BMW Suspension Bushings & Mounts for BMW 3 Series E46 (1999-2005)

Our sealed Monoball Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (RTAB) are the best solution for completely eliminating deflection and unwanted toe changes on the rear of the E36, E46, and Z4. While rubber and urethane bushings flex during load, the toe can change widely giving you nervous and unpredictable handling. These RTABs have a solid aluminum housing with a high-quality sealed OE bearing. These bushings were developed from years of competition use in various racing and HPDE events. There is simply no better RTAB unless your racing class rules prohibit the use of mono or spherical bearings.

The rear trailing arm bushings take a lot of abuse from acclerating, braking and cornering. The stock rubber bushings are just not up to the task of keeping rear wheel alignment in spec for very long, especially if you have upgraded to stickier tires and a better suspension. The pliable rubber flexes and twists which slows down reaction time and leaves you with a car that feels nervous and 'tail happy'. Urethane helps to control the alignment but issues with fitment, maintenance, and longevity keep us from recommending urethane on anything but a street car. We also offer a Delrin RTAB for cars that must conform to certain racing class rules. These sealed spherical bearings are the best at controlling rear toe alignment.

Our aluminum RTABs are very well made - high grade aluminum alloy and steel CNC'd out of a billet by an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer, each component is either hardcoated or nickel plated. While multiple manufacturers offer two piece designs, our research showed that a one piece bushing is a better design featuring a sealed bearing to keep contaminants out extending the life of the bearing.

Features:

Key Benefits:

• Rear Trailing Arm Monoball eliminates unwanted deflection, maintaining alignment settings and minimizing wheel hop.
• Allows full rear trailing arm articulation for low friction movement and eliminates binding found in rubber and poly bushings.
• Completely streetable: utilizes an OES Lemforder brand sealed, greased ball joint for an extremely long service life with no increase to NVH.

Design Features:

• Housing: Billet CNC 6061-T6 aluminum, type II anodized for exceptional durability and corrosion resistance
• Bearing: OE Mercedes/lemforder 2043520027 Sealed ball joint
• Bearing inserts: CNC machined 303 stainless steel.
• Rebuildable

Clickhere for installation instructions.

This item fits the following BMWs:
1992-1998 E36 BMW 318i 318is 318ic 323is 323ic 325i 325is 325ic 328i 328is 328ic M3
1999-2005 E46 BMW 323i 323ci 325i 325ci 325xi 328i 328ci 330i 330ci 330xi M3
2003-2008 Z4 BMW Z4 2.5i Z4 3.0i Z4 3.0si Z4 M Roadster M Coupe

Stock rubber front control arm bushings are designed to allow significant fore/aft movement of the front wheels to help absorb road impacts.  This soft flexible design maximizes daily driving comfort and helps to add the “luxury” feeling to your BMW, but it is far from ideal for the performance or racing enthusiast that is looking for optimal handling and braking performance.  Being a bonded rubber bushing that is constantly twisting and deflecting when in use, stock rubber bushings really take a beating and often fail prematurely, resulting in further degraded handling, braking shimmy or even clunking felt under your feet.

In the past, the only upgrade option to improve handling of your E46 M3 was to replace the stock rubber with poly bushings, or delrin bushings that wear prematurely and are not serviceable or rebuild-able.  While well-designed poly bushings can vastly improve handling characteristics and offer good road feel with minimal increase to NVH, they are still a compromise when it comes to ultimate handling and braking performance.

Introducing the new Turner Front Control Arm Spherical Bearings!  The Turner engineering team set out to design a no-compromise solution that requires no modification and offers instantaneous cornering and braking response.  Our control arm bearings utilize a unique grease-able spherical bearing that is both serviceable and replaceable, with integrated dust seals to help keep dirt and moisture out.  This bearing offers considerable improvement in both precision and durability compared to other unsealed poly and delrin bushing inserts previously available, which can wear prematurely due to contamination.  The bearing assembly utilizes the highest quality materials, precision machining quality, and components to ensure a perfect fit and longest lasting component life possible.

The result is the ultimate in terms of low friction, no binding, and no unwanted deflection, as well as exceptional steering precision, turn-in response, and direct braking feedback with minimal increase in NVH.  These spherical bearings are a must have for any track car, but are also completely street-able and are a great upgrade for any enthusiast that enjoys spirited driving.

Features:

Bearing

• Extremely robust, greaseable, double lip sealed spherical bearing (Rated for 20,000lbf Dynamic, 90,000lbf Static). 

Housing

• 6061-T6, anodized housing with needle grease zerk for easy maintenance. 
• In house designed knurled OD to provide the perfect fit for the wide range of housing diameters among brands. 

Bearing Insert Arm adapter

• Precision CNC machined Delrin, providing a tight fit between the bearing and the control arm. 

Performance

• Instant, crisp steering and braking response.
• Easy to maintain, long lasting performance. 
• Improved road feel without undesirable NVH.

Grease before installation and with each oil service with high quality Moly grease for maximum service life.  Need a Grease tool?

The E36/E46 rear trailing arm bushings (RTABs) wear out faster than any other bushing on the car. Worn RTAB will cause excessive toe alignment change and give a 'loose' or 'floaty' feeling in the rear handling. One of the reasons for this is that they over-extend during motion, stretching and twisting the rubber in all directions. These shims sit on either side of the bushing and limit the amount of extension from the bushing. Not only will you get more life from your RTAB but these will help stiffen the bushing during cornering. But during normal driving you will still have all of the comfort of the stock rubber bushings. These part about these bushings is how easy they are to install - simply slide them in place during your bushing install. They can be added to pre-installed bushings too by dropping the trailing arm and removing the cage around the bushing.

Works with stock rubber bushings only (not urethane or Delrin).

Our experience with spherical front control arm�ball joints go back to those we designed and used in our IMSA E90 328i and E92 M3 racecars (GS class Champions in 2011).��We wanted to offer e30, e36, and e46 owners similar levels of handling precision and control for the track and street, but weren�t satisfied with the other options out there.� Instead of a Delrin bushing or unsealed spherical bearing alone, we selected an oversized sealed greaseable spherical monoball to offer unparalleled durability and precision, but designed a Delrin adapter sleeve to help isolate the added noise, vibration, and harshness that a full solid monoball bearing will have.�While race-ready,�our hybrid Delrin/monoball control arm bearings are more at home on the street than other kits that are advertised as��race-only� bearings. We did extensive street, autocross, and track testing to ensure the spherical bearing used in this bushing design excelled in each setting.

The stock rubber bushings, even�those found in the M3,�allow significant fore/aft movement of the front wheels to help absorb road impacts, especially when being pushed hard. �This soft flexible design maximizes daily driving comfort, but also allows considerable alignment change.� This unwanted deflection�stands between you and a crisp, confidence-inspiring driving experience. �The advantage of a monoball bearing is that it will not deflect under load, eliminating all unwanted deflection while still allowing�complete freedom of movement�in the desired angles. What you get is superior steering precision with better handling from more consistent alignment�and direct braking feedback, with exceptional service life.� Thanks to the�Delrin insert and double lip seals, there's none of the extra noise or reduced service life�often�found on�other�spherical bearings.

In short, if you're seeking front control arm bushings that offer precise, predictable handling, crisper braking feel, with a long service life free from noise - look no further. We have you covered.

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Watch to learn more about Turner Monoball Bushings

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Features:

Bearing housing

• Manufactured using 6061-T6 blue anodized aluminum with a pre-installed grease fitting and grease distribution channels making this a serviceable design
• Knurling allows for a wide variance in lollipop dimension, although this particular SKU comes pre-installed, so you won't need to worry about that.�Want to install your own? Click here.�

Bearing

• A high quality greaseable double lip sealed bearing with Delrin� inserts. Delrin� was chosen due to durability�under pressure, while still soft�enough to create a perfect play-free fitment on the control arm.
• Replaceable for infinite service life - no need to replace the entire mount in the event a bearing happens to fail.

Includes new hardware. Grease before installation and with each oil service with high quality Moly grease for maximum service life.�Need a grease fitting tool?

Installation is relatively easy - see our instructions here.�

This item fits the following BMWs:

1999-2006�E46 BMW�323i 323ci 325i 325ci 328i 328ci 330i 330ci�
2003-2008�Z4 BMW�Z4 2.5i Z4 3.0i Z4 3.0si�

Here at Turner we understand the importance of an upgrade that will get the results you need on the track and still be tolerable on the drive around town. When it comes to control arms on the track, making them as stiff as you can (usually using solid mounts) is the best way to increase your driving precision by eliminating the deflection of rubber. The next best thing to create a balance would be to stiffen up the control arm with polyurethane, giving you the option of a more stock like feel with 80a or closer to the solid feel with 95a durometers. These poly bushings will give your control arms a direct connection between your suspension and the body of the car eliminating the slop felt under take-off and braking so you feel more in control of your vehicle. 

This item fits the following BMWs that use a centered-style bushing: 

1999-2005 E46 BMW 323i 323ci 325i 325ci 328i 328ci 330i 330ci - not for xi models 
2003-2008 E85 BMW Z4 2.5i Z4 3.0i Z4 3.0si 

BMW E46 Z4 Rear Polyurethane Differential Bushing Performance is the ultimate upgrade for enhancing the connection between your BMW's chassis and differential. Designed by Turner Motorsport, this performance bushing replaces the soft factory rubber with durable polyurethane, offering superior control and response. By minimizing vibrations and reducing deflection, this bushing ensures a more direct and responsive driving experience, making it a must-have for any performance-oriented BMW E46 or Z4 owner.

• Enhanced Performance: Replaces the soft factory rubber with durable polyurethane for improved driveline response.
• Reduced Vibrations: Minimizes vibrations between the chassis and differential, providing a more connected driving experience.
• Increased Durability: Made from high-quality polyurethane, offering long-lasting performance under demanding conditions.
• Improved Control: Reduces deflection, ensuring a more precise and responsive handling experience.

Our experience with spherical front control arm ball joints go back to those we designed and used in our IMSA E90 328i and E92 M3 racecars (GS class Champions in 2011).  We wanted to offer e30, e36, and e46 owners similar levels of handling precision and control for the track and street, but weren’t satisfied with the other options out there.  Instead of a Delrin bushing or unsealed spherical bearing alone, we selected an oversized sealed greaseable spherical monoball to offer unparalleled durability and precision, but designed a Delrin adapter sleeve to help isolate the added noise, vibration, and harshness that a full solid monoball bearing will have. While race-ready, our hybrid Delrin/monoball control arm bearings are more at home on the street than other kits that are advertised as “race-only” bearings. We did extensive street, autocross, and track testing to ensure the spherical bearing used in this bushing design excelled in each setting.

The stock rubber bushings, even those found in the M3, allow significant fore/aft movement of the front wheels to help absorb road impacts, especially when being pushed hard.  This soft flexible design maximizes daily driving comfort, but also allows considerable alignment change.  This unwanted deflection stands between you and a crisp, confidence-inspiring driving experience.  The advantage of a monoball bearing is that it will not deflect under load, eliminating all unwanted deflection while still allowing complete freedom of movement in the desired angles. What you get is superior steering precision with better handling from more consistent alignment and direct braking feedback, with exceptional service life.  Thanks to the Delrin insert and double lip seals, there's none of the extra noise or reduced service life often found on other spherical bearings.

In short, if you're seeking front control arm bushings that offer precise, predictable handling, crisper braking feel, with a long service life free from noise - look no further. We have you covered.

Watch to learn more about Turner Monoball Bushings

Features:

Bearing housing

• Precision CNC machined from 6061-T6 blue anodized aluminum with a pre-installed grease fitting and grease distribution channels making this a serviceable design
• Knurled for smooth press fit in a wide variance in “lollipop” dimensions

Bearing

• A high quality greaseable double lip sealed bearing with Delrin® inserts. Delrin® was chosen for its durability under pressure, while still soft enough to create a perfect play-free fitment on the control arm.
• Replaceable for infinite service life - no need to replace the entire mount in the event a bearing happens to fail.

Includes new hardware. Grease before installation and with each oil service with high quality Moly grease for maximum service life. Need a grease fitting tool?

Installation is relatively easy - see our instructions here. 

This item fits the following BMWs: 
2001-2006 E46 BMW M3 

The ECS Tuning Billet Front Sway Bar Mounting Kit will provide your vehicle with a more rigid mounting solution from the sway bar to chassis than the OEM steel brackets. With an improved sway bar mounting bracket and the included polyurethane sway bar bushings you can expect to achieve an increase in rear sway bar effectiveness and less body roll as a result.

PART DESIGN

The front sway bar mounting brackets are made from a solid piece of 6061-T6 billet aluminum that are precision CNC-machined to bolt into the OEM mounting location while utilizing greaseable, polyurethane bushings. They are Type II black anodized for corrosion protection and include zinc flake coated Class 12.9 alloy steel bolts for premium performance.

The red polyurethane bushings feature a greaseable channel for extended service life and quieter operation than standard polyurethane bushings.

PERFORMANCE FEATURES

Billet & poly mounts replacing the OEM steel & rubber configuration you can expect faster reaction speed and greater effectiveness from your front sway bar due to less deflection. This translates to better handling with sharper, flatter cornering with reduced body roll.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

ECS Billet Front Sway Bar Mounting Kit was designed, engineered, tested and quality inspected by the Research and Development team in our Wadsworth, Ohio facility to ensure the highest level of precision and quality is delivered throughout rigorous long term product testing and leading edge product development methods.

INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT

Installation is simple. Simply unbolt your front sway bar mounting brackets and slip over our poly bushings and billet mounting brackets with the included hardware. That's it! Enjoy better handling and a crisp front suspension.

SPECIAL NOTE: You can use any conventional automotive bearing grease for service.

Want a race-spec rear shock mount but with the comfort of a factory bushing? This ECS rear shock mount combines the precision and articulation of a spherical bearing with the isolation of urethane bushings. The stainless monoball bearing is lined with PTFE lubricant and suspended in 80A urethane and housed in a hard anodized 6061-T6 aluminum mount. The spherical bearing is a better design than most rear shock mounts because it allows the shock to move and tilt without side-loading the shock shaft (which leads to premature failure of the shock). Most Genuine BMW and aftermarket shock mounts are not designed for shock angles and the stress that track or performance driving will put on the shock shaft. The ECS shock mount is properly designed to handle these loads. The internal bearing is also replaceable - it will be years before you have to replace the entire mount. The ECS mount is fully encapsulated to prevent the common shock mount failure of the stock mount design.

ECS RSM features:

• Maintenance free, PTFE lined, stainless steel monoball spherical bearing for full shaft articulation
• 80A polyurethane isolation bushings for NVH control
• Accommodates 10mm, 12mm, or 14mm damper shafts
• Fully constrained shaft mount makes RSM blow out impossible
• Hard anodized 6061-T6 construction
• Fully rebuildable design

* - the RSM comes with the BMW standard 10mm shock shaft bushings. 12mm is used on some performance shocks and 14mm is used on some true motorsport rear shocks.

The ECS Tuning Billet Front Sway Bar Mounting Kit will provide your vehicle with a more rigid mounting solution from the sway bar to chassis than the OEM steel brackets. With an improved sway bar mounting bracket and the included polyurethane sway bar bushings you can expect to achieve an increase in rear sway bar effectiveness and less body roll as a result.

PART DESIGN

The front sway bar mounting brackets are made from a solid piece of 6061-T6 billet aluminum that are precision CNC-machined to bolt into the OEM mounting location while utilizing greaseable, polyurethane bushings. They are Type II black anodized for corrosion protection and include zinc flake coated Class 12.9 alloy steel bolts for premium performance.

The red polyurethane bushings feature a greaseable channel for extended service life and quieter operation than standard polyurethane bushings.

PERFORMANCE FEATURES

Billet & poly mounts replacing the OEM steel & rubber configuration you can expect faster reaction speed and greater effectiveness from your front sway bar due to less deflection. This translates to better handling with sharper, flatter cornering with reduced body roll.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

ECS Billet Front Sway Bar Mounting Kit was designed, engineered, tested and quality inspected by the Research and Development team in our Wadsworth, Ohio facility to ensure the highest level of precision and quality is delivered throughout rigorous long term product testing and leading edge product development methods.

INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT

Installation is simple. Simply unbolt your front sway bar mounting brackets and slip over our poly bushings and billet mounting brackets with the included hardware. That's it! Enjoy better handling and a crisp front suspension.

SPECIAL NOTE: You can use any conventional automotive bearing grease for service.

This package allows you to build your own rear bushing package to cover the parts you want to replace. As these cars age, they require a number of suspension bushings to be replaced. Bushing replacement not only keeps the car in its top form, it also makes the car safer. Depending on the work, it may be logical to replace all of the bushings in the rear suspension (there are 19 total). This is especially true if you are pulling the subframe out to do the floor reinforcement or if you're doing a diff install. Turner Motorsport is a big believer in using rubber bushings for street cars (with the exception of solid subframe mounts, see further below). Urethanes, Delrin, or aluminum are generally good for reducing compliance and limiting deflection - attributes that don't really work well on roads filled with potholes, railroad crossings, cracks, and expansion joints. The rubber bushings maintain the factory ride/handling traits that won the E46 praise all over the world. Every bushing will need maintenance or replacement at some point and rubber has proven to last the longest and need less maintenance than anything else, even urethane. And unless competitive driving is your goal, the harder materials are only a gimmick.

Any major overhaul of the rear suspension should include new subframe mounts. The worn rubber mounts contribute to rear subframe-floor failure when the deflection in the mount is transferred to the chassis. Rubber mounts are only OK for street cars that don't see aggressive driving, autocross, or track use. For any enthusiastic driving, we strongly recommend our solid aluminum subframe mounts even on the street. They have zero deflection and will not contribute to rear floor failures. And if you leave rubber in the rest of the suspension your ride comfort will not suffer.

Individual Item Descriptions:

• Trailing Arm Bushings and Limiters (33322228153 and TSU9990001) - our OEM rubber replacement trailing arm bushings (RTABs) are a perfect fit and help maintain rear toe alignment. The Limiters prevent premature bushing wear.
• Rear Inner Control Arm Bushings (upper 33321092247 and lower 33326770824) - new stock inner rubber bushings for the upper spring arm and the lower camber arm. These do not wear out very quickly but should be replaced as a 'While you're in there...' job.
• Rear Outer Control Arm Bushings (upper and lower) (33326775551) - new stock outer ball joints for the upper spring arm and the lower camber arm. These are the standard ball joint design and last a very long time. Check for play with a pry bar and replace as needed.
• Rear Shock Mounts - Choose from several types of RSM upgrades. If your mounts have not been replaced in the last 40,000 miles, now is the perfect time. Skip this option if you recently replaced mounts or already have an upgraded mount.
• Differential mounts (33176770788 and 33176751808) - Now is a great time to replace the rubber-isolated mounts. This is another low-wear mount but it can be changed easily, and is a low cost item. Solid diff mounts are streetable with only a minimal increase in NVH.
• Rear subframe mounts (33316770783, 33316770784, 33316770781 x 2) - The heart of the rear suspension, the subframe (or carrier) mounts located the entire rear suspension to the car. There are four mounts in total and bolt up into the rear floor. Worn subframe mounts are one of the leading contributors to rear floor-subframe failure. As the mounts flex, so does the sheetmetal of the chassis, which will fatigue the sheetmetal and crack the spot welds. Therefore, replacement of the subframe mounts is critical and a must when doing the subframe reinforcement or repair. Solid aluminum mounts are streetable with no increase in NVH.

This item fits the following BMWs:
1999-2006 E46 BMW 323i 323ci 325i 325ci 325xi 328i 328ci 330i 330ci 330xi

This kit includes Turner Motorsport solid aluminum differential race mounts pre installed in the differential cover for a quick install. These mounts where developed by Turner Motorsport for their Grand-Am Cup E46 M3 race cars, the advantages of solid aluminum mounts is increased suspension & drivetrain response, less drivetrain loss resulting in more wheel horsepower, and longevity - they effectively last forever. These CNC-machined mounts are a direct replacement for the stock rubber pieces, and have been lightened to remove excess weight.