I've had these in my car for a few weeks now. Over 500 miles of street driving, an autocross, and a 2-day time trial on a short track. I haven't had them out on a high speed track yet.

Firt impression: noise... and not the kinds of noises I was expecting. Oh the expected noises are there too. :D When I turn close to full lock, there's a "click" sound. There's a bit more noise transmitted into the cabin when hitting expansion joints, but nowhere near as much as I was expecting. In that regard, they're nice.

The strange noises... When I first started the car, the starter / engine noise was louder. Then I went through a bunch of looking (and a trip to a mechanic) to try to find the source of increased air intake sound. Then, on a 200 mile trip to the track, I though my transmission might be about to grenade. I couldn't find the source of the "intake" sound, and it was sound under engine load, so maybe it was my Midlands about to go boom! And then there were a few moments of a humming / whining sound at ~50mph in fifth gear. All these sounds seemed to come from about the same place - under the dash on the driver's side. In the pedal box area... actually, right about where the trailing arm bushing is on the other side of the firewall.

I finally decided (based on a little input from someone else who had done poly control arm bushings in a MINI) that all these sounds were just the stiffer bushing transmitting more noise through the bushing. All these sounds were always there, just quieter. The new, stiffer bushings were amplifying the noises by transmitting them from the control arm to the front subframe. At least, that's the story I'm going with for now. :D

Performance: Well, comparing these new bushings to my old ones that needed to be replaced isn't quite fair. But, that's all I can do. The "offset for increased caster" was noticable for the first few days. More effort was needed on the steering wheel to get the wheels to turn. I stopped noticing that after a few days.

The car handles great again with the new bushings. No more losing the back end in long sweepers. Of course, I didn't have that problem when the stock bushings were in good shape. So, the new bushings probably aren't improving the handling. Hopefully they'll improve the longevity of the bushing though.

So, for now, they get an "eh" rating. They're better than worn out stock bushings, but so are new stock bushings. If they last longer, they'll be worth it. But, if they last longer, they won't die until the car has over 220,000 miles on it. :nuts: :P

The folks that did the install had the following comments:

The bushings were not marked in any way to help determine the orientation to install them in. Remember that these are offset... It took a little while to figure out how to install them to have the offset be in the correct location. And no, I don't know the details of what orientation that is.

Also, on the test drive, the tech who is also a BMWCCA club racer was "amazed" at the turn in of my car. Granted, there's a fair bit of other stuff on my car to effect that, and the tech didn't drive it before installing the bushings.

A very good alignment was done on the car after the install. Old school string box, straightedges, and level / gauges. And lots of care. The alignment came out perfect. Camber dead even side to side. Toe dead at 0 with the steering wheel perfectly centered. This alignment was better even than the one done with the latest laser based alignment table, which was done by a fellow autocrosser who did extra to get the alignment right. Proof that the tools don't make all the difference, the person using the tools does. Find someone who will take the time and effort to get things done right. And don't complain too much when you have to pay for that time and effort. :D It's worth it in the end.

 

I'm wondering how much caster they add. That'd be worth it going with these over the stockers in my book.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have that number handy.

 

Found two alignment sheets that tell me...

On my car, the Bavarian Autosport offset front control arm bushings gave me close to 1° of added caster (from ~4.5° to ~5.5°).