VW/Audi Recall

[Matt Evans]

What I can't believe is that worn control arm bushings is a recall thing.

I can maybe believe it if the failure mode of the bushings is "the car was
driving fine and then the front fell apart".  That's a design issue though,
not a bushing issue.

On E28 BMWs (2nd generation 5 series, 1982-1988) the upper control arm
bushings are _such_ a known weak point that there are a variety of
non-factory UCAs and bushings that you can buy for that family of vehicles.
Nobody runs the factory UCA bushings in an E28.  They just simply wear out
too fast and the whole car vibrates at highway speeds.

Street cars run the UCA bushings from the 750iL, milled down slightly to fit
in the E28 arms.  These last several years on aggressively driven cars.  

Track cars run polyurethane bushings.  See www.gruntsbushings.com
You feel every seam of pavement with these things.

Matt
88 BMW M5 (750iL bushings, new lower control arms in the mail (factory
bushings adequate)
88 Audi 90Q (suspension made primarily of Nerf, compared to the M5)
00 VW Passat Wagon (not bad for a family car.  Wonder what changed between
99 and 00 ?)