Recently i managed to have a inner tie rod, right front lower ball joint and front lower control arm bushings all starting to go bad at the same time. Alright i figured; atleast i can do it all at once. the ball joint and inner tie rod was easy as pie as expected but the front lower control arm bushings were a bear.
The bumper had to come off, the core support had to come forwards, the subframe had to come down. then the bushings needed pressed off and on. finally completed i put the car back together and looked at the clock and found nearly 4 hours had passed!
Figured id vent alittle about how much of a crappy job it was but its all back together and running strong. for those out there planning to do these or replace them with Alta'a P.S.R.S. , plan on it taking quite a while

 

How many miles, and what were the symptoms?

 

60k. ive been told that this is kinda premature but i drive the mini pretty hard.
i never felt the tie rod and ball joint since they were just starting to get a little play but the front lower bushings were pretty bad. the car wandered a little and i felt a looseness when hitting bumps. i noticed they were cracked all the way around in the bushing and weak when pushing the tire backwards in the wheel well.

 

I would say that doing all of that in only 4 hours is pretty impressive.

 

Thik of all the money you saved not going to your MINI dealer. And how many hours would they have billed you for? I think you did well.

 

Those front control arm bushings going bad is very common...and as you know they are a pain! Sorry to hear you had to go through it, but at least it's finished!