E46 318i Wishbone replacement advice needed

[RSGulp]

I'm planning to replace the front wishbones and bushes on my 318i SE Touring (both bushes and one outer ball joint have play in them). I have plenty of DIY experience on various cars and it seems fairly straight forward, but how do I access the nuts on the inner ball joints for the wishbone. I can see where they are tucked right down by the side of the engine, viewed from above the engine. Is it simply a case of finding a very long extension to reach with a socket or is there a trick? Access from below anywhere?

I've searched but didn't really find an answer specific to this model.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Zead]

You are correct, a long extension is needed from the top. 20mm from memory, replacements come with 19mm for some strange reason. Crack the nuts before jacking. I had to raise engine slightly to get the socket on the OS inner bj, but mines a 330D so turbo gets in the way. Use a fork ball joint splitter on inner bj and a scissor splitter on outer. There are no pitfalls as far as I can remember. Just remove the abs sensor so you dont accidentally clout it with the spanner for outer bj. Also take care with the lollipop mounting bolts, they are quite fine and easy to misalign, therefore xthread. Loosely refit all the nuts and bolts before full assembly,

There are quite a few threads on the merit of polybushes on here if you go thru recent posts. HTH

I'll give you 2 hours to get it done

[RSGulp]

Cheers, thanks for your help.

I'm thinking of getting the parts from either GSF or EuroCarParts, or maybe here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-3-Series-E46-Front-Wishb...

Is there anywhere else I should be looking for best prices?

Edited by RSGulp on Thursday 31st January 18:25

[8Tech]

You can do it from underneath the car with a flexi head ratcheting spanner also. I would most definately fit poly bushes in the rear lollipop mounts though.

8Tech.

[RSGulp]

Thanks for the advice. Do you know a good independent source for the polyurethane bushes and /or replacement wishbones? Thanks.

[Boulder]

RSGulp said:

Thanks for the advice. Do you know a good independent source for the polyurethane bushes and /or replacement wishbones? Thanks.

Dont use that cheap cack off ebay it sends the tracking all over the place-like wise the cheap GSF ones are equally as cack.
Euro and possibly GSF do a febi wishbone complete with a rear bush already fitted.

[8Tech]

Try a Google search for the Powerflex bushes.