Is "Meyle" a trustable brand?

[pyguinard]

Hi everyone,

I just got myself a new pair of control arms for my e30 but I happened to read the other thread (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309722) discussing on suspension kits. I know most of you would only swear by Lemforder but could we also consider Meyle (Germany) (http://www.wulfgaertner.com/html/index.php?lang=2) as a trustable brand for such an important part of my suspension?

Thanks for any info on the matter!

[wludavid]

I've seen both opinions on this board:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1974093&postcount=216

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3485182&postcount=10

Control Arms are tricky because they are very difficult to inspect for signs of imminent failure. Unless you see obvious cracks (and you won't because they're painted) the only way to make sure they aren't warping of bending is to take them off the car and measure them carefully. However, if a parts supplier guarantees them, they should be okay. I'm not sure I agree with Randy in the other thread about control arms failing catastrophically, FWIW. Not worth much I suppose since you don't know either of us!

[pyguinard]

Thanks David!
You did what I should have done at the first place: a keyword search.

[ultimachi]

Any more input on this? Is Meyle good for suspension components?

[trent]

Randy in the other thread about control arms failing catastrophically, FWIW. Not worth much I suppose since you don't know either of us!

I don't even know what he said, but I have seen many many ball joints fail catastrophically, some causing minor damage, some causing crashed cars.

[ultimachi]

I don't even know what he said, but I have seen many many ball joints fail catastrophically, some causing minor damage, some causing crashed cars.

So does Meyle control arms, and tie rods have a history of failing catastrophically?

[trent]

So does Meyle control arms, and tie rods have a history of failing catastrophically?

Personally I would go with Lems...

[HOOJ]

I have put Meyle w/ full metal ball joints on my E36 318is and they were great.

[ultimachi]

Alright...screw it...ordering the Lems...and peace of mind.

[HOOJ]

Meyle have better ball joints = longer lasting :D

[ultimachi]

Well, I went with the Lems...and I think I went a little overboard...but oh well. New control arms, new tie rods, tie rod plates, M3 CABs, sway bar links, front strut mounts....came out to about 360 dollars....well....tires are going to have to wait for my rims.....gotta keep riding on the bottlecaps... :(

[pyguinard]

So does Meyle control arms, and tie rods have a history of failing catastrophically?

I did some searching around the web and the only bad comments that I could read about Meyle were from "gut feeling".

On different boards, people who installed those on look satisfied.

[ultimachi]

Yeah but come to think of it. If you get the Meyle tie rods and control arms off of ebay, it comes out to about 180 with shipping. Then get the M3 CABs, that's another 70, so it's 250. Then the sway bar links, comes out to another 60, so that's 310. And the front strut mounts is another 65, so that's 375. This is opposed to the higher quality Lemfoerder in which all the same parts cost around 430 dollars total. So an extra 55 dollars for top quality? Yeah definitely.

[pyguinard]

(...)
So an extra 55 dollars for top quality? Yeah definitely.

Top quality would have been M3 aluminium control arms :D
Those steal CAs sure add a lot of unsprung weight to the car! Nevertheless, I agree with you for spending that 55 bucks on Lemforders. :)

[ultimachi]

Very true on getting the aluminum ones, but I'm not going to be tracking it that miuch. But we'll see.....maybe in the future. :D

[pyguinard]

I finally was able to "feel" the difference between Lemforders and Meyle's control arms.

It became obvious when I picked my old ones: the Meyle's look sturdier and feel at least 3-4 pounds heavier... more unsprung weight!

[randywalters]

Top quality would have been M3 aluminium control arms :D
Those steal CAs sure add a lot of unsprung weight to the car!

I have spent a lot of time on the E30 M3 mailing list and message forums in the past 5 years and have read lots of discussions about aluminum control arms.

Aluminum control arms can break in a hard impact, where the same impact would only bend a steel one and allow you to possibly regain control of the car to avoid a secondary impact. If the arm breaks you have no chance of regaining control. Also, the balljoints used on the aluminum control arms are made of a harder steel and are reported to snap on the racetrack. For this reason, BMW CCA Club Racing requires that aluminum control arms be replaced every two years, but have no such policy on the steel ones.

Only half of the control arm is unsprung weight - the portion between the inner ball joint and outer ball joint. The other half of the control arm is fixed to the car and not unsprung. Most drivers wouldn't feel the difference on the street. Besides, the weight savings is minimal. A different brand of tire can make a larger difference than steel vs aluminum arms.

There's just no good reason to use the aluminum ones on a street car when the steel ones are more robust and much cheaper. That cost savings could be put toward Lemforder steel arms and M3 bushings.

[wludavid]

To add to what Randy said, Al CA's are not all they are cracked up to be. In fact, I think the '88 and '89 M3s came with steel. Both the steel and Al have excellent ball joints - better than anything BMW has put on 3ers (M or otherwise) until the e4g m3 - because they are solidly mounted to the arm and not "floated" in rubber like later arms. Randy might be right about the Al arms being harder, though.

And because of the way the arms are mounted, not all of the 7 lbs is a reduction in unsprung weight. Only half is unsprung and it's even less of a difference since it's lever arm and the weight on the outside of the arm has more of an impact than the weight on the inside. The steel arms also have weight-saving holes drilled in it, whereas the Al ones don't.

Furthermore, since Al arms are so brittle, it's not safe to mount non-M3 sway bars to them. That extra stress might crack and break them. This is one reason why the front sway on the M3 is mounted to the strut housing and not the control arm.

For disclosure's sake, I have not spent hours measuring and testing these control arms. Most of my comments come from this (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27221) thread about e36 suspension. If you have 2 hours to kill, I highly recommend reading through it.