Changing the front control arms on an E30 isn’t a hard job, but a few steps can eat up a lot of time: getting the center ball joint nut off, getting the ball joint out of the subframe, and pressing the new bushing and its carrier onto the arm. These three tools make the job much faster.

1. Snap-on FU22M 22mm Swivel Socket
The Snap-on FU22M is a 22mm, 12-point, 3/8″ drive swivel socket. It lets you remove the center ball joint nut from the top instead of from the bottom. The swivel lets the socket sit square on the nut while the extension comes in at an angle.

Other brands often don’t have the center hallowed out like the snap on does, which allows the FU22M to be both shallow, and accommodating to the protruding ball joint threads.

2. 18″ (450mm) Air Hammer Chisel
Once the nut is off, the ball joint often stays stuck in the subframe. An 18″ (450mm) chisel in an air hammer lets you hammer the ball joint out. The one shown is a flat chisel with a standard 0.401″ shank, which fits most air hammers.

These can be had from various sellers on amazon.

3. Control Arm Bushing Press Tool
For pressing the control arm bushing and its carrier onto the arm, I use the Bav Auto Control Arm Bushing Press Tool (Bavarian Autosport part number B8800033). It fits the E30, E36, E46, Z3 and Z4.

This entry was posted on October 26, 2026 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Do it Yourself. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.