[fortythirtyfive]

Apart from Lemforder, which other brands can be trusted on control alarms? Lemforder is proving difficult to track down.

I run Millway monoball bushings and almost came to selling them after 5k miles, felt the noise was getting too much on 20" wheels and KW V3's.. however when I had my car up on a ramp today I spotted the front left ball joint has failed, it's moving quite a lot creating the audible clunk I have been experiencing.

TRW were recently outed for moving their production to Asia which has seen poor quality ball joints, IIRC they were failing only a few thousand miles in.

Meyle, Febi and Napa are some of the other brands I'm seeing in UK stores but I don't hear many people in our cars running them, I don't need to be paying over on HD bushed arms like Meyle offer though, the stock bushing will be binned and my Millway's pressed in.

[rlesko]

TRW is the OE for BMW. Not sure about this production being moved to Asia but why not just buy from FCP or Turner and get lifetime warranty and stop worrying about it?

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by rlesko

TRW is the OE for BMW. Not sure about this production being moved to Asia but why not just buy from FCP or Turner and get lifetime warranty and stop worrying about it?

From what I understand BMW stopped receiving arms from TRW after they moved the factory until QC issues are solved. I would presume that's why VAC only supply their bushings pre-pressed into Lemforder arms and considering my TRW arms have failed at the ball joints I don't want the faff of swapping them every 6-12 months.

Unfortunately we don't have FCP in the UK, it's either usually 1 year limited warranty on aftermarket OE parts or 2 years through dealers. Would love for an FCP equivalent to pop up here though, sounds like you guys get a quality deal through them.

In the end I pulled the trigger on MEYLE-HD arms, the quality is super nice and they come with a limited mileage 4 year warranty with supposed claims of being superior to OE; which based on TRW right now is true I guess

[sspade]

Went with TRW and happy with the decision. I have the MEYLE HD end links which are quite nice; Im sure they make great arms as well.

[toxik]

if you're able to return arms, just buy TRW and look at country of origin on the box, you may still get Germany made stock. If its Malasian made, then return them. As far as companies like VAC using lemforder arms, the biggest failure point for Malasian made parts is the bushing, not the metal arm... so I doubt VAC wouldn't use TRW or other OE manufacturer made arms if they're replacing the bushing either way.

I priced out OEM arms, and they're expensive, but I'd be willing to spend that if all the OE options were worse in quality. Incase you're getting the TRW/Lemforder/ZF Malasian dilemma from M539 Restorations' E92 control arm video, even he went OEM since the OE options didnt fit the bill.

[alohasurftoad]

my 2015 F36 had TRW for OEM and my VAC are TRW as well. mine are still ok AFAIK. i guess we shall see.

[rlesko]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

and considering my TRW arms have failed at the ball joints I don't want the faff of swapping them every 6-12 months.

How long did your TRW last and how did you determine they were failing?

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by sspade

Went with TRW and happy with the decision. I have the MEYLE HD end links which are quite nice; Im sure they make great arms as well.

Yeah I saw a few good reviews on the HD product range, but mixed on the standard ones so it's all a gamble lol.

Originally Posted by toxik

if you're able to return arms, just buy TRW and look at country of origin on the box, you may still get Germany made stock. If its Malasian made, then return them. As far as companies like VAC using lemforder arms, the biggest failure point for Malasian made parts is the bushing, not the metal arm... so I doubt VAC wouldn't use TRW or other OE manufacturer made arms if they're replacing the bushing either way.

I priced out OEM arms, and they're expensive, but I'd be willing to spend that if all the OE options were worse in quality. Incase you're getting the TRW/Lemforder/ZF Malasian dilemma from M539 Restorations' E92 control arm video, even he went OEM since the OE options didnt fit the bill.

That's exactly what got me looking last year as I had an intermittent knock. 12 months later the guys I use for handling and installs had my car up on their ramp and spotted the ball joint was completely shot, when you rocked the car the joint shifted about within the hub/knuckle, you could also hear it audibly whilst under the car.

Unfortunately the packaging is long gone but I do remember a bit of a man hunt in 2022/23 for the remaining German made TRW arms, I believe pretty much all are now gone though.

From what I recall it's the ball joint that prematurely goes bad on their new arms, the main bushing is what gets replaced with a monoball usually. If it was the main bushing then I wouldn't be too fussed as it would be getting thrown away.

Originally Posted by rlesko

How long did your TRW last and how did you determine they were failing?

Just a little over 13 months (unlucky 13 ironic) - I had a wooden clunking sound which I had previously related to failing ball joints on the arms, my oem ones lasted to around 80k which may seem a little lower than average but they were ran on coilovers, so about right in my opinion.

[toxik]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

Yeah I saw a few good reviews on the HD product range, but mixed on the standard ones so it's all a gamble lol.



That's exactly what got me looking last year as I had an intermittent knock. 12 months later the guys I use for handling and installs had my car up on their ramp and spotted the ball joint was completely shot, when you rocked the car the joint shifted about within the hub/knuckle, you could also hear it audibly whilst under the car.

Unfortunately the packaging is long gone but I do remember a bit of a man hunt in 2022/23 for the remaining German made TRW arms, I believe pretty much all are now gone though.

From what I recall it's the ball joint that prematurely goes bad on their new arms, the main bushing is what gets replaced with a monoball usually. If it was the main bushing then I wouldn't be too fussed as it would be getting thrown away.



Just a little over 13 months (unlucky 13 ironic) - I had a wooden clunking sound which I had previously related to failing ball joints on the arms, my oem ones lasted to around 80k which may seem a little lower than average but they were ran on coilovers, so about right in my opinion.

ah didn't realize the ball joint was the failure point. well, I don't know if it's worth anything, but if I was in your place I'd buy OEM. I just find having to go back and change control arms often due to failure not worth the headache/labor costs that you would otherwise pay by going OEM instead of OE.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

Yeah I saw a few good reviews on the HD product range, but mixed on the standard ones so it's all a gamble lol.



That's exactly what got me looking last year as I had an intermittent knock. 12 months later the guys I use for handling and installs had my car up on their ramp and spotted the ball joint was completely shot, when you rocked the car the joint shifted about within the hub/knuckle, you could also hear it audibly whilst under the car.

Unfortunately the packaging is long gone but I do remember a bit of a man hunt in 2022/23 for the remaining German made TRW arms, I believe pretty much all are now gone though.

From what I recall it's the ball joint that prematurely goes bad on their new arms, the main bushing is what gets replaced with a monoball usually. If it was the main bushing then I wouldn't be too fussed as it would be getting thrown away.



Just a little over 13 months (unlucky 13 ironic) - I had a wooden clunking sound which I had previously related to failing ball joints on the arms, my oem ones lasted to around 80k which may seem a little lower than average but they were ran on coilovers, so about right in my opinion.

My full suspension overhaul on my F31 last month was a mix of TRW, Lemfoder and Moog parts

I've used Moog for years now (as well as Meyle / Meyle HD) and never had any issues; had more issues with OEM BMW and Lemforder unfortunately (albeit that was on previous E39s and an E65)

You'll get Moog via your local motorfactors and Autodoc; TRW on Autodoc too...

Meyle HD is good as said above; but I know Sreten of M539 Restorations fame doesn't like Meyle at all... He's obviously fallen foul of bad parts...

Lemforder are going this way too and he's not impressed!

If you can get them, go Moog IMO - good warranty on their parts too

[fortythirtyfive]

Had the Meyle HD's installed yesterday with my Millway monoballs swapped into them.

God knows why I didn't blame the old arms for the looseness and knocking long before, esp as my original set of OEM arms went at around 80k with similar symptoms.

Anyway time will tell as to how they hold up but the build quality is fantastic and the garage seemed happy enough with them. Everything is dead silent now, super tight and drives like a dream.. to think I was about to bin the monoballs off for being too noisy

Hopefully this answers another issue I had which was the left front wheel often rubbed on fast speed turns, I can only presume the arm wasn't that "stable" letting it move a bit too much (it was this side that had failed).

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

Had the Meyle HD's installed yesterday with my Millway monoballs swapped into them.

God knows why I didn't blame the old arms for the looseness and knocking long before, esp as my original set of OEM arms went at around 80k with similar symptoms.

Anyway time will tell as to how they hold up but the build quality is fantastic and the garage seemed happy enough with them. Everything is dead silent now, super tight and drives like a dream.. to think I was about to bin the monoballs off for being too noisy

Hopefully this answers another issue I had which was the left front wheel often rubbed on fast speed turns, I can only presume the arm wasn't that "stable" letting it move a bit too much (it was this side that had failed).

Sounds like a good job well done; as you said, fingers crossed that's it tight as a drum now and no further issues

My F31s superb now with all new suspension; even though there was no play, original 2015 rubber parts were starting to show their age!

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Sounds like a good job well done; as you said, fingers crossed that's it tight as a drum now and no further issues

My F31s superb now with all new suspension; even though there was no play, original 2015 rubber parts were starting to show their age!

It's amazing what a slight refresh can do, it reignites that spark when driving it again!

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

It's amazing what a slight refresh can do, it reignites that spark when driving it again!

Agree; although my refresh was more the slight

The F31 didn't drive or handle badly at all; far from it. The 18" forged 405Ms and Goodyear tyres made a huge difference when I fitted them in terms of turn in feel and all round driving

But you could just feel that there was something amiss when it came to the all out handling, more so on rough B roads/country lanes and the ones I know very well local to me

Driving them now really highlights the new suspension; looking forward to sticking the summer 405Ms back on in the very near future as I think they'll be the icing on the cake