[StealYourFace]

After 70,000 miles since the M3 control arm and tension arm upgrade, the lowers were cooked.

My wheel was shimmying, clunks on bumps, slop in steering ect.

Also did Meyle HD endlinks and tie rods.... I know I shouldn't be... but I am blown away with how sharp and new the car feels and sounds.


Part of the pleasure of owning cars like these is keeping them up and maintenance. It amazes me how well this car is holding up. WIth 142,000 miles it feels better than many cars with a tenth the miles. A fresh set of PSS and the car will be spot on for HPDE next week, can't friggin wait!

[mlifxs]

That's how I feel about my car at 128k. With the M3 upgrades front and rear, car feels better than new. Looking forward to my next tire change / upgrade as well.

[chatch10]

I have these exact same feelings with my car, but I'm only at about 28k. Could my control arms be bad at this mileage?

[dicostal]

I am looking into doing the M3 upgraded bushings, tie rods and end links. Can you point me in the right directions where to buy these? Tx

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by dicostal

I am looking into doing the M3 upgraded bushings, tie rods and end links. Can you point me in the right directions where to buy these? Tx

for m3 parts
forum sponsors offset motorwerks , ecstuning, getbmwparts
for tie rods and sway links oembimmerparts, fcpeuro.
you can also get part #s and google shop

[simon]

Good to hear. My car has a little over 100k miles with stock everything for the suspension. I'm about to receive Meyle HD tie rods, sway bar end links, M3 upper and lower control arms, and Koni FSD all around. I'm really looking forward to how the car will be after!

I got the Koni FSD from BavAuto and everything else from ECS Tuning, in case anyone is wondering.

Simon

[gds52]

Originally Posted by mlifxs

That's how I feel about my car at 128k. With the M3 upgrades front and rear, car feels better than new. Looking forward to my next tire change / upgrade as well.

I'm in the market for suspension upgrades.
When you say M3 upgrades front and rear, can you please explain what all things you replaced, apart from shocks/springs/coilovers.
Thanks in advance.

[mlifxs]

In my case, I upgraded

front: M3 tension struts, M3 wishbones
rear: M3 guide rods, M3 wishbones.

I bought TRW oem parts, which saves some $$ compared to the Genuine versions. TRW also makes the Genuine versions.

Other possible M3 part upgrades include subframe bushings, front and rear sway bars and rear lower control arms. Rear lower control arms will then require M3 specific shocks, non-M shocks will not work with them. To my knowledge there are no OEM replacements, only Genuine versions of these parts.

I did an H&R front sway bar, and Whiteline subframe inserts instead of the corresponding M3 parts. The subframe inserts are a "budget" upgrade compared to the M3 full subframe bushings, but are still worthwhile compared to the non-M stock bushings alone.

Opinions vary on rear sway bar upgrading. Some say yes, so say no. I decided to hold off on rear sway upgrades for now.

[335i Bubblehead]

Great information. Thanks.

[JaysBlueE92]

money well spent!

[testdriver]

Originally Posted by mlifxs

In my case, I upgraded

front: M3 tension struts, M3 wishbones
rear: M3 guide rods, M3 wishbones.

I bought TRW oem parts, which saves some $$ compared to the Genuine versions. TRW also makes the Genuine versions.............

I did an H&R front sway bar, and Whiteline subframe inserts instead of the corresponding M3 parts. The subframe inserts are a "budget" upgrade compared to the M3 full subframe bushings, but are still worthwhile compared to the non-M stock bushings alone.......

I'm in the market to tune up my suspension.... one of the thing I look is the M3 tension struts & wishbones.....

I know the M wishbones is longer so it can give our car more neg camber but what about the M3 tension struts?
The only different I know is non-M is Hydraulic and M is bushing, is there any other different in size/ length?

also, the Whiteline subframe inserts you mentioned, I believe they are for rear subframe, am I right?


Thank you

[mlifxs]

I don't think there's any meaningful difference in size / length of the tension struts, you are buying a stronger bushing and ball joint.
yes the subframe inserts are for the rear subframe

Originally Posted by testdriver

I'm in the market to tune up my suspension.... one of the thing I look is the M3 tension struts & wishbones.....

I know the M wishbones is longer so it can give our car more neg camber but what about the M3 tension struts?
The only different I know is non-M is Hydraulic and M is bushing, is there any other different in size/ length?

also, the Whiteline subframe inserts you mentioned, I believe they are for rear subframe, am I right?


Thank you

[only1harry]

Originally Posted by chatch10

I have these exact same feelings with my car, but I'm only at about 28k. Could my control arms be bad at this mileage?

I am in the same boat. 27k on my 2011 335 and I have slop in the steering wheel, bumpy ride, hard to keep the car tracking straight, and the dealer says there is nothing wrong. I bet some of the bushings in the control arms are shot, or other torsion/tension bars, etc. where there are bushings. I am surprised these cars don't have a solid suspension that will last at least 100k mi. Been to the dealer with all sorts of problems and I have only owned the car for 6 months (bought it used with 23,600 mi.). Last thing they replaced was the lower joint assembly in the steering rack. I was getting a clicking sound in the steering wheel at any speed. It took 3 visits for them to finally admit it or find it and fix it under warranty, but that didn't change much. The car still runs like crap after 2 different wheel alignments I had to on my own. It's not the alignment. The car has suspension issues and they won't acknowledg it. Look at Consumer reports. The suspension section is red. They are replacing the brakes as we speak and I had to talk to the service manager to get that fixed. They were saying the brakes are fine, but he had another mechanic look at the car today and they said it needs brakes.

I am seriously thinking of going back to Acura. These cars are just money pits when the dealers refuse to fix problems under warranty, and it's too timie consuming fighting with them and frequent trips to their shop. The thing is these cars should NOT have all these problems. To me they are not far from a FIAT. 27k mi. on my odo in case I start getting flamed. I love the car when it drove nice and smooth and tracked straight. Now I just hate driving it.

Harry

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by only1harry

I am in the same boat.

Now I just hate driving it.

Harry

Sorry to hear about that. Seems like some of the dealers think we're loaded with cash and too dumb to question them. Hope things get sorted out.

My experience has been relatively good and I've taken almost all of my depreciation hit, so hopefully my good luck continues and I stay away from the new car showroom. It's a fun to drive car. Otherwise, next car won't be a BMW. My wife's 2007 Acura RDX has been worry-free...only problem it's had (air conditioning ) got fixed under silent warranty (dealer volunteered it without any confrontation ).

[d3l0n]

Nice! I have non-sport suspension on my E90, but upgraded to Koni Yellow + H&R Sport. Looking to add a bit more to suspension comfort/control.

Seemed to have to replace my front control arms almost every.. 2yrs. I know the time is coming soon.

I am looking to upgrade to M3 Spec front & rear control arms. Do I need more than just the front and rear control arms? I hear they add extra negative camber? Do I need those other links or M3 Subframe Bushings? If I don't will current parts wear out faster? I see some extra options, but I don't want to go crazy I just want a suitable upgrade done well.

Anyone have any recommendations? Or if you can point me in the right direction? I find it difficult trying to keyword search for this set up on this site. (might need to create separate thread for this?)

[cdgatti]

Originally Posted by simon

Good to hear. My car has a little over 100k miles with stock everything for the suspension. I'm about to receive Meyle HD tie rods, sway bar end links, M3 upper and lower control arms, and Koni FSD all around. I'm really looking forward to how the car will be after!

I got the Koni FSD from BavAuto and everything else from ECS Tuning, in case anyone is wondering.

Simon

You may want to change top strut mounts (guide supports) also.

[mlifxs]

ditto lower rear shock mounts. Recently changed mine out, at 128k, old ones were deformed (compressed). Might improve your ride quality (it did for me).

upper rear shock mounts might need changing as well.