Powerflex offset FCAB installed...

[The HACK]

Not much to report here as I've only driven the car maybe 35 miles since the install. There are a couple of things I do want to comment on...

I bought the bushings used with cash. Should have been more careful with my due diligence, no one's fault but my own, but the bushings were marked "PFF5-5601G-60x2" which seems consistent with PowerFlex part numbering for the right part, plus the label says "for Z4 and E46 M3" and I didn't think twice. Only during the installation process did it dawn on me that these are 60mm bushings design to fit either older, pre-2001 60mm FCAB lollipops or the E46 M3, which has a unique lollipop to start with and takes 60mm bushings (but centered)

I thought I was in a bind ,since I bought them with cash, used, but never installed. Emailed PowerFlex and begged to see if I can exchange. They responded within 1 week and told me to just send it back and they'll send me the right 66mm bushings to fit. 3 weeks later (ground shipping across country is SLOW) I got the right bushings in hand.

While it IS a very straight forward process, it is time consuming and you NEED the right tools. I was fortunate to live 5 minutes from my favorite mechanic and he had a few minutes to spare, and put the FCAB carrier on his hydraulic press to push the old bushing out and install the new one. Without a press handy, I suggest you buy the bushings pre-pressed into the housing. Or have a mechanic friend. Or just have your mechanic install it.

Two more tips I would share. 1) If you're installing urethane bushings, or solid bearing type bushing replacement, take a Dremel and de-burr the casting marks on the control arm. The harder bushings don't flex enough to go over the small imperfections of the mold. At one point I was hammering away on a 24mm socket to no avail, and noticed that the urethane bushing is actually digging into the aluminum arm because of a small casting "bump." Stock bushings are okay, because the soft rubber will just slide right over it. 2) If you're doing urethane or delrin type bushings, have a pot of hot water handy. Soak the bushings in near boiling water for 5 minutes prior to install (use a tong to pick up the bushings out of hot water, do not handle with bare hand. Ask me how I know). Use that 5 minutes to de-burr the control arm. Those two small steps would have saved at least an hour of labor.

the 2 piece design of the PowerFlex bushing made it much easier to install than the stock bushings. Since the stock bushing doesn't "rotate" along the axis of the control arm, you have to lift the kingpin with a jack slightly to allow it to rotate into position. On the PowerFlex bushing you can rotate the bushing even when the suspension is fully extended, allowing the counter sunk hole on the bracket to line-up with the mounting hole perfectly.

Another quick tip on these bushings. Its easier to push the bushing in further than it needs to go, and let the tapering shape of the control arm push the bushing back out as you fit the bracket back up to the extruding bolt hole (i.e. it's easier to wiggle the bracket in place if it's pushed slightly past where it needs to go forward, and let the natural taper work the bracket back, than to try and push the bracket in toward the front as you try to get the 2 mounting holes to line up). On a stock bushing replacement, be sure to mark where the bushing's location is in relation with the control arm, otherwise you'll never get the bracket back on.