Front Upper Control Arms - Please Help!
 

Guys, I need help. I started doing the Front/Upper control arm today, removed everything as per this video, but I am stuck at the step shown at 7:40 in the video above where the strut pinch tab is required to spread. I have wrestled with the wheel knuckle and strut for good 2 hours, managed to push the strut up nearly 8-9mm, but I still need about 4-5mm extra space to pull the front upper control arm ball joint end out so I can replace it with new one. As the video show, I did hammer a screw driver which allowed me to push a gap of 8-9mm, but that is it. Are there any tricks to this? Has anyone done this DIY and got stuck at the point and got around it???

Bentley manual says to use a BMW special tool 31 2 230, is this tool necessary? Or is there an special tool available in a general auto store that I can get to do the job :fcuk:

Any suggestion or tricks are welcome, as I have the arm unbolted already, so cant even take it to a indy :(, and I really want to do this one myself after spending a whole day on it, just to realise that I am done, but not because I can't remove the arm due to space.

I just use a shorty pry-bar and hammer it in there with several blunt hits on the end of the pry bar. That should give you enough spread.

There are spreader tools at auto parts stores, you can use any generic spreader tool; there is nothing special about that BMW tool.

Yes, it's a pain in the neck. BTDT. Once you get it on one side, the other side goes a lot quicker.

Hope that helps, there really aren't any special tricks to doing this. Don't be afraid to really manhandle the supension if you need to in order to get that control arm out. Good luck.

[QUOTE=KyleB;1569689..... Don't be afraid to really manhandle the supension if you need to in order to get that control arm out. Good luck.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip.

Update to my stuck situation, I managed to replace both arms. Still stuck in the garage as I yet have to tighten the bush bolts. Have to wait till next weekend.

I have some further questions -

1. My front tires on both sides wear out faster from inside than outside. While removing the LEFT wishbone/lower control arm, I had to hammer the ball joint from the knuckle after removing the bolt. And the new one would not go in all the way either, I had to screw the nut to push the ball joint part to fit all the way. Could the left wishbone/lower control arm be the cause of tires wearing off from inside?

2. When moving the wheel knuckle up and down to remove the front control arm ball joint, how can we know if point where the strut fits the wheel knuckle is the correct point to tighten (generally you mark the strut and then push the knuckle pinch point back to the same), but how can I tell if that point is correct. Could this point be off by few mm up or down be cause my front tires to wear off more from inside?

3. The torque for the wishbone / lower control arm and front control arm / strut arm at the wheel knuckle is 165 Nm for both. The front control arm / strut arm would click off while torquing it, but the wishbone / lower control arm bolt kept on going as whole 360 degree (whole cricle - thread) more than the front control arm and then I stopped, because I thought I would end up ripping the ball joint off. So I am not sure if I should continue tighten the wishbone / lower control arm until the torque wrench clicks or leave it as it is.
__________________

Worn tension strut bushings can definitely lead to uneven tire wear...that's what tipped me off that mine were worn, along with a 'loose' feeling in the front of the car.

There is a torx opening in the ball joint that you should be able to secure the ball joint with while you torque the nut down. I would definitely torque to factory specs, and replace any hardware (nuts, bolts, etc) that BMW deems one time use. I didn't replace my pinch bolts or nuts the first time, torqued them to spec, and was SHOCKED to see the pinch bolts were completely loose when I changed my springs out 6 months later.

As for strut placement inside of the knuckle, I mark them before I remove them. 1 or 2mm isn't going to make that huge of a difference, but obviously getting them in there spot-on should be the goal.

I just did mine yesterday. For future reference if anyone is doing it, use a pry bar and w-40.
Spray w40 on the strut/knuckle and use a pry bar to push the strut up.

One thing i always do before tools touch the car is wash the dirt off thoroughly- esp around the suspension parts.

I have seen some photos in the news groups of people working on some amazingly filthy cars and I don't know how they can stand it.

In the case of the strut it is really useful since any dirt below the knuckle will act as a wedge and make removal much harder if you haven't spread it enough.