This message is marked as Important.

Subject: Friday Pitman Arm & Sway Arm Bushing Tech Session E34 525i Author: Triton540i (moderator) : member since March, 2004 : 1619 posts Posted on: 2005-08-07 16:26:31

Hey Everyone,
Ben and I did a little more work on his 5er this last Friday. We did things a little low key as we were finishing things up from earlier this week after finishing the Control Arms but not having the time to get to the Pitman Arms and Sway Arm Bushings.

There are a few things to look for in this group of pictures... we noticed as we were replacing the Pitman Arms that the new bolts were a little shorter than the ones in the car and this caused us to question several points of the installation.

As the installation continued we noticed that the placement of the washers was different in the previous application, and when some of the photos were shot you can see a washer between the Pitman Arm and the subframe. We elected to remove that washer and followed the diagram in the factory ETK (Check TechnoBMW.com and click on "Online ETK" for more details) to stick with the proper installation. The factory ETK showed a picture of the inner bolt being flipped or head on top, threads on the bottom and the outer bolt to mount head on the bottom going upward into the threaded part of the subframe. Unfortunately due to the lack of needed space, we had to install the inner bolt with the head on the bottom and nut on top. By doing this, it can affect torque specs because the torque value should be taken at the nut versus the head of the bolt. The outer bolt's torque value will be taken at the head since it has no nut as it is threaded into the subframe. I believe the torque values are somewhat irrelevant in this application since the center part of the bushing is solid and only requires it to be snug or "Smartly tightened" to prevent it from becoming loose in the future.

In changing out the bushings in the sway bar, you will notice one of them is slightly crooked and will need to be straightened sometime. Yes I did take pictures of it crooked, but we just didn't get to it as we had to close things down rather quickly because I had an apointment to get to. The ooze coming out of the bushing is lithium grease I applied to the outside of the bushing to get it to slide in place (or not slide in place as you can see in the pictures.)




Ben and I spent about 3 hours on the car this Friday, taking our time and enjoying coffee treats from my local Starbucks. This is what working on cars is all about, good music, great company and awesome cars like BMWs makes it all worth it! I really hope you enjoy the pictures!


-Eric Kozar






















































































(00( )( )00)
BMW E34

• Friday Pitman Arm & Sway Arm Bushing Tech Session E34 525i (pic) - Triton540i 2005-08-07 16:26:31 (920 views)
  • Some additional information about the photos... - Triton540i 2005-08-07 16:40:29 (614 views)