BMW Control Arm Replacements & Upgrades

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?

This steel E30 front control arm is a direct replacement for the original part and is the OEM Lemforder brand.

Control arms, and their integrated ball joints, are some of the most crucial components on a BMW suspension. The control arms literally control the wheel and suspension as they go through their range of motions. A faulty or worn control arm or ball joint is a very dangerous and potentially life-threatening problem so make sure they are inspected and replaced at regular intervals. For a street-driven car we advise yearly inspection and a full replacement every 3-4 years. For track-driven cars these should be inspected before every event and replaced every two years.

We also recommend replacing the bushings when changing the control arms. The bushings are mounted at the back of the control arm and located the arm to the frame rail on the car. The stock bushings are rubber and will wear out sooner than the control arms themselves. With the control arm off the car now is the perfect time to also replace the bushings.

OEM Lemförder is an engineering company that focuses on high-quality, precision manufacturing of critical suspension and steering components. Providing exceptionally high quality parts directly to BMW, as well as 50+ other big name automotive companies, such as Mercedes and Audi, their history of reliability and variety of offered parts makes them one of the biggest names for a go-to OEM parts provider. Lemförder parts place an important emphasis on design, production, and assembly, ensuring maximum reliability. They even coat all parts possible with corrosion protection for extended longevity.

As a leading source of high performance BMW parts and accessories since 1993, we at Turner Motorsport are honored to be the go-to supplier for tens of thousands of enthusiasts the world over. With over two decades of parts, service, and racing experience under our belt, we provide only quality performance and replacement parts.  All of our performance parts are those we would (and do!) install and run on our own cars, as well as replacement parts that are Genuine BMW or from OEM manufacturers. We only offer parts we know you can trust to perform!

This item fits the following BMWs:
1984-1991 E30 BMW 318i 318is 318ic 325e 325es 325i 325ic 325is M3

This steel E30 front control arm is a direct replacement for the original part and is the OEM Lemforder brand.

Control arms, and their integrated ball joints, are some of the most crucial components on a BMW suspension. The control arms literally control the wheel and suspension as they go through their range of motions. A faulty or worn control arm or ball joint is a very dangerous and potentially life-threatening problem so make sure they are inspected and replaced at regular intervals. For a street-driven car we advise yearly inspection and a full replacement every 3-4 years. For track-driven cars these should be inspected before every event and replaced every two years.

We also recommend replacing the bushings when changing the control arms. The bushings are mounted at the back of the control arm and located the arm to the frame rail on the car. The stock bushings are rubber and will wear out sooner than the control arms themselves. With the control arm off the car now is the perfect time to also replace the bushings.

OEM Lemförder is an engineering company that focuses on high-quality, precision manufacturing of critical suspension and steering components. Providing exceptionally high quality parts directly to BMW, as well as 50+ other big name automotive companies, such as Mercedes and Audi, their history of reliability and variety of offered parts makes them one of the biggest names for a go-to OEM parts provider. Lemförder parts place an important emphasis on design, production, and assembly, ensuring maximum reliability. They even coat all parts possible with corrosion protection for extended longevity.

As a leading source of high performance BMW parts and accessories since 1993, we at Turner Motorsport are honored to be the go-to supplier for tens of thousands of enthusiasts the world over. With over two decades of parts, service, and racing experience under our belt, we provide only quality performance and replacement parts.  All of our performance parts are those we would (and do!) install and run on our own cars, as well as replacement parts that are Genuine BMW or from OEM manufacturers. We only offer parts we know you can trust to perform!

This item fits the following BMWs:
1984-1991 E30 BMW 318i 318is 318ic 325e 325es 325i 325ic 325is M3

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.

When it comes to the E36 chassis you also get the options of choosing a stock centered design or going with the E30 inspired offset bushing to increase castor, further taking advantage of improvd handling. 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: 

1984-1991 E30 BMW 318i, 318is, 325, 325e, 325es, 325i, 325is 
1992-1999 E36 BMW 318i 318is 318ti 318ic 323is 323ic 325i 325is 325ic 328i 328is 328ic
1996-1999 E36 BMW M3 S52
1997-2002 Z3 BMW Z3 1.9 Z3 2.3 Z3 2.5i Z3 2.8 Z3 3.0i MZ3 M Coupe M Roadster 

Click here for installation instructions.