BMW Bushing Puller Tool Needed

[Earl]

Mine aren't harsh and make zero noise. If you lubricate them properly they shouldn't make a peep. Mine are also 75a. That is a hair stiffer than the oem rubber. 90-95a is a good bit stiffer and might bring some road noise

[BenDem]

Good to know.

Any idea how long the OEM bushings are supposed to last?

[Earl]

100,000 miles at best I would say. They are pretty soft too.

[BMWben]

BenDem said:

I'm shooting for 4.  I'll know more about my plans once I find the source of some other noises (hopefully tonight).

I don't know what you were thinking but how would next Monday afternoon work for messing around with some bushings?

[BenDem]

Sorry, life kinda got away from me the past few weeks.   I still need to order my bushings.   They should be in middle of next week sometime

[BMWben]

I'm just throwing this out there but if you wanted to or would be able to we could do my bushings Monday evening. I have the bushings in my trunk I just don't have a place to do them in Milwaukee. Just an idea

[bigjae1976]

Did you get this done? I might be able to do them on a hydraulic press for you.

[BenDem]

Just to update the thread.   I finally carved out some time, and replaced the bushings without removing subframe or the bolts using the techinques in the link I posted earlier.

I didn't take any pics of the process, but it was very straight forward.  The only think I'll add to the above is that if you need to replace the plate washers that sit on top of the bushings, you might have to remove the subframe bolts to install them.

So,  I've now got a homemade bushing puller thing that I'll happily loan out to whoever for the cost of shipping.  It took me about an hour to make the tool, but I was trying to be carefull to get as good a fit as reasonable without going totally anal-rententive.

I'll start a new thread about how I'd like the loaning process to go, and what other tools you'll need to do the job.

[Boris3]

Good to hear it went well! So here's a look at my passenger side rear subframe on the beater. Possible to replace what remains of this bushing without dropping the subframe? I'm not optimistic.

[BenDem]

It might... My guess it would depend if the bushing is seized onto the bolt / frame of the car.  Then again, if it's not a vert, you could probably remove the bolts and then get a saw in there to remove whatever the tool didn't remove.

It's worth a shot... worst case, you'd just pull the subframe anyway.

But... If your subframe bushings are that bad, your trailing arm bushings are probably shot too.  You'd probably save time by removing the subframe and doing both jobs at once.

[Boris3]

Pm sent about borrowing the tool. Holding on to a little optimism that the bushings will come out with little drama. We'll see.

[Boris3]

Well borrowed Ben's tool, and no success for me. Puller and heat and all I accomplished was bending the outer metal lip of the subframe bushing. Short of pulling the subframe which I really don't have time or the inclination to do, any suggestions on options? I was able to knock out the long bolt. Thanks.

[jc43089]

It is a pain but I have used a drill bit to destroy as much of the rubber as I could to get the center of the bushing out and then using a sawzall to cut the outer sleeve so that it collapses on itself and falls out.  I did this when I replaced my e36 RTABs.

[Boris3]

Thanks. I used a drill and hole saw to clear most of the rubber. Metal center though looks to be stuck to the body. The outer sleeve is stuck to the subframe tube. Car is on jack stands so not enough height to use the sawzall. Any other suggestions ? Starting to see why folks drop the subframe to do this.

[jc43089]

The center should just be held in by the rubber.  Could you get a hacksaw in there?  The blades are much smaller.  As soon as the outer sleeve splits it will fall right out.

[BenDem]

When I installed my new bushings, I put some anti-sieze on the top of the metal sleeve (on the bushing).  I think I remember seeing somewhere that they can get corrode to the frame?

Maybe that's what happened to yours?

[Boris3]

Yep. Tapped and inserted a 5/8 bolt into the center piece. Tried to hammer it loose from the top but no luck. Smacked the bolt from the side and got it loose but of course with the aluminum stub broken off on the body. Drilled and dremeled this out. Chisel Dremel and vise grips to work out the sleeve.

Drivers side was a repeat of the same issues. Tried the tool just for laughs with no luck. Back to the drill. Center came out easier but the outer sleeve was worse. Ended up buying a HF air chisel to get it out. Still have some aluminum residue from the core left in the body that I need to ream out. One more trip to the hardware store.

Moral: cool tool but for a Midwest e30 with approx 250k and a lot of winters too much for it

[Boris3]

Done. Bottle jack and pipe cap to get the bushings 3/4 in and puller for the last 1/4. Put the bushings in the freezer overnight, heat gunned the tube, coated bushings in dish soap. No more clunk on shifting.

Sending out the tool to Chris this afternoon. Looking forward to a success story!!

[jc43089]

Nice! Glad it worked out for you.

[BenDem]

Boris3 said:

Moral: cool tool but for a Midwest e30 with approx 250k and a lot of winters too much for it

I was wondering.  The underside of my e30 is ridiculously clean, being a low-ish mileage Florida car. 

Here's hoping Chris has better luck!