E46 M3 rear bush, replacing and suspension in general
Discussion
After the kind advice of PHers I bought and have now owned my E46 M3 for 9 months.
The car's steering originally had a slight inclination to pull to the left, this has now worsened over time and, looking back, ALL of the times I've experienced (unexpected) oversteer have been on left handers. My advanced driving instructor drove it and without prompt immediately commented on a looseness to the rear right of the car and suggested it may be excessive wear to the rear trailing arm bush.
I'd like to get this sorted but having never overseen the maintenance of a performance car before I'm not sure how to go about it.
Is this something my local German Indy can do? Are there advantages to having somewhere more specialist look at it? I was recommended Centre Gravity but they are a long way away from me (I float between Cambridge and Oxford) and I understand their pricing is quite high as the average machine they work on appears to be more serious (£££) than a two-gen old M3.
Lastly, is there any other work that would be cost-effective to have done at the same time if the rear bush(es) are indeed shot? How much would the expected cost of this sort of work be?
I realise there are a lot of questions in there. Appreciate any pointers, cheers.
The car's steering originally had a slight inclination to pull to the left, this has now worsened over time and, looking back, ALL of the times I've experienced (unexpected) oversteer have been on left handers. My advanced driving instructor drove it and without prompt immediately commented on a looseness to the rear right of the car and suggested it may be excessive wear to the rear trailing arm bush.
I'd like to get this sorted but having never overseen the maintenance of a performance car before I'm not sure how to go about it.
Is this something my local German Indy can do? Are there advantages to having somewhere more specialist look at it? I was recommended Centre Gravity but they are a long way away from me (I float between Cambridge and Oxford) and I understand their pricing is quite high as the average machine they work on appears to be more serious (£££) than a two-gen old M3.
Lastly, is there any other work that would be cost-effective to have done at the same time if the rear bush(es) are indeed shot? How much would the expected cost of this sort of work be?
I realise there are a lot of questions in there. Appreciate any pointers, cheers.
What mileage are you at currently?
I had to have my starter motor replaced a couple of weeks back and whilst at my local specialist, they had a look over the suspension.
I'm just at 100k and it's gonna be time to have a full refresh of parts pretty soon. I had a control arm replaced whilst I was there - it was surprisingly expensive. So I'm dreading doing everything all round.
I had to have my starter motor replaced a couple of weeks back and whilst at my local specialist, they had a look over the suspension.
I'm just at 100k and it's gonna be time to have a full refresh of parts pretty soon. I had a control arm replaced whilst I was there - it was surprisingly expensive. So I'm dreading doing everything all round.
An hr labour per side max and bushes circa £50 for both sides (depending if you go Powerflex/OEM).
Nothing else particularly cost effective to do at the same time other than rear spring changes (dont be too surprised if they find a cracked spring coil - very common).
As for garage, its a very common fault on the E46 so anywhere from cheap back street garage to main dealer should be able to fit easy enough. I'd probably go somewhere in the middle of that spectrum if you havent got a garage you already trust. Not a job requiring you to travel miles for or pay £100ph labour for IMO.
Nothing else particularly cost effective to do at the same time other than rear spring changes (dont be too surprised if they find a cracked spring coil - very common).
As for garage, its a very common fault on the E46 so anywhere from cheap back street garage to main dealer should be able to fit easy enough. I'd probably go somewhere in the middle of that spectrum if you havent got a garage you already trust. Not a job requiring you to travel miles for or pay £100ph labour for IMO.
Edited by ScottJB on Sunday 31st May 13:08
Well known as RTABs. I've changed my own in the past so it's not a hard job at all, given the right tools.
It's worth looking into the RTAB limiter kit too. These limit the movement of the standard bushings when you push them past a certain point. I found them wonderful when pressing on a bit.
They're fitted at the same time as the new RTAB so worthwhile IMO.
It's worth looking into the RTAB limiter kit too. These limit the movement of the standard bushings when you push them past a certain point. I found them wonderful when pressing on a bit.
They're fitted at the same time as the new RTAB so worthwhile IMO.Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff