Overview: Top 3 E46 Bushings to Upgrade
Out of all the BMW chassis, the 3-Series E46 chassis is rapidly becoming one of the most popular platforms for building anything from a clean daily driver to a filthy 1000hp dedicated track car. Regardless of your intentions, after 10+ years of life our E46’s almost certainly need some, if not all, of its bushings replaced. While we highly recommend replacing all your OEM bushings at the one time, below we will be talking about the top 5 E46 bushings everyone need to upgrade!
Well, we are now offering 10% off all E46 complete bushings kits, so now is the time to place your order and finally replace those old worn out cracked bushings that rob your E46 of its mojo. However, if you are looking to replace your bushing one at a time, here are our top 5 E46 Bushings we recommend to replace ASAP!
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Complete E46 Non-M Bushing Kit
Differential Bushings
Without a doubt, the bushings that receive the most abuse, and overall wear on an E46 is the differential bushings. The problem with OEM diff bushings is that overtime the weight of the differential causes the bushings to break down due to the constant load they experience while hanging from the subframe, not to mention your spirited driving. If you have not yet replaced your diff bushings, now is the time! We sell differential bushings for E46 M3 and non-m E46 diff bushings.
Note: All E46s require front diff bushings, and rear diff cover bushings! Both can be found below.
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E46 Complete Diff Bushing Kit (Non-M) - Includes both Front Diff and Diff Cover Bushings
E46 Non-M Rear Diff Cover Bushings
E46 M3 Differential Cover Bushings
Subframe Bushings
Next on our top 5 E46 bushings to replace are subframe bushings! For a majority of E46 owners the factory subframe bushings likely need to be freshened up with a set of replacement subframe bushings. Does your car ever make a “donk!” sound when leaving a stop sign or street light? If so, I'd suggest checking your subframe and diff bushings to ensure they have not fallen apart. In the event that your bushings have seen better days and are ready for a replacement, you can find our E46 subframe bushings in 4 different hardnesses at the link below!
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Front Control Arm Bushings
Do you suffer from a washy front end in the corners? Does your front end make sounds when you roll up or down a driveaway? Do your tires wear unevenly even though your alignment is on point?
Well, if you answered yes to any of the questions above, first off you're not alone, and importantly it's time to replace your front control arm bushings! Because our FCABs secure our control arms to the chassis, worn front control arm bushings will result in an unpredictable and harsh feeling front end that causes improper/uneven tire wear. When you have blown out FCABs, any sort of load on the suspension can cause play in your front end which ultimately throws off your front alignment and overtime can cause your tires to wear prematurely.
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E46 M3 Front Control Arm Bushings
Bushing Material Options
You may be thinking what hardness of bushing is best for me? Well, as with most of our bushings, you have a few different bushings hardnesses to choose from.
For street driven cars, we typically recommend 80a, as it is our softest polyurethane and is a perfect upgrade as they are noticeably stiffer than OEM, but also soft enough to prevent harsh highway driving.
What about people who track their car? Now, if you have a track driven street car or street driven track car, and you prefer your car to have some comfort and not be overly noisy and harsh as aluminum or Delrin bushings, 95a polyurethane is going to be the best option for you.
Finally for all the dedicated track cars, we have the “solid” Delrin race application option.