I have inspected them, and they are fine.

It is possible that they are needing replacement since I last checked them,
but they look fine, I have no noises from suspension parts clanging against
one another and the tires wear evenly despite never, that's n-e-v-e-r,
getting a wheel alignment. If I needed bushings, at least one of those
things would not be a true statement, I ought to hear noises, have poor tire
wear, or rerquire alignments. Something would be amiss if the suspension
bushings were gone, however I completely agree that even in the best of
cases, I have to be close to needing new suspension parts even if I am
confident they are fine today. I can only assume that because I live in
southern CA., where it never rains - much less snows - there is very little
that will attack the rubber under my car. You guys that live where there is
actual weather will have a different experience than I have.





"Richard Sperry" > wrote in message
...
> Jeff, if you have 200K on your car and you don't think you need to inspect
/
> replace bushings, you are in for a surprise. RSMs are a replacement item
by
> at least 100K along with lcas and rtabs. I would have them checked out.
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Jim P." > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> Hi All,
> >> I have a '96 328i, all stock, with about 96,000 miles. I bought the
> >> car
> >> in 2002 with 54,000 miles on it. I live in the New York city area.
> >> Some questions on a couple of topics:
> >> 1- Would there be any suspension components/ bushings due for
replacement
> >> srtictly based on this mileage? If so, recommendations?
> >
> > I have a '94 325i that is also stock, except I upgraded the wheels
> > recently
> > to 17" from an M3. I bought my car at 100,000 in 2000, and now have
> > 200,000.
> > I put an average of 25,000 miles per year over 4 years. I have no reason
> > to
> > think I need any bushings or other suspension components.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> 2- I'd like to switch from the original 15" wheel/tire setup to 16"or
17"
> >> when I take off my snow tires next spring. I see a lot of aftermarket
> >> wheels, at tirerack for example, that are said to fit the car, but have
a
> >> different offset than the stock BMW wheels. How important is it to
> > maintain
> >> the exact offset? Is there an allowable difference of a few mm? What
> > about
> >> the use of spacers? They don't seem like a suitable alternative seeing
> > how
> >> the stock wheel sits over the center hub.
> >
> > Let me urge you to go to eBay and do a search on 'BMW OEM E36 17"
WHEELS'.
> > You can modify the search string, drop OEM and/or E36, or change the
size
> > to
> > 16", and get a different mix of results. If you leave the OEM in the
> > string,
> > you will cut out the after market rims (for the most part) and get a
> > listing
> > of factory original rims that are take-offs where somebody is changinf
> > from
> > the size you are searching on to an even larger size.
> >
> > I scored a set (all 5) of rims from an M3. The tires that go on these
rims
> > are 225/45x17. They are within 1% of being the same size as the tires
> > (225/55x15) that came off, and are very colose to the 205/60s that you
> > probably have today. The 225/45s are nearly an inch wider than the
> > 205/60s,
> > but they will fit without any modification to your car. The offset of
the
> > M3
> > rim is correct for your car. The wider tires will not allow chains, but
> > you
> > have a set of snow tires already so this should be OK. Alternatively,
you
> > can put on a 205/50x17 and then you can use chains if you need them
before
> > the start of the official snow season and get caught out in the snow.
> >
> > Check this link for the BMW offerings (I got the Style 22, M3 Double
> > Spoke)
> > http://www.kalach.easynet.be/bmw_wheels.htm
> >
> >
> >
> >> TIA to all!
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>