Thanks for the comments. I agree it takes alot of time to get things off. 2 full days in my case. However I also run a 525 as my daily car and I've just bought the good wife a runaround so it's no problem really.

I have already dropped one clanger though - tried to remove a ABS sensor and knackered it. Didn't realise it was connected under the rear seat. Never mind - just £66 from BMW for a new one. This is more than the whole lot of bushes, drop links, bolts etc I have just ordered to do the back end.

My 2 axle bushes are completely knackered. Corrosion of the metal (aluminium?) centres is very bad. Rubber has failed also. For sure this si my problem with rear end breaking away. Just hope they come off ok.

Regards

Ian

Ian,

Like you, I removed the entire rear subframe assembly to replace all of the wear items and had the differential rebuilt with a Quaife ABT unit.

The subframe bushings were torn almost in two. The were a bit stubborn, but I was able to press them out on a bearing press. I noticed that the new ones were considerably beefier with 50% more rubber but I still filled them with urethane per Ed's instructions on the teamdfl.com web site.

The trailing arms wouldn't fit in the bearing press without making an elaborate fixture. I had new bushings in hand but ultimately decided not to install them as the old ones looked fine.

I replaced the pittman arms as the old ones had small cracks in the rubber and the new ones were cheap.

The upper differential mount is a bit expensive but I replaced it too as the old one was clearly bad when compared to the new one. This surprised me and I took a few photos of the two units which clearly shows the difference. I don't know how to post photos but can e-mail them to you if you'd like. I would advise that you check the diff. mount if you already have the subframe out of the way.

I sprayed the rear subframe with an epoxy paint and should finish putting everything back in the car within a day or two.

In hindsight and considering that I couldn't replace the trailing arm bushings, I don't feel removing the entire assembly was the way to go. The only advantage was not having to drive out the subframe bushing bolts up through the rear seat area and being able to clear everthing up and re-assemble it on a workbench.

Disconnecting the handbrake cables, brake lines, ABS sensors, etc. just took too much time.

And I can't imagine trying to do this job without a professional quality transmission jack.

Douglas