Front Suspension Kit with Uprated Bushes in Uprated

A suspension overhaul: polyurethane in the positions where rubber fails first and rubber everywhere it should stay, because a car on poly bushes throughout is a car you stop enjoying.

We are an independent parts supplier. We are not BMW AG or MINI, we are not appointed by them, and BMW and MINI are their trademarks. What we sell are parts that fit those cars, described as such. Every listing states the chassis codes and engine codes it fits, the production date range, which quality tier you are buying, the labour time the job actually takes, and whether the part needs coding to the car before it will work. Where a part is only made in plastic by the factory and fails because it is plastic, we say so and we offer the metal one.

Specification and fitment

• Fits: 1 Series E87 F20 F40, 3 Series E90 E91 E92 E93 F30 F31 F34 G20, 4 Series F32 F33 F36 G22, 5 Series E60 F10 G30, X1 E84 F48, X3 E83 F25 G01, X5 E70 F15 G05, and Mini R56 F56 R60 F60 where stated
• Engine: not engine dependent, though the heavier six cylinder and diesel cars use different spring rates and the kit is matched to yours
• Production dates: 1998 to 2022 depending on chassis. These cars change mid production, sometimes twice in a model year, and two cars built four months apart can take different parts. Send us the last seven digits of your VIN with the order and we check the part against the build record before anything is dispatched. It takes us two minutes and it is the difference between a part that fits and a return.
• Quality: redesigned where the original failed. On this site that usually means metal where the factory used plastic, or a reinforced guide where the original wore through, and the specification says exactly what was changed
• Part number: cross referenced to the original equipment number for your VIN and confirmed before dispatch. We do not publish a single number against a listing that covers several build variants, because that is how people order the wrong part
• The failure this addresses: vague steering, a knock over broken surfaces, uneven tyre wear on the inner edges, and the front control arm bush advisory that appears on the MOT of every one of these cars at about 60,000 miles
• Labour time: four to six hours for one axle, a full day for all four corners, plus an hour on the geometry rack afterwards
• Coding: none required. Fit it and drive
• Also needed: new stretch bolts on every arm, new drop link nuts, and a four wheel geometry afterwards. The geometry is not optional
• Torque: every suspension bolt is torqued with the car at ride height, not in the air. Bushes tightened with the suspension hanging are bushes that tear within a year, and it is the commonest mistake in the job
• Weight: approximately 33.3 kilograms
• Warranty: three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first
• Geometry: budget for a four wheel alignment afterwards. Changing arms moves the camber and the toe, and a car driven for a month on the wrong toe eats a set of tyres
• Bushes at ride height: the single most important instruction in this listing. Torque the bush bolts with the wheels on the ground and the car at its normal height
• Uprated: polyurethane in the front control arm rear bush and rubber everywhere else, which sharpens the steering without making the car unpleasant
• Both sides: suspension parts are replaced in pairs. One new arm and one worn one gives you a car that pulls and a tyre that wears

What arrives

• every arm, bush, link, mount and damper listed
• new stretch bolts and nuts throughout
• a geometry voucher where the kit includes one
• printed instructions with torque figures and the ride height note
• the labour where the fitted option is chosen

Fitting

Four to six hours an axle. The one instruction worth repeating is that the bush bolts are torqued at ride height with the wheels on the ground, because tightening them with the suspension hanging preloads the rubber and tears it inside a year. Then book the geometry.

Which version to buy

The tier question on suspension is simpler than it looks. Dampers are worth buying OE supplier, because the aftermarket copies of these are genuinely worse and you will feel it. Arms and links are fine premium aftermarket. Bushes are where uprated earns its money, specifically the front control arm rear bush, which is the part that fails and the part that most affects how the steering feels.