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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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 Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:20 pm Post subject: control arms, what's the difference? |
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Most of us know that there are at least 3 German made control arms for our E30s.
I've often wondered which one is the best, and why?
From a price perspective the BMW one is the best as it costs around $200 from the dealer for the E30 M3 aluminum arm, and MSRP is $137 for the regular control arm. If you can get a 25% discount on the $137 the price is even better at $103.
Next would be the Lemfoerder at around $110-$120 purchased mail-order.
Then comes the Meyle priced around $75-$90. Another offering is Ocap, and they are another $10 less then the Meyle and the part looks a lot like the Lemfoerder.
I've often heard and even said "just buy the Lemfoerders". well, they do have a cool German name, but is it worth the $20-$50 premium over the Meyle?
I happen to have some good condition original BMW E30 control arms, some new Lemfoerder and new Meyle control arms all in the garage at once. I've taken some very closeup pictures so we can take a look at this and see if we can tell any important differences.
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e30/suspension/control_arms/
Left: 31-12-1-127-725
Right: 31-12-1-127-726
More in a minute...
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 sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:51 am; edited 3 times in total |
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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Q1) How do you tell them apart?
One way is to look at the words and marks stamped on the bottom of the ball joints, use a wire brush to clean off the grime if you're looking at the ones on your car.
a) factory original BMW control arm, notice the roundel emblem on the ball joint? The roundel is also on the arm, in a place that is very hard to see when installed on the car.
If the arm is off the car, you can see the roundel near the bushing mount
b) OCAP
They have what looks like a small bear emblem in the upper left portion of the center wording:
http://www.ocap.it/primo.asp
c) Meyle
Their name is stamped on the bottom of their ball joints:
http://www.meyle.com/html/index.php?lang=2
And the name stamped in the arm:
d) Lemfoerder
(aka ZF, aka Boge, aka Sachs)
http://www.zf.com/lemfoerder/defaultz.asp?id=1&lang=1
http://www.lemfoerder.com/
Online catalog http://webcat.zf-trading.com/index.asp?SPR=4
Pelican prics: $119.75 (left or right) as of 04/2009
e) FEBI (Febi - Ferdinand Bilstein)
Pelican price: $89.50(left) and $85.75 (right) as of 04/2009
... Just ordered some Lemfoerder ball joints I'm going to press into BMW
original arms on my '84 eta, $23 for innter $37for outer, $60 is less then $120! We'll see how it goes
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sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:49 am; edited 10 times in total |
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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What are some of the differences?
1) the outer ball joint is recessed on the BMW and Lemfoerder control arms, but not on the Meyle
In this pic the top one is BMW, the middle one is OCAP, the bottom one is Meyle
Advantage: BMW, OCAP
BMW
OCAP
Meyle
Lemfoerder:
...
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dale@unofficialbmw.com
sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:52 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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2) the OCAP has a Cadmium plated nut on the inner ball joint, the Meyle looks like a normal Zinc plating. Although Meyle does supply a Cadmium plated washer.
Advantage: OCAP
Q: What is better, Zinc or Cadmium?
A: Cadmium is much more resistant to the ravages of corrosion. Zinc is more economical and suits most end users needs. Cadmium is still requested when the part will be used in a harsh environment such as marine and aerospace applications.
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87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:53 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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The ball joints on the OCAP have a Cadmium plated retaining wire wrap. Both the BMW and the Meyle use what looks like a powder coated wire, BMW one is red, Meyle is blue:
Advantage: OCAP
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87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:54 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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What about the metal itself?
The BMW and OCAP appear about the same in term of finish of the metal, they have the same texture.
The Meyle is smoother, or perhaps just a thicker flatter paint.
The BMW arm also appears to have fewer edges, like someone took the time to grind down the edge stress risers. A stress riser is where a crack will start when the arm takes a hit.
Advantage: BMW
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sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:54 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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What about the quality of the ball joints?
Meyle has touted their new 'full-metal' ball joints, but they only list that part for the E36, Z3 application (the E36, Z3 arms interchange with the E30 but are different parts).
Here is more info on the E36 problem ball joints:
http://www.koalamotorsport.com/article-3seriesballjoints.asp
I believe all E30 control arm ball joints are 'full-metal'. Without doing a full lifetime test, or destructive stress- test I can't say which one is better.
We do know that BMW ball joints regularly last 10 years, 150k miles, as long as the protective rubber boot doesn't get torn for some reason.
Once the boot is torn, almost any ball joint is good for only a few months before it will be trashed from water, dirt, junk, and losing it's grease!
Meyle E36 full-metal replacement ball joint
Some sales lit from Meyle on these ball joints
http://www.wulfgaertner.com/html/uploads/techtips/BallJoint_BMW_19.04_EN.pdf
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dale@unofficialbmw.com
sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta
Last edited by dale on Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dale
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cmcon98
Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Posts: 1844
Location: Boston
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| Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:02 am Post subject: |
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For a street car, I think that as long as you get arms with the full-metal ball joints, you're fine. The plastic-isolated ones wore out very quickly in my E36. Replaced with metal, of course.
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idanity
Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 3097
Location: N.W.U.S.A.
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| Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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so after reading all that, im thinking
ocap- cadmium parts [ed by dale lem->ocap]
bmw- most refined, strongest
meyle- most economical.
then that last one disqualified.
is that correct >
and without even a blink, i really want the Group-A style for both my e30's now.   
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
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Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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I found out after writing most of the above that the arm I have that I thought was Lemfoerder are actually Ocap. I'll update this soon.
The Ocaps are the least expensive and actually look pretty good.
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haber
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 1663
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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What is wrong with just replacing the ball joints in your old control arms. That's what I have done with mine in the past. Lowest cost (<$60), retains OE BMW cast arm and you can keep your CA bushing in place if it's still OK. I think they ones I have used were Meyle, maybe that was bad but they seemed like an all metal design and have behaved well.
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
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Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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Nothing wrong with just replacing ball joints, but most do-it-yourselfers don't have a press to do the work.
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cmcon98
Joined: 13 Nov 2002
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| Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:21 am Post subject: |
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I thought the outer ball joints in the E30 arms were nonreplaceable. If the ARE replaceable, do you need a press, or can you replace them with the arm on the car?
If you have to take the whole arm off, might as well just replace the whole thing and the bushing.
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dale
Joined: 22 Aug 1999
Posts: 3087
Location: Seattle, WA USA
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| Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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Both inner and outer are replaceable it would be very hard to do them on the car. Not that bad to pull the arm especially if you don't pull the control arm bushing.
You need a press of some sort, not sure how much pressure is required.
Dale
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sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta |
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