Ball joint rubber boots
 

My 240D lower ball joint boots have deteriorated. A bit of dirt at the joint causes it to squeek. Can the boots be replaced?

Do a search on here Chris. This just came up a week or so ago and someone even posted some aftermarket boots/part numbers.

Probably not worth it for the labor involved to just replace the boot. Best bet is to replace the whole balljoint.
It would be difficult to get the old joints really clean, and if they are making noise, that is a bad indicator in terms of condition. They are only $15-20 each for the part. If you do not have a press, they can be knocked out with a good vise and a big hammer.

csnow

Is right. If they are maing noise it is time to replace them. Our old '79 had that problem. I didn't think that they were all that bad. But when I had the chance I replaced them and the solid feeling from the front end afterwards was amazing. Going over bumps it was now no big deal, where as before it kind of had a bit of a hammering / crashing sound.

If I had to do it over again, would I? You bet!

Haasman

Ball joint itself looks easy enough to replace.
How does one compress the spring to get it all back together?