Replacing all bushings

[Hejnfelt]

Hi all,

I'm gearing up for a winter of upgrades and the first big maintenance session where I replace critical suspension and driveline components is coming up.

I'm doing the things people seem to prefer:

M3 front upper/lower control arms and Hardrace knuckle and trailing arm bushings on the rear with epytec carrier and ECS RTAB limiters.

Front and rear wheel hub bearings and flanges. SKF bearings.

Driveshaft SKF deep groove center bearing and Meyle Guibo.

Additionally I am considering replacing every single other rubber suspension/driveline component and wanted to hear why people don't talk much about these bushings/parts. For example:

• Rear axle carrier bushings
• Upper and lower rear wishbone bushings
• Right and Left engine mounts
• Transmission bearings
• Driveshaft centering sleeve

Many of these are very cheap and just wondering if people don't replace them cuz it ain't necessary or maybe just they're not the sexy bits to maintain

I am also considering adding ARBs to the setup but am I bit apprehensive about how stiff the car will feel afterwards. I am not necessarily interested in a race car feel as this will be a daily driver, but I need to fix the squirrely feel from the rear on hard acceleration. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.

[KennyP]

Get F A G front bearings... F A G was OEM for front bearings.
AND...
I replaced mine at first with SKF bearings... they lasted like 2 years... maybe 12000km or a bit more and then had to be replaced again... was quite pissed off about such a low life of SKF bearings.... I know they are like well known and reputable... but 12k km is a joke... i drove like 6 years on original bearings that were probably never replaced... and then this joke...

So replaced them again in spring this year and made sure i got F A G this time...
And that wasnt that easy... i guess F A G produces them in patches and when i wanted a pair... many shops did not have them nor did they know when they would get their hands on some. Tried Autodoc, then Schmiedmann from Denmark.. as their website said they had 2 in stock.. that ended up not being the truth... finally found them in some Estonian carparts shop in stock...

Apparently you cant write F A G in this forum

[KennyP]

https://aeromotors.ee/kataloog/artic...-6493-80-f a g

Place i finally got my F A G bearings...
( remove spaces from f a g in the link... Forum doesnt allow it and changes it into *** when i dont use spaces...)

[KennyP]

As you are doing a full refurb... then also consider adding strut top mounts to the list... Replaced them on mine this spring aswell...

[Hejnfelt]

I really appreciate the insight. I'm afraid I already ordered the SKF front wheel hubs. Aeromotors btw has been great with stock of all parts. Will get the front strut mounts too.

Rear guide supports were changed by previous owner with brand new shocks 2 years ago.

[B21]

I think the main reason people don’t change the other bushes is that they don’t obviously contribute to a drop off in handling ..and it’s a pain to take all the subframes apart..

It can’t hurt to change them..I’d be interested to see what effects the changes have.

ARB wise the H&R version has a rear adjustable mount…middle mount seems a good trade off…given the same factory ARBs were fitted to the 18i manual through to the 35is clearly it’s compromised somewhere..

You do get some ‘bump steer’ on the rear end when one side goes into a big bump..but it does corner a lot flatter…

The Hardrace RTABs and associated knuckle bushes will make a big difference…

Of course a LSD is the way to go…!-

[Hejnfelt]

Originally Posted by KennyP

https://aeromotors.ee/kataloog/artic...-6493-80-f a g

Place i finally got my F A G bearings...
( remove spaces from f a g in the link... Forum doesnt allow it and changes it into *** when i dont use spaces...)

Gotta hand it to Aeromotors, they responded instantly and swapped the SKF wheelhubs with *** wheelhubs at no additional cost as the price was similar. So I'll try the *** wheelshubs on the front.