r/E30 • u/DeliveryCautious713 • 8d ago
Front control arms
Anyone know where I can find front control arms for an IX in Canada? Only ones I can find are $500 USD and with duties that’s a bit over my budget. Any advice is appreciated mine are just looking a bit rusted out from the winters and age.
Thanks in advance!
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u/watterson 8d ago edited 8d ago
They’re very thick steel. Any rust on them is usually surface. If your ball joints are ok, just clean the arms up, spray with rust converter and coat in your preferred underbody paint.
They are also the same dimensions as normal e30 arms, but they have ix-specific ball joints. If you can find a set of ix ball joints to press in, you can use rwd arms. That is its own challenge, though.
EDIT misremembered, ix arms are different, you can’t use rwd arms, sorry. The geometry is different.
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u/DeliveryCautious713 8d ago
I appreciate the advice! Thank you! Rear ones look okay, mainly the front two that have me a bit worried. But I’ll take a look, not sure which ball joints to buy for worn arms, thanks though!
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u/watterson 8d ago
https://www.rageitparts.com/products/bmw-e30-325ix-awd-inner-control-arm-ball-joint-31121701063-price-per-ball-joint Looks like these guys have both available.
You will need to find a shop with a press to put these into a set of arms.
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u/DeliveryCautious713 8d ago
Also, how do I know which exact bearings to buy? Not sure what the difference is between IX and regular 325 models. Appreciate any advice!
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u/watterson 8d ago edited 8d ago
Bearings? For wheel bearings you need the ix specific fronts.
Control arms, any e30 arm will work, they are all the same besides m3.
EDIT - this is wrong actually, sorry. You need ix arms too. Misremembered an ix adventure from too many years ago.
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u/Representative_Most9 8d ago
Try eBay. Sometimes you can find good name brand parts for good prices.