Clunky front end

[ehuff]

Hey all,

I have been noticing an increasingly clunky front end in my 3. I have almost 50k on the car and drive bumpy roads. How long do struts usually last in this car? (09 ms3)

Any thoughts would be great!

 

[ohioan]

Struts-50000 miles. Have your front sway bar bushings replaced. Mazda charged me $125 plus parts to do mine. So should total around $150.

Oh and not sure if it's still a pain to get our shocks/struts. When I did mine, took a bit to get em in stock.

 

[zoomzoomMSP]

i have and 08.5 ms3 with 52k and i had an increasingly annoying clunk in the front end and i drive on bumpy roads as well. i just replaced my front sway bar and bushings and front end links and the clunk is gone. just my 2 cents

 

[cozar]

i have the same problem with mine so thanks for all the good info guys il give those a shot this weekend

 

[CHICO2003]

Also in the same clunky boat. I replaced my rear sway bar last year (with the Cobb) and exchanged tighter handling for a squeaky bed sound. Nothing jacking up the volume can't solve. As for the front clunk, that's far more annoying. I had all the struts replaced so it's definitely the bushings. Question is, I hear replacing the front sway bar is a royal b****. (which is why I didn't go for it when I had the rear replaced) Now that the front bushings need to be replaced, should I just get the sway bar too? I'd hate to pay a shop a fortune just to replaced bushings. Either way, glad to have found the solution. Thought my MSP was the only mazda with clunk issues.