jeffandjane

Hi

The rear driver side suspension has developed a creeking noise on my 2005 E61 545i, that is getting gradually worst. Looks like its the lower bush on the suspension has worn. Getting at it is not too bad, but I read lots of posts that a special tool is required to remove and refit the bush, the price of which appears to make a DIY fix uneconimical. Has anyone tackled this job succesfully without using this tool, or with a "Make shift tool", if so can you advise how you did it?

Thanks

Jeff

paran

Which bushing are you referring too?



I guess it's Number 14 or 19?

These guys get pricey so you'd be best to find a shop that can swap out the bushings for you. You remove them and take them to shop that has a hydraulic press. No sense buying a press for one time use.

I suggest Lemforder (Boge/Sachs) brand bushings as they are OEM.

Other possible squeak sources:

jeffandjane

No, its the bush number 2 in the diagram

champaign777

this is not BUSH , this is ball joints
you need to use "bolt" method with special sleeves to get it in/out

aw3964

Yeah, that's actually referred to as a ball joint--not a bushing. Isn't too DIY friendly but you shouldn't pay more than 1-1.5 hour(s) worth of labor. I've had mine changed.

darnell moore

I had the same Problem. The squeak was caused by drivers side rear control arm. I replaced control arms and ball joints. There is a DIY that explains it well. It explains what you need to Fabricate. I did the work myself and only problem I had was my strength. Hope this helps.

aw3964

It's been a while, but I believe a ball joint removal tool is required. The first video shows how to DIY it with the tool. The second video just uses a clamp.

The guy in the second video is pretty accurate: if you don't have the tools, this job can become harder than it looks.

Unless the rear control arm is in bad shape, I wouldn't change it (unless you're looking to do some preventative maintenance). An easy was to diagnose your squeaking agent is to inject lubricant into the actual ball joint. If the noise goes away, you have found your culprit. I'd also check the wheel for play (tilt it from top/bottom, side to side).

rocky5

I did this job last weekend with my friend which is proffesional mechanic and job was very hard. we had lift and well equiped garage. This ball joints are very hard to take away because they are steel and arm is alluminum which made oxydation, whenthey are long time together.(164000km) We had to heat little bit with heat gun because otherwise doesn't go out.It is not recommended to heat because of alluminum is sensitive to deformation. We made special tool by ourselfs as per instructions this video one post up but this was for E39! E60 is slight diffrent you will need to grind this tool very good and to fabricate it was PITA. We did removed big alluminum thing along with eccentric bolt. We did this all day, but we went really trough cleaning all bolts putting some grease etc.Be careful if doing this to mark it before you take it away for assembly after ( balancing at prof. garage is recommended after this job). We changed Integral links with rear ball joint and big bolt that goes trough, automatic tranny mounts and exhaust mounts. My ball joints were very weak and rusted sorry i didn't take any photo but I can tell you without proper tools and knowledge this is not a easy job. Also while doing this I have found my strut spring part which was broken and fell away. but this is next thing to do. work was performed on E60 M54 B25 2004. sorry for my bad english.

Gatriel

Dein Englisch ist viel besser wie mein Deutsch. Kein Stress.