Awkward link arm

This 2003 BMW M3 had failed its MOT on a missing rear link arm. The owner told us that he was going to replace it but hadn’t had time. As the old arm was nowhere to be seen, it was obvious that the owner had removed it, then decided that fitting the replacement was not as easy. With the link arm located in an inaccessible position on the rear suspension, I can quite understand.

The lower section of the link arm has a rubber bush that pushes onto the anti-roll bar, while the top section has to be bolted onto a bracket that attaches to the rear arm. Even with the benefit of a ramp, access to the fixings is very tight and fitting the new link arm is quite a fiddle.

The offside link arm was in place, but the nearside arm was missing.