Rock ‘n’ roll summer holiday
Ifirst noticed back in August 2018 that my 2013 BMW 535i rear anti-roll bar was starting to corrode above the exhausts. An inspection in April 2020 showed the corrosion had got significantly worse so while lockdown continued over summer of 2020, I decided I would try and tackle the problem.
After reading articles in CM, I was inspired to do my own refurbishment project where I could fettle something and re-fit it back on my car with the sole purpose of keeping it in good condition. The rear anti-roll bar corrosion problem looked like a good starter project. If
I was to remove the rear anti-roll bar, I might as well renew the links and the bushes. These parts are cheap, easily replaced, can improve the handling, and most importantly avoid any issues at MOT time. I got as far as buying some rattle cans and then life events took over, as did the corrosion.
With the worry over getting locked down in a foreign country, an overseas holiday did not appeal in summer 2021 – I thought I could spend my two week summer holiday tinkering with my BMW. My idea of a great holiday although, it
wasn’t Mrs R’s idea of a great holiday. I had already acquired new febi rear anti-roll bar bushes and links and with good weather imminent for painting, I started. With safety being paramount when working on my car, I decided to tackle the job with the car sat safely and securely on its wheels on my ramps. I could access all the fixings easily and remove the roll bar – great, or so I thought. After struggling for twenty minutes to remove the bar, I gave up and jacked it up via the differential and sat the 5-Series on axle stands to allow the suspension arms to fully drop to give me just that bit more room to rotate the roll bar.
I mounted the bar in a bench to remove the links. After breaking yet another Torx T30 bit, counter-holding the balljoint of the link where it bolts through the bar (I’d previously broke one removing the
link improving access to change a spring), more radical measures were called for. As the links were being renewed, I wasn’t concerned if I damaged them. Gripping the balljoint over the rubber gaiter with a pair of self-locking pliers and a buzz with my impact wrench, the links were soon separated from the bar.
A wire brush wheel on an angle grinder made short work of the corrosion and the original paint on the bar and brought it back to clean shiny steel. The amount of section loss due to corrosion was insignificant so I was confident the bar could be re-used.
After a wipe with degreaser to remove dust, I commandeered my daughters garden swing to use as a paint booth.
The bar was hung from the frame of the swing via a bungee cord so I could begin building up layers of paint. I had the first layer of etch primer on within an hour from having it out from under the BMW, minimizing the time the bare metal was exposed to the atmosphere.
Scottish heat
With the bar now semi-protected,
I set about the crusty looking bush caps. Thankfully one of my wire brush drillmounted wheels was smaller than the internal diameter of the cap so I could power wire brush it as clean as possible. These were also treated with layers of etch primer. I left the primer to dry overnight before starting on the topcoat. Several layers of gloss black were sprayed in the morning. With temperatures around 24°C and no wind, I was able to make the most of the (rare) good Scottish weather.
I removed the rear wheels to help with the re-fitting as I didn’t want to chip the shiny new paint after all. With my eldest daughters help, I had the bar threaded through the suspension arms and exhausts within two minutes.
Much easier with two pairs of hands and having the wheels off might have allowed an extra bit of wiggle room – plus I’m teaching the next generation, just like my dad taught me.
Everything went back as I had removed it, making sure the roll bar bushes were positioned correctly so the links lined up between the roll bar and the lower suspension arm. Before carrying out the final tightening of all the fixings I checked that everything was still correctly located, the links were near enough vertical when viewed from the rear and were still in the same position relatively to each other.
To tighten the lower link balljoint nuts to 56Nm, I had to get creative to prevent writing off more Torx bits. I used a 18mm crows foot spanner with my torque wrench to tighten the nuts while counter-holding the balljoint with an impact Torx bit.
After refitting the wheels and lowering the car to the ground I took it for a spirited drive and all was well – well except for the noise now noticeable from the grumbling front wheel bearings.