Replace/upgrade E28 front suspension bushes etc

[Quinn 1]

My E28 has developed a shudder at 85 - 95kph (goes away after 95kph) and it is not a wheel balance issue so I am looking at replacing the thrust control arms. I've been looking on ebay and I've found a few sets, plus I've also found a complete front end package which is listed as an M5 upgrade kit. I was just wondering what some of the bimmersport members have done and what has made big improvements if any. I'm kind of in the mind of if it needs replacing I might as well upgrade at the same time...

Also as anyone brought one of these kits off ebay?

Cheers

Quinn

[Quinn 1]

Here's a pick of the kit they offer for $345nz plus postage:

It looks pretty good, I have sent them an email requesting more info and asking if they can sell it privately as I don't have an ebay account. They claim it is an M5/M6 upgrade (E28/E24) but the only difference I can see is the alloy lower arms and I guess the bushes will be slightly stiffer. Should make an improvement though. Oh, does anyone know if there's a difference between lhd and rhd parts in the steering (ie pitman arm and draglink etc)?

[bekker 7]

Any idea of postage? I suspect that will be a bit.

[Quinn 1]

Any idea of postage? I suspect that will be a bit.

Yea I'm waiting for their reply, it was 20us to ship anywhere inside of the states so I'm expecting it will be a bit more.

[Silver Fox 43]

I bought a full set in from the States thru Ebay, included all the bushes and pitman arms, around $65 US for post from memory.

[Quinn 1]

Ok so I finally ordered the complete set. For $400nz delivered I think its pretty bloody good, it includes alloy control arms and "M5" uprated bushes in the rest of the kit so it should be a vast improvement on the 20+ year old crap in the car right now. If anyone is interested in a kit let me know and I can send you a link etc as the guy I found was cheaper than many others and very easy to deal with and in a few days or week(ish) I should be able to confirm quality.

[User Name 19]

Hi guys

quinn has sent me links and looks good im going to add this to the goody package if quinn comes back as says a good improvemtn

[Quinn 1]

Ok,

I got the parts about two weeks ago and they look like they are all very good quality, plus all up I think they took about 5 days to get here so big ups to the guys at FCP Groton. You can find them on ebay or email Mike at miker@fcpgroton.com, he's the sales manager and if you say your from the bimmersport car club he'll look after you. So enough with the plug... The alloy lower arms are very very nice and weigh in at 1.1kg each instead of the 1.6kg standard parts so if your into racing they are worth getting. The shudder has gone (the reason I brought the kit in the first place) and it has made the whole front end feel tighter and more responsive. The only issue at the moment is it has induced a whole bunch of toe in. I'm assuming it is because of how warn the old parts were but it might also have something to do with the lower arms having keyed faces to bind with the body mounts and create torsion... I might have to take a pic to help explain. When I took the old lower arms off their neutral position was about 50mm below horizontal and when I put the new ones on I left them loose until the car was back on its wheels and tightened them so their neutral position was the same as the cars static height (the lower arms are perfectly horizontal at static height) as I figured they'd probably fight the springs otherwise. Anyway I'll be booking the car in for a full alignment next week once the new rear end is in so I should be able to give a better account of the improvement it has made, so far it feels like $400 well spent.