S4 lower front control arms, which brand and where from?

[GrahamS4]

As per the title really, the front lower control arms on my 2005 S4 are showing signs of wear with the bushes worn on the rear lower arms and the rubber gaiter split on one of the front ones. Before anyone suggests replacing both upper and lower arms the uppers are fine and I need to keep costs down within reason.
So which brand do I use and where is the best, aka cheapest, place to buy them from, assuming nobody actually bothers replacing just the bushes even thought it appears you can buy them separately?

 

[QuattroCalum]

As per the title really, the front lower control arms on my 2005 S4 are showing signs of wear with the bushes worn on the rear lower arms and the rubber gaiter split on one of the front ones. Before anyone suggests replacing both upper and lower arms the uppers are fine and I need to keep costs down within reason.
So which brand do I use and where is the best, aka cheapest, place to buy them from, assuming nobody actually bothers replacing just the bushes even thought it appears you can buy them separately?

I’ve used the cheap sets off EBay and they were fine. I think the most important part is not tightening the bushes till it’s lowered to the ground, tightening them before it’s lowered is what ruins them not because they’re cheap.
Full set for sub £100, lowers only are around £90.


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[spartacus 68]

I’ve used the cheap sets off EBay and they were fine. I think the most important part is not tightening the bushes till it’s lowered to the ground, tightening them before it’s lowered is what ruins them not because they’re cheap.

I disagree. I'd avoid any EBay nonsense. They wear prematurely and you'll be doing the same job again in 2 years, plus the cost of tracking adjustment. Meyle HD parts are guaranteed for 4 years. That's all I'd fit suspension-wise. Either that or OE specification such as Lemförder. Agree though regards tightening once vehicle weight on the ground.

 

[QuattroCalum]

I disagree. I'd avoid any EBay nonsense. They wear prematurely and you'll be doing the same job again in 2 years, plus the cost of tracking adjustment. Meyle HD parts are guaranteed for 4 years. That's all I'd fit suspension-wise. Either that or OE specification such as Lemförder. Agree though regards tightening once vehicle weight on the ground.

Perhaps you missed the part about keeping costs down.
I think its ludicrous how people judge something that they have never seen or tried or would even consider buying yet they know it will be rubbish.
Fair enough Meyle HD have four year warranty but it comes at a premium price.
You pay your money and make you’re choice at the end of the day you know your own budget and no one can make that decision for you.


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[GrahamS4]

Thanks for the replies guys, the upper arms appear to have been replaced by the previous owner as they are fine so I thought I could keep the cost down by replacing just the lowers rather than a kit that comes with all o them at around £500.

 

[spartacus 68]

Perhaps you missed the part about keeping costs down.

I hear you Calum, and yes I read the bit about keeping costs down. This is from experience. Those cheap EBay suspension parts are cheap for a reason. I fitted EBay upper control arms to my old B5 quattro avant V6. They lasted less than 2 years before they were rattling about. Apart from poor handling, it accelates uneven tyre wear, and could even be dangerous. It's all about choice I suppose.

I rebuilt the front suspension on my wife's A2, and everything was Meyle HD. That was a sod of a job and I certainly wasn't going to do it again, as had to drop subframe and fit wishbones.

Try these guys. Very, very knowledgable. http://www.murraysdirect.co.uk/

 

[QuattroCalum]

It’s like most things in life, some things are good some things are bad.
Generally when I buy things from EBay I look for the sellers that have over 20,000 sales and 100% feedback. These are bulk sellers and clearly know what they’re doing so it stands to reason they won’t be selling any old rubbish but if there is a problem it will be dealt with.
Just because the top control arms you bought failed doesn’t mean “ they are all like that”
Just be very particular who you buy from.
I’ve seen lots of times on the forum, for example a crank angle sensor, people recommend buying genuine part at over £50 from the dealer, when you can buy a pattern part for £12 with the same 2 year guarantee that you would get from the dealer, for me that’s a no brainer but some people have money to burn.


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[GrahamS4]

I don't have money to burn, I did that on my previous SL which I got to fantastic condition but it was still pipe and slippers to drive so took a big hit and bought the S4. That said I don't want to do the job any more often than I have to, who manufactured the OEM arms?

 

[QuattroCalum]

That remark wasn’t aimed at anyone Graham, I believe Lemforder were the OEM control arms.


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[GrahamS4]

That remark wasn’t aimed at anyone Graham, I believe Lemforder were the OEM control arms.


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Don't worry I hadn't taken offence, sadly over the years I've thrown no end of money at different cars, I've bought them thinking 'oh yes that'll be alright, I can put up with that' then things start to niggle me as I like them to be right and so the process begins and I can't stop. I spent only just short of £7,000 on my SL in the 18 months I had it on top of the £5,500 I paid for it and it was spot on. It was by far a much prettier car than my S4 but I just got a real urge to go back to a manual car. Perhaps an S4 wasn't the most practical of replacements but I commute to work on a little 150 twist'n'go and not quite ready for a Honda Jazz just yet!

 

[GrahamS4]

I hear you Calum, and yes I read the bit about keeping costs down. This is from experience. Those cheap EBay suspension parts are cheap for a reason. I fitted EBay upper control arms to my old B5 quattro avant V6. They lasted less than 2 years before they were rattling about. Apart from poor handling, it accelates uneven tyre wear, and could even be dangerous. It's all about choice I suppose.

I rebuilt the front suspension on my wife's A2, and everything was Meyle HD. That was a sod of a job and I certainly wasn't going to do it again, as had to drop subframe and fit wishbones.

Try these guys. Very, very knowledgable. http://www.murraysdirect.co.uk/

Ok so I'd already been trawling around trying to find what I needed and had seen a listing of these folks for the upper arms so I contacted them through ebay and they came back with this making it easier to get all four in one hit so I've ordered a set, the last set they had in stock - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400910258402

 

[QuattroCalum]

Ok so I'd already been trawling around trying to find what I needed and had seen a listing of these folks for the upper arms so I contacted them through ebay and they came back with this making it easier to get all four in one hit so I've ordered a set, the last set they had in stock - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400910258402

Why is the postage £40 odds?


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[mattyboyc]

The part of the original post that doesn’t work is....“S4, costs down” you don’t do an S4 on the cheap, my own opinion you understand.

I’d imagine the S4 will become a future modern classic so surely should be maintained to the highest standard.

 

[GrahamS4]

Why is the postage £40 odds?


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Am I looking at the right thing as I thought it said postage free?

 

[QuattroCalum]

I think they may have done that as you bought the last set and it will stop others trying to buy when there’s no stock?


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[GrahamS4]

The part of the original post that doesn’t work is....“S4, costs down” you don’t do an S4 on the cheap, my own opinion you understand.

I'm sure you're right, I have that Rolls-Royce taste, push bike income syndrome, but it's a question of striking a balance and not paying over inflated prices for things. So if I can get parts at sensible prices and do a little spannering myself to keep costs down I'll d it but perhaps if people are going to look down their noses at me for wanting to do that I should move away from Audi?

 

[GrahamS4]

I think they may have done that as you bought the last set and it will stop others trying to buy when there’s no stock?


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I just double checked and definitely no postage added to my order, I got what you were saying about the other parts listed on ebay Calum but these seemed a reasonable compromise and have a 4 year guarantee.

 

[QuattroCalum]

I think they may have done that as you bought the last set and it will stop others trying to buy when there’s no stock?


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I just double checked and definitely no postage added to my order, I got what you were saying about the other parts listed on ebay Calum but these seemed a reasonable compromise and have a 4 year guarantee.[/QUOTE]

That’s fair enough Graham, I don’t know what your budget is.
I admire someone who does their own spanner work, there’s nothing quite like doing a job yourself, a sense of satisfaction once it’s done. I do all my own unless I need the “hot spanner”
You mentioned the top arms were done by the previous owner, if it was me, I would take the pinch bolt out and give it some coppaslip if it hasn’t been done when they were replaced. Alloy uprights and steel ball joints are not good companions.


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[GrahamS4]

I just double checked and definitely no postage added to my order, I got what you were saying about the other parts listed on ebay Calum but these seemed a reasonable compromise and have a 4 year guarantee.

That’s fair enough Graham, I don’t know what your budget is.
I admire someone who does their own spanner work, there’s nothing quite like doing a job yourself, a sense of satisfaction once it’s done. I do all my own unless I need the “hot spanner”
You mentioned the top arms were done by the previous owner, if it was me, I would take the pinch bolt out and give it some coppaslip if it hasn’t been done when they were replaced. Alloy uprights and steel ball joints are not good companions.


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I had the same issue with those pinch bolts on a 2002 B6 Passat 1.8T I owned for 10 years until July 2016, a front spring broke and getting those bolts out was an absolute pig. I don't do all my own spannering, it just went to my local indy yesterday for a full service as I have t work on the ground and changing oil, coolant and brake fluid is a job best done on a lift. Straight forward nut and bolt stuff that I can do on axle stands I'm ok with.

 

[QuattroCalum]

That’s fair enough Graham, I don’t know what your budget is.
I admire someone who does their own spanner work, there’s nothing quite like doing a job yourself, a sense of satisfaction once it’s done. I do all my own unless I need the “hot spanner”
You mentioned the top arms were done by the previous owner, if it was me, I would take the pinch bolt out and give it some coppaslip if it hasn’t been done when they were replaced. Alloy uprights and steel ball joints are not good companions.


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I had the same issue with those pinch bolts on a 2002 B6 Passat 1.8T I owned for 10 years until July 2016, a front spring broke and getting those bolts out was an absolute pig. I don't do all my own spannering, it just went to my local indy yesterday for a full service as I have t work on the ground and changing oil, coolant and brake fluid is a job best done on a lift. Straight forward nut and bolt stuff that I can do on axle stands I'm ok with. [/QUOTE]

Hah, I had a 1.8t B5.5 Passat as well, 2001. You didn’t need to touch the pinch bolts, there’s two painted plastic grommets in the bulkhead, prise them off and remove the two 13mm nuts and the strut comes out leaving the top plate and arms in place. I loved that Passat but I wasn’t interested in the successor, quality went downhill 2005>
The thing is with alloy uprights, you can’t hammer on them like you could on the early Passat ones (steel)
I don’t blame you for having the garage do the service with these temperatures just now.


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[GrahamS4]

Yeah they did the service and then advised me that there's oil mist on the rear offside shock and the issue with the front lower control arms and he reckoned these are things I should be able to do without too much trouble.
I loved that Passat, I was the 2nd owner and the original owner had specified every option available at the time bar automatic transmission, plenty of room for my dear old now departed GSD in the back. I had it remapped at AMD, nothing drastic up to 215 with a couple of other mods, just enough to make it fun to drive without throwing the dog around too much!

 

[QuattroCalum]

Yeah they did the service and then advised me that there's oil mist on the rear offside shock and the issue with the front lower control arms and he reckoned these are things I should be able to do without too much trouble.
I loved that Passat, I was the 2nd owner and the original owner had specified every option available at the time bar automatic transmission, plenty of room for my dear old now departed GSD in the back. I had it remapped at AMD, nothing drastic up to 215 with a couple of other mods, just enough to make it fun to drive without throwing the dog around too much!

I would’ve loved a 4motion one, never got round to remapping it, what was your opinion of before and after remap? The Audi needs remapped especially as it’s quattro.


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[GrahamS4]

I would’ve loved a 4motion one, never got round to remapping it, what was your opinion of before and after remap? The Audi needs remapped especially as it’s quattro.


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I'd had a 20v 1.8T saloon before that but it didn't have ESP so I never got that one remapped, you can go for remaps that claim bigger gains but the gains are further up the rev range and I wanted to keep a wider spread of torque, definitely worth doing.

 

[mattyboyc]

Nobody is questioning the bit of diy spannering, or indeed looking down their nose at you,we all do as much as we are capable of to keep down any over inflated labour charges. We are all entitled to an opinion and mine is if you want to own top end cars they should be maintained as such,whether it’s a 4.2 v8 or a 1.9 tdi.

Just to add I did all the suspension arms a couple of years ago and used the Mele HD ones from all German parts.

 

[GrahamS4]

Nobody is questioning the bit of diy spannering, or indeed looking down their nose at you,we all do as much as we are capable of to keep down any over inflated labour charges. We are all entitled to an opinion and mine is if you want to own top end cars they should be maintained as such,whether it’s a 4.2 v8 or a 1.9 tdi.

Just to add I did all the suspension arms a couple of years ago and used the Mele HD ones from all German parts.

Matt (?) I do like to maintain my cars as they should be so I don't disagree with you, the guy at my local indy advised me yesterday when I picked it up from it's service that these things would need doing in the next 6 - 12 months. Having already addressed several issues that bugged me when I got the car 7 weeks ago I'm already £1400 in so if I can buy at the best price and keep costs down getting my hands dirty then I'm getting my hands dirty!

I take it the Meyle HD arms have been ok?

 

[DrStrange]

YES Meyle HD arms are exceptional. I Purchased them from @DieselJake off here and very happy. Just watch their youtube video on how they are made!!