Which bushes for E36?

[SidewaysSi]

I like my cars very focused with plenty of feel and currently upgrading my E36 328i. It is getting E30 arms and M3 eccentric bushes but I want to upgrade all bushes to tighten things up.

Given it is a road car which may do the odd trackday, what do you recommend? I have read mixed reviews about Powerflex but other options are Meyle and OEM M3 bushes.

The car has a Bilstein B12 kit fitted and will be getting a Quaife LSD. It is running on 15" wheels with 205/60 tyres.

[helix402]

Genuine BMW bushes are my recommendation.

[SebringMan]

helix402 said:

Genuine BMW bushes are my recommendation.

What he said. I've had issues with Lemforder on other cars despite the factory stuff being Lemforder ; except the factory stuff lasted.

I've use SuperFlex/SuperPro on a few cars with great results. I have their subframe bushes on my M3. They are not quite as cheap as PowerFlex however but I've had better results with SF/SP over Powerflex anyway.

If you are changing the lollipop bushes I'd get some gear pullers on them if you have them or something siimilar. With these and a rattle gun I changed the lollipop bushes on a mate's 328i E46 in about 40 minutes. That includes taking the wheels on and off.

As a bonus the lower arms won't get damaged ; the last wally put nicks/burs in place because he used a screwdriver/chisel that he used to remove the remains of the bush.

I used one of these. It also came in very handy with the rear ARB drop links:

Edited by SebringMan on Thursday 24th August 13:36

[bucksmanuk]

I’d be very wary of buying anything Meyle.
I bought a set of their discs for my E46 and put new Pagid pads in also.
A week of careful bedding in (500 miles) and then some mildly spirited driving on the A4146 through the roundabouts of MK. Seven roundabouts later, the brakes are finished, chronic vibration on anything more than gentle braking since. Brembo discs and pads ordered and now ready to go on.

[SidewaysSi]

Thanks all- M3 3.0 eccentric bush for the front end and M3 RTAB I think..

[SebringMan]

bucksmanuk said:

I’d be very wary of buying anything Meyle.
I bought a set of their discs for my E46 and put new Pagid pads in also.
A week of careful bedding in (500 miles) and then some mildly spirited driving on the A4146 through the roundabouts of MK. Seven roundabouts later, the brakes are finished, chronic vibration on anything more than gentle braking since. Brembo discs and pads ordered and now ready to go on.

The issues is alot of vendors know people will buy a product due to a brand, even it is not the right product. ECP have been doing this for years.

[nosuchuser]

How much is the Quaife costing if you don't mind?

This is on the list to do for mine if I get the rust under control.. Was considering an M3 evo back end (with the correct drive shaft) but I think most original diffs these days will be kaput..

On the rtab's - I've gone for the Rogue Engineering ones mainly due to me fitting them myself!

The previous owner fitted new lower control arms due to rust but my local indy have informed me they are the wrong type, don't have elliptical bushes - yet another thing to deal with over time...

Edited by nosuchuser on Sunday 27th August 17:18