Ammended Subframe Directions
responsible for its content.
Installing Ireland
Engineering Rear Subframe Bushings
WARNING: USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK! While this isn't rocket
science, it's also not a job for someone that's never used a floor jack!
Tools
floor
jack
jackstands
(preferably 4)
SIR
Tools Bushing Master Kit (BMW3026 from ZDMAK).
Torque
wrench
24mm
GearWrench
24mm
deep impact socket (optional)
16mm
SK crowfoot flare
16mm
GearWrench
6mm
(?) allen for subframe mount support brackets
rubber
mallet
various
combination wrenches and sockets
Removing the stock subframe bushings
Break loose rear wheel lugnuts. These are 17mm.
Jack up rear of the car, put on jackstands at the
jack points. The higher the better. If you haven't jacked up your car
before, be forewarned... it's fairly easy to damage your car if you
don't know what you're doing. You could also hurt yourself. Having said
that, I normally jack up the rear by the subframe using the crossbeam
adapter for my AC Hydraulics DK13HLQ floor jack. If not using a crossbeam
adapter, you can jack up the car by the body of the differential (in
front of the differential cover). DO NOT LIFT THE CAR BY THE DIFFERENTIAL COVER!
Remove rear wheels. **for extra
safety, put your rear wheels under the car next to the jack stands so
that if they fall, the car falls on the wheels rather than you***
Remove exhaust. **rather than
removing the exhaust completely, if you remove all of the nuts/bolts/brackets/hangers
that suspend it, you can just let it hang. Ive done 5 cars and
this has never damaged the exhaust. Feel free to take them completely
off if you are an over achiever!**
Pop brake lines and sensors
from their guides (including the sensor connection holders in the subframe). **No need
to disconnect them on the Ms, the regular zs might want to though.**
Disconnect speed sensor
from differential cover.
Remove heat shield fasteners
to permit driveshaft lowering. **I think these are 10mm sockets. Take two off each
side closest to the back to allow for the drive shaft to hang down farther***
Remove swaybar from its
mounts to the chassis. **from the underside of the car, not the trailing arms.
Take note how the sway bar attaches before you remove it. You
will notice it has a nub on the front that slides into a slot and then
the rear slides over the threaded part on the underside of the car.
It must be put back in the manner. Also, the sway bar on an ///M
will get hung up on the diff cover. Just push it away from the
diff cover and pull it down lower***
While supporting trailing
arm with jack, disconnect driver side rear shock at bottom. Slowly lower
the trailing arm onto a jack stand.
While supporting trailing arm with jack, disconnect
passenger side rear shock at bottom. Slowly lower the trailing arm onto
a jackstand. **the reason you want to support the trailing arm with jack
stands is so the break lines dont over-extend. If you dont have
an ///M, you will need to remove the bracket that holds the break line
to the bottom of the car to gain a little more play. That being
said, Ive never done this stepI just let them hang and make sure the
break lines dont get stretched too far!***
Number the bolts and their
corresponding holes where the driveshaft connects to the differential.
You want the same bolts back in the same holes when you reconnect. If
you're not color blind, 4 colors of sharpie works great. **unnecessary**
Disconnect driveshaft from differential (the 4 bolts
you numbered or color-coded). A 16mm GearWrench works well here. **unnecessary**
Support differential with
floor jack. You want a pretty good guess about the center of gravity
here, but somewhere on the differential body close to the differential
cover is good. DO NOT USE THE DIFFERENTIAL COVER TO SUPPORT WEIGHT!
Remove the subframe mounting
nuts. If you have a Butt-Strut, you'll be removing it at the same time
(same fasteners). **stock is a 20mm nut. Butt strut is 1-1/8 socket***
Remove the subframe mount
support brackets. I think these were 6mm allen, and you'll want a bit
for them to use with the socket wrench (torque wrench when you reattach). **use a 6mm
allen/hex socket with a short extension to reach thesethey are annoying
to get to and can be a bitch to get off, at least they were on my carnot
any of the other 4 I did***
Now the only thing holding
the subframe up is the jack and the differential cover mount. Remove
the mounting bolt from the differential cover. You may need to lower
or raise the jack very slightly to get the differential at the right
height so you can easily pull the bolt out.
Lower the jack an inch
or so. Start tapping the subframe downward near the mounting points.
A rubber mallet lightly tapping on the trailing arms close to the subframe
works fine. Work slowly, inching each side down a little at a time to
prevent binding the subframe on the mounting studs. Once the subframe
stops moving, lower the jack another inch. Repeat until the subframe
comes off of the mounting studs. Keep an eye on your driveshaft at each
point. If you've got jackstands that will work, support the rear trailing
arms while doing this and remove your rear springs when they come free.
This is a good opportunity to clean the spring pads and trailing arms,
as well as underneath the spring pads. *If you have a huge 2-3 foot screw driver or socket wrench that
can be used for prying, it will work better than a mallet. Also,
the purpose of jackstanding the training arms is so that you can lower
the diff without stressing the brake lines. Def put the control
arms on jack stands. This way you can just lower the sub frame
enough to get the tool on there rather than prying it one way or the
other to clear the mounting stud. Its also a huge help to take
an 8mm socket and remove three nuts that hold the plastic liner in the
wheel well. One is under the bottom of the running board.
This will allow you to remove the lining and gain access to the area
where the bushing lives***
The following picture
shows the bushing just barely off of the mounting stud.
Once the subframe is off
of the studs, lower it a little bit more, until you can get the top
part of the bushing removal tool on top of the subframe bushing. At
this point the subframe is probably hanging on the driveshaft, which
is hanging on the heat shield you loosened (but did not remove). If
you're careful, your driveshaft will stay in alignment and go right
back into position when you raise the subframe up again. The jack is
supporting most of the weight, along with the jackstands holding the
trailing arms.
Put the top of the bushing removal tool on top of
the driver side subframe bushing. Make sure the grooves in the side
of the tool line up with the dimples in the subframe. Stack the adapter,
the receiving cup and the pressure plate of the bushing removal tool,
and insert the threaded rod with the thrust bearing against the pressure
plate. The adapter is designed to fit on the bottom of the subframe
in one way, and one way only. It has tabs that fit into notches in the
subframe. Put the whole assembly in position and put the threaded rod
t