well, after a few hundred miles, my new powerflex bushing bit the dust. I was at an auto-x practice and the car was really hooking up well. on my way home i noticed that i had to tilt the wheel more than usual. I eventually made it home and jacked up the car. My new bushing was cracked and chunked! I was lucky that it didn't go out on me on the freeway! I replaced a previous powerflex bushing since it had started to crack after + 30k miles and alot of auto-xes. This new bushing gave up after a few hundred miles and a few runs. I'm not sure what to do now. I may go back to the stock rubber ones since those lasted me over 70k before I had them replaced.

That sucks! What's with all the aftermarket bushing failures? I still have the RTRS bushings which didn't last either. Going back to stock bushings.

Sorry to hear that. It sounds like yours failed just as mine did. Did they look like the ones I posted a while back? Also, you said they were new, were they the new design ones with the black centers?

If I were you, I would just go back to stock, that is what I did.

I've put in about 2 years of hard track and autox use since replacing the stock bushings with the '96 factory bushings and GC spacers, and haven't had any problems.

Just my 2 cents. : )

Geez, I could swear a story exactly like this was posted a few weeks ago. Were these the offset bushings with the set screw in place?

jmciver - As soon as I started reading this thread, your story with the pictures came to mind. That's really upsetting to me because I was planning to buy the Powerflex as well. Anyone have a good alternative to the PF brand? What have they done with yours as far as replace/refund? Thanks!

Originally posted by XOC
Geez, I could swear a story exactly like this was posted a few weeks ago. Were these the offset bushings with the set screw in place?
Well story that was posted would be mine :) ...

bmw325iman,

I have not contacted Bimmerworld yet. I have been real busy with work, etc. But I know James will keep his word that he will honor replacements with the newer design. I am in no real hurry since I put the stock ones back in the car. I would say go with the stock ones. After talking with several people about the stock vs Powerflex bushings, both before and after the failure, I determined you can't go wrong with the stock part in this case both for performance and durability.

Originally posted by ceegeezM3
I've put in about 2 years of hard track and autox use since replacing the stock bushings with the '96 factory bushings and GC spacers, and haven't had any problems.

Just my 2 cents. : )

Ceegeez, these are the front CA bushings, not the rear RTAB's with the GC insert.

james, the bushing looked like the one you had posted last week. I am going to call bimmerworld tomorrow to resolve the issue. I feel that they will straighten it all out. The funny thing is, the new bushing looked to be a different compound than the older bushing I had replaced. The new bushing also had a line from the mold in the front which could've caused the failure. I'm just throwing out a WAG tho. Maybe I'll just go back to factory or the GC bearing part looks interesting, but I still drive on the street tho.

Originally posted by BJO
james, the bushing looked like the one you had posted last week. I am going to call bimmerworld tomorrow to resolve the issue. I feel that they will straighten it all out. The funny thing is, the new bushing looked to be a different compound than the older bushing I had replaced. The new bushing also had a line from the mold in the front which could've caused the failure. I'm just throwing out a WAG tho. Maybe I'll just go back to factory or the GC bearing part looks interesting, but I still drive on the street tho.

I told you so...

95 offsets are working nicely.

Ceegeez, these are the front CA bushings, not the rear RTAB's with the GC insert.

Ok then... :)
I've also used the Delrin front bushings for over two years and love them.

Originally posted by Kenzo
I told you so...

95 offsets are working nicely.

yeah yeah, i know. i was pretty satisfied with my older set of powerflexes. they took the abuse of over 30k miles and alot of auto-xs on them. when the right one started to go, it formed small hairline cracks, they didn't disintegrate. the new ones suck in my opinion.

Geesh, all these powerflex bushing failures are really discouraging me from buying them. Guess I'll just have to go all the way out and buy those GC spherical race bearings...;)

Damn that sucks. Is it a hard fix?

Originally posted by ceegeezM3
I've also used the Delrin front bushings for over two years and love them.

Me too and they don't cause harshness.

Bob

Well, I called bimmerworld and talked to Chris. James was not available yet since he's getting back from the race at Sears point. Chris was surprised that this happened to the offset bushing. Anyway, he's going to talk to James about it and I will be sending pics to him later on. They will take care of me regardless. In the meantime, I ordered the stock 95 bushings from thepartsbin.com. They were $64 for both and they are the OE Lemforder brand.

Well mine were the offset ones as well. I guess yours is the second "documented" case of an offset failure after mine. I would think that the fact that our bushings were offset would not make a significant difference in the failure rate :dunno ......

I'm aware of another bushing place, and had one knowledgeable fellow think they're great.
I have no experience or opinion with them, this is just fyi.

http://www.gruntsbushings.com/