All,

Sorry to ask this, but is there somebody in St. Louis who would talk me through a front suspension repair on my 1999 M3. I would just take it to the dealer, but I am unemployed and I simply can't afford the dealer experience. I will provide some sort of help/work to you in exchange if you like. I'll also supply a cold drink and a lawn chair, while you talk me through it...

Here's the deal: warped-rotor-like wheel wobble only above 75 mph on braking. Barvarian checked front end; pronounced it OK. Tires are scalloped bad on inside edge. Alignment checks out. Asked for input on forum: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=567302 Forum says replace:

Lower Control Arm
Lower Control Arm Bushing
Tie Rods
Ball joints
(Do I need to replace anything else?)

A guy on the forum said I need a sawzall to get the old LCAB out (I'll rent one), a bench vise and a 2" pipe cap. (I don;t know what a 2-inch pipe cap is...I will get a pickle fork to pop off the old balljoints, and the one timeuse lock nuts for the LCA....Am I missing anything?

Can somebody in St. Louis please help?

If this works out, maybe we could invite a couple of other guys too, and help each other out, etc...


Thanks,

John

Id be more than happy to come over and lend a hand.

I dont have any experience doing any of those repairs, but Ill be an extra set of hands and wont drink all the beer, that makes me twice as useful as Brent.

I have replaced my springs so if your need to take out the struts to remove the control arms, which I assume you would, I can lend some insight there.

I have some basic tool and a bunch of jack stands and a heavy duty jack if you need any of that stuff.

I thinking the biggest problem may be not having air tool because most suspension stuff is bolted on pretty tight.

Oh, Im busy this weekend, but should be free next weekend.

Thanks. The first trick is determining what exactly is wrong. I have seen advice to get a couple of the parts from bimmerparts, who will assemble the difficult stuff at their shop for a small additional fee.

But what parts are likely the culprit>???

Honestly, I dont have a clue. I dont have any experience with any of that stuff either.

If you have to replace all that at once, you may be better just to take it somewhere. Having to take all those parts off could turn into a major cf is something breaks or we dont have the right tools.

If you still want to try to tackle this, Ill help. You could probably find a couple more people to aid since most people will work for beer, expect for Brent of course. :D

jack your car up take your wheel and see if you can move it up or down. side to side. if you can then you have a ball joint/tie rod issue. also look at your bushings for your control arms and see what they look like? How many miles do you have on it?

I can move it a litte side to side. Not up and down.

The car has 114K on the clock, and ball joints, etc. are original...

Thanks for offering to come by. Sounds good.

The parts are on the way. Tools are secured from Auto Zone. I am making the reinstall tool using Home Depot Norwegian-Engineering. Anybody who's expereinced in this willing to help out?

Money spent on labor would come right out of the food budget for my daughter, her kitten and myself. Sure, I can go without food for a few weeks.....

So are you planning on doing it this weekend?

Ill be out of town until Sunday. I could help on Monday though.

What part of the StL are you located in?

I'm near big bend and 141. Monday would work fine for me...

I will probably proceed yself today with the sway bar bshings and end links. That appears pretty straight-forward...

I'm near big bend and 141. Monday would work fine for me...

I will probably proceed yself today with the sway bar bshings and end links. That appears pretty straight-forward...

I live right by there. I had the same issue, and it ended up being the rotors were warped and the pads were bad as well. It could be the bushings though...

Another thing...make sure you dont have any bent rims (pretty obvious).

so we're neighbors?

Well, the shop that looked over the car either missed bad rotor or they missed bad front suspension components.

The car rides smooth as glass at any spped. The only symptoms are bad tire cupping on the inside edge (the tread blocks are ramped, and worn toward the outside edge...) and a steering wheel shimmy at speedsover 70 mph when braking.

I'm guessing it's not a bent rim or the problems would be more uniform.

Besides, forged contours never bend, right?:(

Did you get everything done?

Sorry, I spent Monday recovering from the weekend, doing chores around my house, and building a sub box for my Pathfinder.

If you are still installing some of the stuff you bought, Ill be available the weekend of the 16th and 17th.

Thanks so much for an offer f help. After a goose chase after parts, fasteners and tools and after building a new work bench, I am one PBJ sandwich away from getting started this afternoon.

I'll report back in a few hours or days, depending on how it goes.

Ok, well good luck then.

If you want to install some stuff later, let me know.