Do powerlex bushes damage front wishbones?

[AlfaSpider]

I've had powerflex bushes on the front of my 3 series for just over a year now, in which time i've replaced three front wishbones! I am getting pattern parts from GSF but i'm told there normally fine. Has anyone experienced the same kind of thing? Contemplating going back to the standard BMW bushes assuming they absorb more shock than the nylon equivalent. Any thoughts on this would be useful ta.

[sniff diesel]

The cheap pattern wishbone balljoints don't seem to last at all. I've seen them wear out on cars after only a year or so.

[AlfaSpider]

Thanks I was thinking that might be the case will go for better quality wishbones.

[phelix]

What brand are the ones you're getting from GSF?

[AlfaSpider]

Not sure but I think they were Vtech or something similar but at £55 I guess you get what you pay for, euro carparts say Lemforder are equivalent to BMW original wishbones at £100 each. Will fit one and see what happens, otherwise the poly bushes are coming off!

[8Tech]

The Powerflex bushes will make absolutely no difference to balljoint wear! You are using cheap and inferior arms and unfortunately paying the price. I wouldn't buy anything from ECP and would be unsure about arms from GSF too. If you go back to OEM or pattern bushes, you will be forever replacing them.

[Tango13]

A couple of years back a front drop link needed doing on my e36, the difference in price between a genuine BMW and pattern part wasn't that much.

I was advised by my mechanic that genuine parts were of a better quality and avoid pattern parts as in his experience the pattern part would last less than a year before it failed.

BTW my mechanic was supplying the parts at cost including trade discount so it made no difference to him what was fitted.

[AlfaSpider]

I've replaced the worn wishbone for a better quality component. Having inspected the poly bushes from Powerflex the inner bush that fits over the hex on the wishbone itself had badly worn. Causing quite a lot of movement at the front wheels so i'm going back to the standard BMW bushes. I'll stick to BMW parts only in future.

Edited by AlfaSpider on Sunday 18th July 19:18

[phelix]

Stick w/Lemfoerder or Febi and stay away from QDrive and other pattern parts. And beware ECP - you can order what they describe as Lemfoerder and receive QDrive.

[Pickled Piper]

phelix said:

Stick w/Lemfoerder or Febi and stay away from QDrive and other pattern parts. And beware ECP - you can order what they describe as Lemfoerder and receive QDrive.

As above you can buy genuine parts from GSF. Best to go to a branch and talk to the guys.

pp

[AlfaSpider]

The bushes and the wishbone i've fitted are both Lemforder so should be good now I hope, thanks for the advice has been very helpful.

[MickyLB]

I've just ordered the cheapest, nastiest arms and bushes off ebay, will fit them myself so it will be an interesting experiment to see exactly how long they take to fail. Will update this post when they do

[Tango13]

MickyLB said:

I've just ordered the cheapest, nastiest arms and bushes off ebay, will fit them myself so it will be an interesting experiment to see exactly how long they take to fail. Will update this post when they do

The bushes will be perished before you even open the parcel

[MickyLB]

Right then, I got the old wishbones off yesterday, but when I went to fit the new ones I couldn't get the bush holder to line up with the two nuts. No amount of manouvering and swearing got them to line up, can anyone suggest anything? I have powerflex bushes that I simply slid off the old arms and onto the new ones but the dual mounting points are out by 1cm along the length of the car and 0.5cm along the width. Please advise!

[8Tech]

I would say wrong arms? Other than that, could you have the left and right side bushes mixed up?

[MickyLB]

Yeah the wrong arms thing has been on my mind . . are there any ways of identifying them?

Bushes are definitely the right way round as they have come straight off the old arms