92 325i Front Ball Joints

[PhatChromeRims]

Hey I am new to BMW's and all this automotive repair. I was just wondering how much it would cost me to have my front ball joints replaced and if it's possible to do it myself. Thanks

[BellinghamBMW]

Just received a quote today on ball joints....$110.00 per side, replaced at a local authorized bmw shop...probably triple if going through he dealership.

[bitcore]

It's generally reccomended that you replace bushings\joints\shocks\springs\tires equally on both sides to maintain even handling.
IE: replace the front right LCA bushings, then do the left side as well.
If you can, if you do it in the front and there's a coresponding part in the rear, do it as well.

If you havn't done so already, take a look at your rear shock mounts, rear traling arm bushings, and lower control arm bushings, those are prone to fail abnormally soon in the non M- E36 line. Replace with M3 parts for better control, more responsive steering, and a phonominal handling boost.

There are some other common failures\problems with the E36. I've had RTAB's, LCAB's go bad, brake light fiassco's, and now my final stage unit is freaking out due to a bad resistor that's relitively easy to replace.

None of them are really expensive, they would be at the dealership but if you read FAQ's and how-to's, you can practically do every single one without a *whole bunch* of tools or a mechanic.

[Furious]

dont do it yourself unless you have the proper knowledge and most important, the proper tools

[///M Power]

^-- don;t do it yourself.

$110.00 is a pretty good deal. I'd say go for it. I've been quoted higher when I needed to replace mine.

[Kevin325i]

Just got done doing it myself. It's not very hard but I'm fairly mechanically incline. I also had access to a hydrolic press.

Chances are you won't have what you need to do them yourself, and it's not a very good first project IMHO.