11-2022, 10:27 AM   #16
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I did them one at a time just to keep the carrier as supported as possible.

Someone (previous owners dealership) must have done them together before me because the bolt holding the lower control arm to the strut mount fork was in backwards. The bolt would not come out because it would hit the tension strut.
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      06-13-2022, 10:46 PM   #17
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Finished this on Sunday, did them one at a time. Bought the kit from FCP Euro however the kit missed a locking nut for the control arms. I would suggest getting 2 more BMW-33326760668 to replace them as I buggered them up with my BFH getting the taper out.

I had to purchase a ball joint separator from harbor freight...

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qu...waApwyEALw_wcB

This had to be modified because the ball joint taper was 7/8" and the fork was only 3/4". So used my die grinder to make up the difference.

Name:  IMG_1462.jpg
Views: 6521
Size:  379.8 KB

Be Carful, if the ball joint is as stuck as mine was it will "explode" when it finally lets loose.

All said and done my suspension clunk is STILL there and its arguably worse with then new control and tension arms....on to the next thing
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      06-30-2022, 03:21 PM   #18
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Thanks for this... working on ours this weekend... provided parts from FCP aren't delayed.
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      08-08-2022, 08:55 AM   #19
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I am doing a suspension refresh too. I had replaced oil pan gaskets last month, which required dropping the whole front suspension and the subframe, and after reassembly the shop couldn't get the alignment perfectly because the tie rod bolts were rusty. They also found very slight play in the lower ball joint, so I decided to just replace everything. The car only has 75k miles, but its 10 years old, and a refresh is due.

I went with all genuine parts, as I had bad experiences with aftermarket stuff in the past. In case anyone wants part number references, this is what they are.

2x BMW Tie Rod Assembly - 32106793496
2x BMW Rack and Pinion Bellow - 32106779622
BMW Control Arm - 31126771894
BMW Control Arm - 31126771893
BMW Tension Strut - 31126773949
BMW Tension Strut - 31126773950
BMW Control Arm - 31126863786
BMW Control Arm - 31126863785
BMW Sway Bar Link - 31356859651
BMW Sway Bar Link - 31356859652

So tie rods + new boots, upper control arms, lower control arms, tension struts, and sway bar links.
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      08-08-2022, 12:31 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bengineer330 View Post
Finished this on Sunday, did them one at a time. Bought the kit from FCP Euro however the kit missed a locking nut for the control arms. I would suggest getting 2 more BMW-33326760668 to replace them as I buggered them up with my BFH getting the taper out.

I had to purchase a ball joint separator from harbor freight...

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qu...waApwyEALw_wcB

This had to be modified because the ball joint taper was 7/8" and the fork was only 3/4". So used my die grinder to make up the difference.

Attachment 2908014

Be Carful, if the ball joint is as stuck as mine was it will "explode" when it finally lets loose.

All said and done my suspension clunk is STILL there and its arguably worse with then new control and tension arms....on to the next thing
Did you get this fixed?

Double check that you the strut bushing/washer stackup is correct. There's some donuts that disintegrate and you aren't even aware they were there. You need those. Everything goes together in a certain order. I put it together incorrectly the first time and still had a clunk. Took it apart and reviewed the stackup and I had done it incorrectly.

Next thing I'd check is your rack. Rock the wheel side to side slightly with the engine off. Be careful though because when I did this test, the suspension still clunked. I wasn't convice yet and still dug deeper and that's when I figured I did something incorrect on the strut.
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      08-16-2022, 11:42 AM   #21
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To OP, I replaced two original tension struts during first quarter of 2022 and both bushings of the replacement tension struts are leaking fluid after about 5k miles. The replacements are Lemforder brand which I verified before my mechanic installed. Since you seem to work on a lot of Bimmers I was wondering if you've experienced this kind of premature failure of the Lemforder bushings.
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      08-17-2022, 05:02 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cayx5 View Post
To OP, I replaced two original tension struts during first quarter of 2022 and both bushings of the replacement tension struts are leaking fluid after about 5k miles. The replacements are Lemforder brand which I verified before my mechanic installed. Since you seem to work on a lot of Bimmers I was wondering if you've experienced this kind of premature failure of the Lemforder bushings.
This has me very concerned as both of mine have failed in the past month also. I was chalking it up just to a fluke as Lemforder is an excellent name plus an oem manufacturer for BMW and this type of failure after less then 30k miles in my instance is highly unusual. Where did you purchase yours from? I will be using FCP Euros lifetime warranty for the first time on these.
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