bmwm750

Got the front arm out just fine... got to the rear arm... and well.... there's not enough clearance to get the bolt out..... I'm sure I could drop the strut assembly to gain some room, but there's gotta be a better way than that.....

mishar

You can force it out bu unscrewing it. It is close. Than put it back from the other side.

bmwm750

I'm sure I can get it OUT.... it fits just fine coming in from the other side when I put it back together?

MP4.2+6.0

demo sawed the ones that got hung up. Seriously. Hack saw type blade to deal with the hardened bolts. Just had to be careful w/ blade throw not to run into something. Grinding wheel is same general idea but w/ out the blade throw issue; adjoining space can dictate one or the other.

Then I just put the offending bolts in the opposite way when necessary. Was one of the uppers and the lower rear.

bmwm750

I can certainly hack these out if need be, just wanted to verify that the bolts can be inserted the other way without issue....

sterfry

Here is a link to how I removed mine with no cutting:

Ball joint tool thread

PaulW

Then cut it with a grinder

tjf

I haven't done mine yet on the A8, I have done them on the A4 however. Next time I will take out the entire assembly. It's not that hard to do (3 bolts top / 1 bottom)and makes the entire job a whole lot easier, especially when it comes to properly aligning the arms and torquing them correctly.

MP4.2+6.0

Not sure I get the part about aligning the arms and torquing them correctly...

The control arms should all be tightened the final time with regular load on the suspension, That in turn means it basically needs to all be put together and either on the ground or up on a drive on lift. What I do in the home garage environment is assemble the whole thing with the wheel off and jacked up, but then loosen and retighten each arm fastening point that involves a bushing once the car is down and I figure out how to get in there with a wrench to each. If you tighten them without load, it will likely to lead to very premature bushing failure and then another replacement job.

tjf

On the A4, the proper procedure, per the Bentley manual, is to have a 1" gap between the top of the arms and the bottom ridge of the top frame, when tightening to the specified torque. I don't think I could even get my torque wrench up in there when it was all installed. I assume it is similar on the A8 as it's all the same design - except the air suspension.