Rear trailing arm bushes
 

I previously had a 320d which I changed the rtab's on and I bought a tool to do this. Today I had the alignment done and the guy showed me that the rtab's on the ztt had lots of movement in them. He said he could alter the alignment by moving the trailing arm with a bar. So I have a tool to change them if they are the same size but have done some searching and cant seem to find the bushes for sale.Can anyone point me in the right direction?

The rear wheel toe settings are adusted by moving the trailing arm bush holder/bracket towards or away from the car's centre line. There is a special tool to do this. It has clasps/tynes to engage into some small lugs on the base. The part is Number 5 in this Xpart drawing.

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/ItemImag...GRID001553.gif

I don't have the part number for the adjuster tool.

Beware that the bush bracket bolts are extremely hard and tight and tend to round off unless extreme care is taken with the socket. None of the parts are available these days so unless you absolutely need to move the bush it's best left to the professional tracking people. Setting the toe is however pretty easy with or without the leverage tool. I use a Gunson Trakrite to check the tyre/road shear. It's very sensitive and doesn't depend on measuring anything. Remember also that altering the rear toes can automatically put the fronts out of spec.

EDIT: I realise this isn't quite the thing you're asking about, but is related to refitting the trailing arm with a new bush and checking the tracking afterwards.

Rear Bush (Item 2 above): http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-RGX101410

TC

Thanks for info. After a harder look I found them on rimmers. It would seem because bmw's are rear wheel drive these bushes probably give more bother, as they are a common failure. On initial search for these and reading the zt forums these bushes didnt seem to come up. The tool I have is for removing and refitting the bushes on the arm and its not much fun but it looks like I have to do it on this car now,if they are same or similar size.
Item 2 in the drawing.

I believe that the rear bushes are indeed the exact same part as fitted to the E46 - although I don't know if this has been proved or not.

Do a you tube search for BMW e 46 suspension bushes , they do look very similar ?

E46 parts do fit!
 

They are and they do fit. A garage I used cross referenced the parts and my car was so equipped. Was far sharper to drive and uneven tyre wear was solved!

I need mine replacing...What sort of price did they charge you to replace the pair...

I honestly can't remember; was a couple of years ago now. If I find the receipt I will let you know. Was a reasonable price however!

Just been informed by a couple of people, that generally its an hour a side....so depending who does it, it looks as though its from say £80 + parts + vat, for the pair, which seems as you say, quite reasonable.