Any idea where to get full oem quality control arms for bmw?
330d control arm part q
- Thread starter DanF
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Any idea where to get full oem quality control arms for bmw?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Of course it matters which car - for proper allignment the time it takes and thus the cost depends entirely on what the car and how adjustable it is!
Something must be, otherwise its like a garage saying 'full service £50' irrespective of whether the car is a Nissan Micra 1.0 or a Mercedes S63 AMG.
Some cars take many times as long to allign properly than others. Take a Fiesta in and it'll be in and out in no time, take something more complex which accepts front and rear camber and toe-in adjustment etc etc and it will take much longer.
Some cars take many times as long to allign properly than others. Take a Fiesta in and it'll be in and out in no time, take something more complex which accepts front and rear camber and toe-in adjustment etc etc and it will take much longer.
Is that AMS Tyres and Exhuasts half way between Paignton and Torquay?
They fitted my last full set of tyres, as it happens, as they were the nearest dealer with a Hunter GSP7000 wheel balancer.
They quoted me £93 for full allignment on my 5 Series. There was no mention of a fixed price for any car.
This is true of my local hunter gaff. Its £47.50 regardless of the car. I queried the £100+ thing with him last time and he said "well, it should be really. For £30ks worth of machine that costs £1k to fix each time it goes pop, but we like to keep the prices real for our customers".
I guess the fact that almost every dealer in the area uses them, thats a fair comment. If i'd let my BMW dealer do it, I can promise you it would have ended up there.
I guess the fact that almost every dealer in the area uses them, thats a fair comment. If i'd let my BMW dealer do it, I can promise you it would have ended up there.
The system may be measuring castor, camber and toe but for 25 quid all they would have adjusted would be the tracking.
As for 2 hours to do the job, if done properly then that's a pretty good time. The equipment should be attached and measurements taken, removed, the car rolled forwards 1/3 a turn, the equipment reattached and measurements repeated, then removed again and the car rolled forwards another 1/3 and everything repeated.
A specialist like Centre mavity will take 4hrs for their basic alignment work but that does include road testing and measuring tyre temperatures.
B42038 is the lemforder arm, bassicly EXACTLY what you will be sold if you go to a BMW main dealer. The arms dont come with the bushes, so you will need B42041/42 depending on the sides you want to do (B42040 for both).
The cheaper ones are just a pattern part, and are fairly good for the price. I have never had one come back under warranty and I have sold many tens and tens of units from my branch.
There is more than just one suspension arm on a E46. The M Sports package II Suspension arm is a different arm to the standard arm.
Dont pay BMW prices for the arm, its crazy. At the end of the day its just a piece of metal with two not very sophisticated ball joints on it!
The cheaper ones are just a pattern part, and are fairly good for the price. I have never had one come back under warranty and I have sold many tens and tens of units from my branch.
There is more than just one suspension arm on a E46. The M Sports package II Suspension arm is a different arm to the standard arm.
Dont pay BMW prices for the arm, its crazy. At the end of the day its just a piece of metal with two not very sophisticated ball joints on it!
Cool cheers, I'll pop in to the local gsf. I guess bmw should be able to tell me the origional part number I need for it or the specific suspension type when I pick it up tonight.
if youre getting rubber bits like that and you want them to last, try and aim for lemforder
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;13880799 said:
ProTyre Bristol wont charge that much and I'm yet to see a better machine (£60) at a place that primarily sells tyres.
The machine is only half the issue aswell, you need someone who knows what they are doing for the OEM specs if you are following those.
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;13881212 said:
Toe in is alignment. Full geometry to assess camber and castor (not always adjustable) is a different service so I think they can well and do indeed quote a fixed price for that very reason. You're right there, but there shouldnt be much deviating that from the factory settings unless you have had a crash. I dont think anything other than a simple toe check and adjustment after lower arm replacement is neccessary on a car that drove pretty well before.
I just called up protyre in Bristol who are going to do the work, they charge about £28 for basic tracking, if it's any more work than that then it goes to £35 per hour and is usually done in 2 hours.
They're quoting 3 hours to fit the parts and if they supply them it's only about £15 more than GSF but with no hassle.
So it should be about £250 less than BMW carrying out the work.
They're quoting 3 hours to fit the parts and if they supply them it's only about £15 more than GSF but with no hassle.
So it should be about £250 less than BMW carrying out the work.