Sway Bar Leaking- Advice Please!

[SwayBar Leaking]

Last year I purchased a 2007 BMW 525i and absolutely love the car. When I recently took the car in for a routine oil change, my mechanic notified me that my Sway Bar had a minor leak and that the manufacture's cost to replace the part would cost just under $1500, for the part alone.

After doing some minor research on different websites about BMW Sway Bars, I've noticed that off-manufacture Sway Bars run for dramatically cheaper than the manufacturer cost (about $250-$500/each). When I notified my mechanic about this price difference he warned me that I'd be taking a real chance with purchasing and installing an off-manufacture Sway Bar because there could be an issue with it not fitting correctly or having durability issues.

So the reason I am here today is to find out if anyone has had the same issue I am currently facing or knows someone who has. Has anyone had an off-manufactured Sway Bar installed onto their BMW, if so, what has your experience been like? Any issues? Were there any problems with the installation? What price did you pay for your Sway Bar and where did you purchase it?

Also, my last question is: Since the Sway Bar is only leaking and not completely shot, would it be ok to continue to use my current Sway Bar and constantly monitor the leak by topping off the fluid when necessary? What risk, if any, am I running by doing this?

Any help/advice with this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thank You,

Kenny

[lldonnyg]

So im guessing you have dynamic drive, I recall those active sway bars cost about $800...he must be marking it up alot. Havent seen aftermarket for those yet... ask if you can bring your own parts and just buy direct from local dealer.

[MikeBoom]

A quick on-line search indicates that they actually do go for about $1,540 . . . yikes! Personally, I'd check with a couple of the better suspension component manufacturers to see if they have a conventional sway bar that would work as a replacement.

The closest knowledge I have of this is with BMW's electronically controlled suspension shocks on their motorcycles. The components tend to have a short lifespan and many people who have opted to replace them with high-quality conventional shock absorbers (like Wilbers) report an overall improvement in handling.

Yes, I know it's a much different component, but if you can replace a complicated system like this with a conventional swaybar, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[aquila163]

There ain't no way you are looking at active suspension sway bars for $250-$500. Those are plain bars. Hydraulic sway bays are pricy but are far superior to regular bars

[turbovrGTI]

as others have stated-your looking at standard sway bars not active sway bars...

[SwayBar Leaking]

Thanks you guys for the heads up about not looking at active hydraulic sway bar. Do you know of any websites that sell active sway bars? Also, would you recommend buying one from a website?