Am I Being Ripped Off?

[Tiny2u]

I was in NH over the weekend so I went over to Bav auto and picked up some new control arms (with all metal balljoints) and bushings for my 97 328i w/ 67k. Today I drove around and most of the local shops have joined together and won't do work with owner supplied parts. (I Went to five shops and all said "I won't touch it")

After a lot of driving around I found a guy that seems good but he wants $250 to install the 2 front CA and bushings.

Should I keep looking or is $250 a ok deal?

Thanks!

[SpeedInfusion]

did u tell him that no one else will do it? if so, big mistake...also, 250 is tooo much...shouldnt be more than 150 since u already have the parts...worse come worse if u find no one else try to get him to 200...

[Tiny2u]

No I didn't tell him no one else would do it. He tried to tell me that it takes 2 hours per side.

That seems like way too much time considering the balljoint are allready installed.

[catalyst.]

If youve done them before it takes 20 mins per side..

You will need new CA bushings too, so make sure you get those.

Do them in your driveway, the only special tools you need are a pickle fork and a small sludge hammer.

If you want me to go through the procedure i will.. if you can jack up your car and take the wheels off, then my guess is you have enough mechanical know how to do the control arms.

[Tiny2u]

Catalyst, I was able to put in my new thermostat so hopefully I can do the CA because money is a little tight right now. 20 minutes per side?!?!...It can't be that easy.

Is there a printable DIY guide for CA and Bushings? Aren't the bushings supposed to be a bitch?

What the hell is a pickle fork! used:


Thanks!

[catalyst.]

Here's a couple write ups...

Control arm bushings: http://www.understeer.com/lcab.shtml

Control arms:http://www.dol.net/~stimpee/carmrepl.htm

I just read over the control arm guide, and the guy who wrote it says you 'need' an impact wrench.. obviously you dont, but just to let you know.. you can just use regular open ended wrenches and sockets.

A tip for the CA bushings is, use WARM water and soap to slide the new ones on the end of the CA's, it takes some brute force, but its not too hard to jam em on there. Also, dont forget to either rent a gear puller from autozone, or buy one for like 40 bucks at sears, because its a pain to get the bushings off the CA's without one.

Also, in reference to the CA bushings guide, its really pretty hard to press the new bushings into the lollipop brackets without a hydrolic press.. so i would run down to the local shop and pay someone to press them in (shouldnt be more than like 10 bucks).

good luck! it sounds alot more complicated than it is.

[93 325i]

$250 is not that bad.. think about it $125 a side. THe bushings can be a bear to get out/in (dont you need a press?) and if you don't know what your doing u can disable your car and not be able to finish.. I spent $1300 (parts & labor) on all M3 front suspension parts (control arms, bushings, tie rods, sway bar links, ball joints..) For this DIY job I had a ICS hook it up and it was money well spent. I hit 125 the other day and the car seems more in control the faster i go (to a point)..

[catalyst.]

Originally Posted by 93 325i

$250 is not that bad.. think about it $125 a side. THe bushings can be a bear to get out/in (dont you need a press?) and if you don't know what your doing u can disable your car and not be able to finish.. I spent $1300 (parts & labor) on all M3 front suspension parts (control arms, bushings, tie rods, sway bar links, ball joints..) For this DIY job I had a ICS hook it up and it was money well spent. I hit 125 the other day and the car seems more in control the faster i go (to a point)..

1300 is very high for those parts imo.

CA's 200 (are M3 ca's more expensive?)
tierods 70
bushings 40
links 45