Need Help deciding?

[DirtyPillows]

I want to do a overhaul on my CAB. I was looking on ECS tuning and they had a front, rear and Lower control arm bushing. What do I need in order to do a complete job. Btw why is the UUC $239 does this actually include new control arms? What is the difference from the Front and rear options? I will also like opinions on what to get. I really looking for best improvement from stock. I do plan to do some autox when i have more time so stiffness is not a big problem probably stiffer the better. Again personal input is welcomed

thanx

[LivesNearCostco]

The front has only one control arm per side, the Y-shaped thing. It has two ball joints and plugs into a big round bushing (FCAB), which sits in the "lollipop" holder that's bolted to the front subframe. Rear has two control arms per side, a big, beefy upper control arm and a skinny "salad tongs" lower control arm. The rear upper control arm controls the spring and swaybar while the rear lower control arm controls rear camber. Since there are two arms per side there are 4 bushings (or 2 bushings and 2 ball joints) per side, two inner and two outer, but they are not replaced very often unless you are replacing the lower control arms to get more (or less) negative camber. The rear Trailing Arm bushing (RTAB) is the common replacement/upgrade item in the back (plus the big diff bushing).

If your FCAs still have good ball joints, you can replace just the FCABs. You can buy them pre-pressed into the lollipops or buy just the bushings and use/borrow a press to get the old bushings out and put the new bushings into the lollipops.

Can you post links to show exactly which products you're looking at?

[DirtyPillows]

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330Ci-M54_3.0L/Suspension/Bushings/
on this page there is the UUC which is posted for the front control bushing
then there is the Meyle HD and the Polyurethane for the front lower control arm bushing

[LivesNearCostco]

The UUC Rear Trailing Arm Bushing is the RTAB replacement. It goes in the rear trailing arms, not in the rear control arms. The UUC "Control Arm Front" bushings are the FCABs, same as the other MTC and Myele "Lower Control Arm" bushings. The ones shaped like barrels are for the rear control arms, though I'm not sure if they're for the inner or outer bushings. I guess it's confusing for the Rear section because ECS tuning put the RTAB together with the rear control arm bushings.