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My M5 Refresh

3K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  WWM 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all
Thought I'd start a thread to record the refresh of my M5.

I picked it up in December 2019 for a reasonable price knowing it needed quite a few bits doing. I’ve been collecting parts over the last few months and started the refresh this weekend.

I started with the front suspension. The car would judder badly under braking so I knew it was most likely worn control arms. On taking the arms off there was so much play in the bushes. The ball joints weren't too bad. The thrust bushes were the worst.

I got the front shocks off and they were completely worn. I could compress them with little to no effort. The car came lowered on Eibach springs but on the oem worn sach shocks the car was much lower than I wanted. From what I read the Bilstein B8 paired with Eibach springs gives a nice drop but not too low so I went for the B8s. Got them built up with new bearings and top mounts. They're ready to go on.

I took the bearings of. They felt fine but were koyo bearings and were noticeably lighter than the replacement *** ones. I got them bolted on and torqued up to the hubs.

I removed the centre rod for the steering to replace with a new one. I got new tie rod ends as well. Got them assembled to as close a match to how they came off in terms of the lengths for now. Also got a new idler arm to go on.

More to come as time permits.
 

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#9 ·
Likewise but it won't be for a few weeks yet as I also need to do the back. Thinking i'll drop the subframe to make things easier.

Hi S/gaza01,

Keep up the good work & refresh log here ! With mechanical stuff, alot goes over my head, but it's nice to see a project thread like this to refer to when I can then speak to guys like Phil at CPC etc to do the same work :)

Hopefully catch you up again once lockdown eases and its safer to do so !

Cheers, Dennis!
Hi Dennis. Cheers and yes would be good to finally meet.


Nice work, and nice to see a thread like this from a fellow UK owner as well!

Likewise keen to see how you get on with that suspensions setup as mine is also going to need replacing soon, and while I don't want to lower mine I also don't necessarily want to pay OEM prices for possibly less good shocks...
Thanks. I'll definitely report back as soon as.

Doing my b8/Intrax atm as well. Mine is a full underbody restoration so keen to get it back, but not keen to see the cost.
I'd have loved to have the time to do a full underbody restoration but need the car asap. There's a bit of surface rust in the front subframe so no doubt other areas on the car may show some signs of rust. I'll use something like por15 to stop it for now.

Yep, this was your judder problem! Did you go with new factory/Lemforder parts? I did and despite being VERY careful about having the weight on the car on ramps while torquing them down (also NOT the first time I've done that job either, so it wasn't an installation issue), the new hydrobushings still failed and leaked out within a couple hundred miles. I went with monoballs after that to avoid any further frustration with the issue, but I do notice small bumps get transmitted to the body much more without the rubber bushing in there. So word to the wise, keep an eye on those new bushings for leaks, because I don't think that Lemforder does a great job with them recently!
I was going to keep the oem bushes on the thrust arms but decided to just press them out and fit some poly bushes. Dont want to be crawling back under the car anytime soon


Nice work! Got B8's on my E60 and love them!
Cheers
 
#3 ·
Hi S/gaza01,

Keep up the good work & refresh log here ! With mechanical stuff, alot goes over my head, but it's nice to see a project thread like this to refer to when I can then speak to guys like Phil at CPC etc to do the same work :)

Hopefully catch you up again once lockdown eases and its safer to do so !

Cheers, Dennis!
 
#4 ·
Nice work, and nice to see a thread like this from a fellow UK owner as well!

Likewise keen to see how you get on with that suspensions setup as mine is also going to need replacing soon, and while I don't want to lower mine I also don't necessarily want to pay OEM prices for possibly less good shocks...
 
#6 ·
The thrust bushes were the worst.
Yep, this was your judder problem! Did you go with new factory/Lemforder parts? I did and despite being VERY careful about having the weight on the car on ramps while torquing them down (also NOT the first time I've done that job either, so it wasn't an installation issue), the new hydrobushings still failed and leaked out within a couple hundred miles. I went with monoballs after that to avoid any further frustration with the issue, but I do notice small bumps get transmitted to the body much more without the rubber bushing in there. So word to the wise, keep an eye on those new bushings for leaks, because I don't think that Lemforder does a great job with them recently!
 
#8 ·
Yep, this was your judder problem! Did you go with new factory/Lemforder parts? I did and despite being VERY careful about having the weight on the car on ramps while torquing them down (also NOT the first time I've done that job either, so it wasn't an installation issue), the new hydrobushings still failed and leaked out within a couple hundred miles. I went with monoballs after that to avoid any further frustration with the issue, but I do notice small bumps get transmitted to the body much more without the rubber bushing in there. So word to the wise, keep an eye on those new bushings for leaks, because I don't think that Lemforder does a great job with them recently!
Something I need to get done on my car soon not surprisingly. But what about the heavy duty bushings that Meyle sells or the BMW protection package bushings you can get? I know monoballs would be great, but the price.. ouch!

Sent from Germany with Love.
 
#11 ·
Quick update.
I got the car back on the ground. Full front end suspension refresh.
Poly thrust arm and ARB bushes.
Bilsteins B8 shocks and eibach springs
TRW control arm, centre steering rod, tie rods, and droplinks.
Slapped some 10mm wheels spacers on as well for good measure.
Quick test run last night and its night and day difference already. The wofty boat feeling has gone and the car drives with so much more purpose. The ride quality is spot on. Smooth and comfy yet capable...and this is just the front. Got to get the back sorted now.
The only down side is that the brake judder is still there albeit considerably less. I'm assuming its warped discs so thinking f*ck it and just splash out on a BBK. What do people recommend?
I'll get some pics of the ride height later but for me its spot on for a daily!
 
#15 ·
The only down side is that the brake judder is still there albeit considerably less. I'm assuming its warped discs so thinking f*ck it and just splash out on a BBK. What do people recommend?
Probably the single best modification I did to my M5 was the front Stoptech BBK. I had them on the car for over 10 years until I sold them to a friend since I was no longer hardly driving the M5. Hence I got to experience the change back the other way to the stock brakes, and that wasn't much fun.
 
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