replacing rear axle carrier bushes

[kevs635csi]

i did this job about 2 weeks ago , heres the lowdown , jack the car up under the diff & place axle stands under the rear jacking points on the sills, remove rear wheels & remove rear seats, yes the seats!


working on one side at a time support the carrier next to the bush with a trolley jack & then undo the 2 forward bolts on the tie strap , then undo the big nut in the middle which hold the bush in place , hit out the long splined bolt that goes through the bush , this will come out inside the car thats why you take out the seats, gently lower the jack, if the carrier is stuck it will need a bit of persuading with a pry bar, it'll only drop about 3"

Now the crux of the problem, you will need the special BMW puller that cost's big bucks but being a skinflint i made my own , the big brass sleeve is made from a boeing 747 landing gear bearing (an old one ) , the rest of the cups & arbors i machined up in work & also you need some 1/2" threaded bar & nuts



bush coming out


once you get all the cups lined up you can start winding the nuts on the threaded bar & after a few minutes the bush will pop out


clean up the inside of the carrier with some fine wet & dry & use plenty of hellarine (rubber lube) on the new bush & the inside of the carrier (or you could use washing up liquid ).
You will notice 2 notches cut into the bush , these align with the ridges in the carrier , its a bit of a fiddle aligning all the cup's & getting the bush started straight but once it starts going in it'll set square


bush going in


Dont wind the bush all the way in leave about 1/4" gap on the bottom between the carrier & lip of the bush , this is so you can get the pulling plate on next time you do them .
Once the bush is in jack up the carrier until it touch'es the car body , then go inside & insert the long splined bolt , locate the tie strap & start the nut , start the 2 forward bolts & tighten them up , tighten the big nut up & thats one side done , repeat for the other side
remember i made these tools & i would'nt suggest doing the job with out them & allways do one side at a time

P.S it took me longer to sort out the pics than it took me to do the job

[UKDaveJ]

Excellent tech article Kev.

I didn't know that you could jack up the car under the diff, so that was a useful bit of knowledge to add to that you shared.

[kevs635csi]

[kevs635csi]

done it now, ive got a front timing chain case oil leak write up to do as well, this bloody one took me long enough , im crap with computers

[UKDaveJ]

I learnt from your post that you can jack up the rear of the car by putting the trolley jack under the diff.

What about at the front - what are the best places, is there one place where you can safely jack up the whole front for example?

[kevs635csi]

under the crossmember on the subframe, its low so awkward to get the jack under

[UKDaveJ]

under the crossmember on the subframe, its low so awkward to get the jack under

Thanks Kev, will go have a fiddle now. Will probably have to drive the car onto some wooden 2" planks, that should ensure I get enough height for the jack.

[UKDaveJ]

under the crossmember on the subframe, its low so awkward to get the jack under

Thanks Kev, will go have a fiddle now. Will probably have to drive the car onto some wooden 2" planks, that should ensure I get enough height for the jack.

By the way Kev, I managed to get my trolley jack under the crossmember without having to drive onto planks-sorted.

Cheers,
Dave

[mnd6]

kev, is there any chance of getting the measurements of the arbors u used?
cheers
matt