Ball Joints - E34

Hi Im a new member. I have just purchased a E34 525ix SE (4WD) Saloon.

Its a brilliant car, and im very happy with it.

Im wondering if anybody can help me out. Im experiencing some play in the steering, and some wobble as it gets to around 50mph. Ive had the Four Wheel Laser Alignment check done (at a BMW specialist), and its all in spec. Ive been advised by the specialist that the front inner ball joints are worn and there is slight movement in the outer joints. Will this involve replacing anything other than the ball joints? Does anybody have any ideas on price for these parts?

Ive also got a slight buckle in one of the std alloys (the spare alloys is ok, so i'll put the buckled one in the boot as spare). Anybody recommend a specialist that can unbuckle wheels?

Like I said fantastic car, my 1st BM . . . Ive always wanted one . . .and now Im a proud owner.

The car has covered over 100k now, so what should i expect?

rather than start the 'change one bit , then the other, then another..." saga, you'd be far better off buying new wishbone, tie rods, antirollbar links then do the lot when you've got them all together, E34's are renowned for one bit going then everything in quick succession. Once you are ready to do it all, don't mess about with dismantling everything while still attached to the car - remove the whole corner then change everything in the garage or away from the car.....it's far easier and quicker (45 -30 mins to do new strut,upper and lower wishbones, ARB link and tie rod)    

the trick seems to be, for any job, scan the various forums out there, get the suggested bits and pieces then attack the car with all available resources!! (i also find that doing something else that may come up when doing the original job, say rear subframe mounts when doing the trailing arm bushes saves double the effort and gives you the chance to do some touchup painting at the same time

yeah its sounds like I'm a glutton for punishment, but it keeps me out of the house!!!

I quite agree with the other chaps here. Firstly, getting these parts from GSF is about half the price and you should still get another 100k out of the new bits and secondly, while you got her on the ramp in bits, you may as well do the lot. How does that saying go.... a stitch in time, saves nine?

What you should expect from a 100k beemer? well, providing it's been looked after, a car thats just been run in and many miles of happy motoring. I've had 3 BMW's, an e28 525e which had done 128k when I got it, I did 2 years and about 20k in it and only had to replace the water pump (£28 for genuine part) it never missed a beat and ALWAYS started flick of the key and ran perfect (how I miss her!)

My second was an e34 530iSE saloon which, to be honest, I should have looked at much harder before buying because I found out it had front end damage that was well covered up but badly repaired and I later found lots of niggly items that indicated lots of thrashing and wear and tear, however, even with that, I got 18 months and 15k, it needed a few bushes doing at the front (due to me selling, I only did the bare minumum) and a brake pipe coz some idiot jacked the car up on it! (duh!) and a steering box which I obtained second hand for £50 (genuine was just under £1000 with discount!) but all in all, considering it was a badly looked after 200k car, it still didn't cost me a huge amount and being a little bit daring with a spanner, I did most repairs myself. When in my hands, I nurtured it back to health by a few cheap tweeks here and there. The really good bit is, I paid £1750 for it(thats not the good bit!) but I part ex'd it for my current car which is a 540i touring e34 with six speed manual and M power suspension and bodykit and the guy gave me £1300 for my old one and I paid the remaining £2700.(He had it listed for £4750)  I've had her for a year or so and I'm chuffed to bits. It carries my wife, 2 kids and my german shepherd and still wipes the floor with 99% of the cars who try and race me off the lights or up the slip road! and so far (touch wood) I've only had to replace the cam cover gaskets. So basically, you are looking at owning a very fun and hopefully in-expensive car which is a thrill to drive and be proud of. I can't see I'd EVER buy any other make, I've got the beemer bug and I'm not looking for a cure!

Edited by 540 V8

At the front, It's usually the track control arms and link rods that go. As they have multi-link suspension (which is why BMW's handle so well) you have a number of metal rods with ball joints and larger control arms. Any play over about a millimetre in the ball joints (I believe this to be the MOT standard depending on the tester) and they need replacing also perished rubber boots around the ball joints and worn out bushes will all affect the handling. Get your mechanic to have a vigorous wiggle of these components and he should be able to tell you which ones need replacing, but as mentioned earlier, you may as well do the lot. I did them on my 530 and I think you are looking at about £150 ish from GSF (I did do it over 2 years ago) for the lot, maybe a bit more, but I think if you are generally happy with the car then it's worth it.