For some time, I've noticed a slight vibration in the steering wheel and due to all of the pot holes in my area I just thought it was a bent rim.
I went to service for an oil change & brake service, etc. and the techs said both front bushing were broken.

I noticed that my car is so much quieter with the steering and the vibration has been eliminated. They must have broken since my last oil change.

In 8 years, this is the first bushing replacement. Is that time period normal expected wear for front bushings?

 

8 years for front control arm bushings is pretty good, actually.

 

Were only the bushings replaced or the entire front control arms? Did you take it to dealership or Indy shop and how much? I was considering getting the same done eventually. Thanks

 

Our son (indy Porsche & BMW mechanic) recently replaced the control arm bushings ("hydrobearing", p/n 31126768302) on our E61. The original bushings were ~6-1/2 years old with ~50K miles. Mild braking wobble is gone.

The bushings are relatively inexpensive. I don't remember how long the job required...

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

it was around $900 at the dealership

 

Did they replace the control arms or just the bushings?

 

For that price, it was probably just the bushing.

 

Got both arms replaced with OEM parts at an indy shop for about 700. (I think it was a little over 2 hours labor) Same 8 years for first replacement.

 

the ticket states that the following was replaced:

hydrobearings
self-locking collar
thrust rod bushings


They also balanced my front tires at no charge.

 

An alignment should be done as well correct? There was a thread here of someone swapping the control arms and bushings at around 60K. My car is almost 65K and I think I'm starting to feel some vibrations. However, I don't know if it's just the road. It's hard trying to find a really smooth road in SoCal.