BMW E36 323is Rear Trailing Arm Bushing Failure

Warning: Language. ***Click 'More Info'***

Here's a video I recorded some time in 2005-ish with my good buddy, Richie. I used a throwaway Logitech 4000 webcam, lots of duct tape (...like 2 yards), and a laptop.

You are looking at a failed driver side Rear Trailing Arm Bushing (RTAB) of a 1998 BMW 323is (E36 chassis). The bottom of the video frame is the front of the car, the top is the rear. Notice how the trailing arm (the thing that's moving in the video) is able to wobble about as it mushes around inside the RTA console as the rear wheel undergoes loading forces. This is a perfect example of:
A) A failed RTA Bushing.
B) Why you should install RTAB limiters to prevent this kind of behavior, and double (AT LEAST!) the life of your bushings.

When the Rear Trailing Arm (RTA) moves left to right, the rear toe for that wheel is changing. If both left and right bushings are torn, you get toe out under acceleration, toe in during hard braking, and RANDOM toe whenever the wheel feels like it. This is bad. My car was crab-walking all over the place because of this bushing. I was having the 'rear steering' effect. When the car is under hard acceleration, the arm is allowed to move towards the front of the car (down,in reference to the video frame). Under hard braking, the arm moves backwards (up in reference to the video frame). Up and down (in and out in reference to the video frame) and rotational motion occurs when the wheel travels up and down over bumps. The bushing is there to absorb road vibrations and isolate the car body from the wheel. It's NOT there to allow the suspension geometry and alignment to change on the fly (as mine is in the video)

What I did in the video: Accelerate from a standstill through 1st gear, into 2nd, and then cycled full on and full off of the throttle 4 times, then drove at about 55 mph on some country roads (see video statistics link for google maps location). I then swerved left and right about 7-8 times at the end of the video, you can see how the arm reacts to slow suspension travel.
Dialog: talking about how awful the bushing is, then about how my passenger window seal is broken and you have to open the door so the window seals. I tried to repair it with rubber cement and it looked melted - and failed. A cop drives past, we cuss a lot, and I don't care if you find that offensive, get over it.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• BMW
• 318
• 323
• 325
• M3
• E36
• RTAB
• RTA
• rear
• traling
• arm
• bushing
• failure
• limiters
• auto

[thethoroughbred]

Oh shit. I have exactly the same problem. I have had it for around a year. It first starts with a sharp grinding sound when steering sharply at very slow speeds. Like pulling out of a parking spot or the driveway. Then the grinding goes away, and there is more play, and you end up with rear wheel steering.

[bitcoredotorg]

The problem really only happens under hard acceleration or low speed (<10mph) turning. I swerve side-to-side and you can see the bushing oscillate just a bit, but not much. It's kind of a pain to replace, and you can find a DIY at bimmerforums, search for RTAB DIY.

[abro163]

Hi, did you have any problems shifting gear smoothly with the rubber loading up or anything like that. More noticeable when going from 1st->2nd, its the problem I am having. Thx

[bitcoredotorg]

No, unfortunately I have an autotragic transmission. I don't suspect it will affect shifting much at all, if you have having problems with 1st to 2nd under hard acel, check your transmission mounts.

[mr4o8]

Hey i have a 325i 92' and its knocks really hard when i shift at high speeds maybe due to weight dist. could that be a rear bushing problem? or a pressure plate prob? high speed shit i push the clutch in and then it knocks any help?

[bitcoredotorg]

I doubt it has anything to do with the RTABs, or rear control arm bushings.

I'd check: 1) your drive shaft guibo (you'd usually have a bad vibration if it's bad enough to thunk loudly) 2) your rear sub frame mounting points.

The early 3 series subframe mounts can *tear* usually front passenger bolt first, letting the diff carrier torque & move around and costing a ton of money to drop the whole subframe so you can re-weld it all back together. Get that checked *soon*!

[millakilla]

Mine are bad too, I get real bad wheel hop under any kind of moderate acceleration.. I'm changing out my bushings on either sunday or monday though so hopefully it wont be an issue for much longer.

[Lisa281977]

Thanks for this video, just bought an E36 98 and been trying to figure out why the back end lurches horriby when it hits a small pot hole, pretty sure this is why , thanks

[smoky2004]

Hiya can someone please tell me if taking the fuel tank off a E36 is as hard as I have been told - apparently about 3 hours just to take off? Thanks

[mrbennnn]

Hey man, thanks for your video, hopefully this helps me a lot. Heard about bushings being common to completely give up at this age.

I have a 1998 323i that make's a pretty loud knocking noise and slips to the left or right when you hit a drain for example, and now it's started to snake at high speed on slightly slippy roads (not like it did when driving like a dick before =P)

Heard this might be the symptoms, wondering if you could shed some light?

Cheers sir