kskane

Hi Guys, I just changed the front control arm, wishbone, stabilizer link bars and rear stabilizer link bars with OEM new ones. While inspecting the rear wishbone (part #19 in the pic) and guiding suspension link, the bushes appears to be okay, but the rubber boot on the ball joint end of the wishbone that connects to the wheel are damaged. So, I am thinking of just unscrewing the ball joint, re-grease and put new rubber boots on the ball joint and bolt it back on. Instead of replacing the wishbone or removing the old wishbone all the way to repair because then I will need to load the car for bolting the bushing point to the subframe.

Any thoughts??? If it helps, the car has 233K KM's on the clock.

Kaane

I'd replace the wishbone, once the boot is torn, dirt gets in there and it will fail pretty quickly.

Lemfoerder replacement wishbones aren't that expensive. $160 last time I checked.

kskane

Only Febi are available in my market. Not sure how they hold.

evolotion

febi are ok in my experience, I would also replace the arm, at 177kmiles (280odd Km) mine were both tired and you had to pry in a very specific place to feel the play, I would also consider replacing both rose bushes (2 in the pic) as these are a very common failure and again hard to diagnose unless you know where to pull and pry

KyleB

If the joint is still good, you can do what you're suggesting. I did it on my E30 once, drove it like that for about two years before I upgraded to M3 control arms. It's definitely a 'temporary' repair, but it can be done.

Kaane

Febi is a crapshoot. Some are made in Germany, some are made in China, and some somewhere in between.