Project Big Six-y: 1991 BMW 535i/5

[Jake]

I've had new front-end pieces ready to install for a while now. All of the bushings in mine were beyond shot, so there was a terrifying vibration when you braked hard and a slight shimmy at 55. Time for new things!

I replaced the sway bar links myself. The plan was to do those on Wednesday, tie rods on Friday and control arms on Saturday. Well, plans changed. Friday I come outside and start un-bolting tie rods to do this work. There are four pieces I was replacing:



I was doing both tie rods, the center tie rod and the idler arm. The pitman arm didn't need replacing.

So I get everything apart and looking like this:



Somewhere in here, Kaan had come by to help out. The two of us managed to use the tie-rod puller to pop everything apart. Well, everything except for one piece. The bushing/bolt that attaches the center tie rod to the pitman arm was STUCK. The puller tool wouldn't pop it, we bent Kaan's crowbar trying to pry it apart, and we even engineered a 2x4 + jack combo that managed to lift the car off the jackstands instead of popping this thing apart.

So then Kaan and I decide to put the wheels back on, bolt up the stock parts again and take 'er to my friendly German repair shop in Springfield. Trouble was, the nuts for the tie rods wouldn't go back on the bolts. We got the passenger one on, barely, and the driver's side just wasn't having it. We put the wheel on and lowered the car down so the weight of everything would keep the tie rod seated where it attaches to the hub.

That worked until Sylvia backed it out of the garage (Kaan and I had hands that were not suitable for touching anything clean) and turned the wheel. Pop!

She limped it into a parking space, Kaan popped the tie rod in place another couple of times, and on Saturday morning we used his AAA membership to get it towed to Springfield:



The car is almost done, they're doing an alignment as I type this and I'll pick it up today sometime. Frustrating project (and control arms aren't done at all yet) but short of just setting the whole damn car on fire (thanks, Rex, for that suggestion) we had no other ideas as to removing this stuck piece.