BMW 530i TIe Rod Rant

[kschachn]

I’ve replaced nearly everything else on this car, why not the steering system. Do you know that in total there are 10 ball joints on the front suspension/steering? That’s right, 6 on the tie rods and 4 on the control arms. They are all new now.

I replaced the four control arms, wheel bearing/hub units, strut cartridges, spring seats, sway bar links and strut mounts this past summer due to a characteristic vibration at 55 mph. That cured the vibration problem but I noticed there was a bit of slop in one of the tie rod ends. This car has the tube type tie rods with a swivel end on both ends, plus a long center tie rod. So I ordered four new Lemforder ends (and the center rod) and went to put them on this week. I immediately learned that just buying the ends was a bad idea – they were rust-welded into the tubes. I was trying to save about $10 by buying just the ends but had to order whole new tie rods as the old ends were impossible to remove. Since I wanted to get the job done and clear the car from my garage (I had to get it out today), I paid for Fedex early AM next-day delivery. Well the great upper Midwest snow storm hit last night so they never got delivered today at all and may not arrive until Monday.

So I shopped locally for the tie rods and found some inferior Karlyn rods for about three times the price of what they would be online. I unscrewed the Karlyn ends from the rods and put the Lemforder ends in place, and got the car back on the road to be aligned tomorrow.

So by trying to save $20 I just spent about $150 more.

 

[BISCUT]

sorry bro....95 Camry hasn't done that to me yet. KKidding pal. Good luck hope your fix works well and stops thee for a bit

 

[getnpsi]

Wow that is a lot of stuff going on under there. At that point id see if race teams in the past used that chassis as-is or they did something different? Making a BMW feel 20 years younger with no payment...priceless. Well payment-less in this case! Be safe trying out new cornering ability in your winter weather!

 

[andyd]

Granted my 25 yr old 528e isnt state of the art. But all I have ever bought is the tie rod ends. Freeing up the tubes isn't cost effective for a shop. But all you have to do is to take out the pinch bolts and spread the slots in the tube with a cold chisel. Afterward, I wire brush the threads and give them a squirt of oil before I re-assemble them.

 

[HerrStig]

Herr Deiter, allvays on top of things, ja? Can't tighten the sidestand bolt on my BMW bike without taking the exhaust on that side off. Ja, aber es ist a small price to pay....

 

[Autobahn88]

I'd say 18 or so years out of your front end is pretty good considering. I replaced the fron tie rods on my 528 and found it one of the easiest ones to do. I did buy the whole assembly though. After so many years the ends do end up rusting on the tubes. I do have to say though, I have been replacing most of the maint items on my car and found it one of the easiest cars to work on. Most maint items are logically placed for ease of access.

 

[kschachn]

I got one of the ends out of one of the rods by that method but the other end was seriously rusted in the tube way inside past the slit. I broke the head off the end trying to remove it, there was no way that thing was coming out. I tried PB Blaster and heat but I was getting paranoid about the amount of heat I was using. Those ends have really long threaded studs, they screw into the tubes about two inches.

Originally Posted By: andyd
Granted my 25 yr old 528e isnt state of the art. But all I have ever bought is the tie rod ends. Freeing up the tubes isn't cost effective for a shop. But all you have to do is to take out the pinch bolts and spread the slots in the tube with a cold chisel. Afterward, I wire brush the threads and give them a squirt of oil before I re-assemble them.