7 Series E38 Drop-Link And Anti-Roll Bar Bush Replacement

[Guest DazH]

I am no mechanic. I am just a bloke with a tool box and enough enthusiasm towards BMWs that you could probably bottle it and sell it. This is just some advice to anyone who is having steering and/or suspension issues with their E38 7 series.

The two parts I shall be guiding you to change are drop links and anti-roll bar bushes. They are in my opinion, the two easiest parts to change and DO make a world of difference if your car is tram-lining or/and dragging you around on the road. Some people have reported knocking noises caused by these parts being warn.

A little about a drop link

They are sometimes known as stabiliser links or Anti-roll bar links. Drop links help control your vehicles overall stability. You will know when they are warn because you can grab them whilst they are in situ' and manipulate their positioning with your bare hands. A Healthy drop link is ridged and very tough to twist. They come in a range of shapes and sizes but your E38's front ones look like this;

The top one is a nice shiny new one and the bottom is the old one I just removed. The ones I am using to replace my old ones with are after-market ones from EuroCarParts. If you intend on keeping your vehicle for a while (appose to myself who goes through cars pretty quickly buying and selling), I advise using BMW Genuine Parts.

A little about a anti-roll bar bush

They are pretty much doughnut shaped rubber buffers that clamp around your anti-roll bar. If they are warn, you can experience a nasty knocking noise when your car hits a blemish in the road or a speed-bump. Very easy to change and cheap. The ones on your E38 look like this;

On the left is a new one and on the right, is a warn one removed from my E38. to be fair, the one I removed wasn't too bad but as I'm changing the drop-links, I thought I might as well change these fellas. Again, I'm using after market ones but advise BMW genuine or Polyurethane ones if you plan on keeping your motor for a while.

Removal

Considering I will only be changing the front components, start with removing the desired wheel for obvious reasons. Locate the targeted parts as illustrated below;

Drop-Link

Anti-Roll Bar Bush

I first start by removing the two nuts that hold the drop-link to the shock and the Anti-Roll bar. Once the nuts are about half way off the bolt, the rear should start to spin. To stop this from happening, use a Spanner to hold it (as shown in the image below). Because the suspension is hanging free and does not have the weight of the car upon it, the drop-link should not fall out once these bolts are removed. Instead of falling, the force of the anti-roll bar pushing upwards should keep the drop link in place.

Too aid the removal of the drop-link, I suggest that you now remove the two bolts that are holding the anti-roll bar bush in. You could just knock the drop-link out but if your changing the anti-roll bar bush anyway, I suggest you use this method.

Once the bolts are removed, just pull the clamp-like bracket off the bush and use your fingers to pull the old bush off the bar like so;

Now that the Anti-roll Bar is free to wiggle around, removing the drop link is MUCH easier. The order in which you remove the drop-link and the bush doesn't really matter but this is how I do it and it works :)

Replacement

Too cut a long story short, it's the same as removal but in reverse. There are a few tips I can give, and will give but you will probably use your loaf at this point and figure them out yourself. For the sake of documenting this process, I shall show you how I do it.

You should find that the new drop-link is a bit, fiddly to put back in. This is made worse if you install the anti-role bar bush first. I advise that you reassemble in the order I am illustrating:

Push the Drop-links bolts in the designated holes but only put the nuts on HALF way. Do this because once you install the Anti-roll bar bush, installing the Drop-link becomes difficult.

Now the Drop-link is in place, you can start work on the bush. It will only go on one way as one side of the doughnut-like shape is larger than the other side. The larger side sits in the groove in the cars chassis.

Tighten up all the nuts

And finally use a massively inappropriate breaker bar to put your wheel back on

I hope this helps and solves a few problems =]

If you have ANY questions or require any help, PM me through BMWOC.

If you are reading this thread and not already a member, please follow this link, Join then contact me.

http://www.bmwowners...ection=register

Daz

[G4VHD]

Fantastic guide Daz.

Can I add this is a very similar process for most BMWS

Thanks Daz, keep them coming dude.