Stabilizer bar

Stabilizer bars and linkages can be damaged by a collision or under-car impact—but we haven’t seen any bars with mechanical or hydraulic failures yet.

Suspension level sensors are prone to failure—being located amongst the suspension they are exposed to harsh environments which can degrade the plastic and electronics.

Valve blocks—generally speaking—can fail for a number of reasons but as of writing this (2024) we are yet to specifically sell any for hydraulic stabilizer systems.

Stabilizer/sway bars—also known as an anti-roll bars—connect opposite wheels to reduce body roll during sharp turns or uneven road conditions.

Most late BMWs will have one for both front and rear wheels. The purpose of them is to improve vehicle stability and handling by distributing weight more evenly across the wheels, enhancing safety and comfort during manoeuvring.

There are two different types of stabilizer bar in BMWs:

• Standard mechanical: Most BMWs are equipped with mechanical stabilizer bars, which are made of steel and operate without any need for hydraulic or electronic adjustment. These bars are effective in reducing body roll and are sufficient for many driving conditions and vehicle types.
• Hydraulic: BMWs with high-performance or luxury packaged are equipped with active or dynamic stabilizer bars. These stabilizer bars incorporate hydraulic mechanisms and/or motors for real-time adjustment to provide an optimized balance between handling and ride comfort.

At the time of writing this (2024) only the larger, more expensive luxury models have offered hydraulic stabilizer bars (7 Series, X5, etc.) Everything else (X1, X3, 3 Series, etc.) typically only had a mechanical stabilizer bar.

In the late E-Generation vehicles there was little-to-no variants of each stabilizer component within a model—so it is relatively safe matching the chassis code. But the introduction of xDrive into BMW’s non-SUV complicated things.

It’s worth confirming the fitment compatibility of any stabilizer component by matching the BMW part numbers from the catalogue. If you provide us with your vehicle’s 17-digit VIN number we can do this for you and refer you to a compatible listing.

Stabilizer bars have low-interchangeability between models.