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I have been doing a suspension refresh on the rear of my e46 M3, replacing all the bushings and ball joints. I'm putting it all back together now and saw that the upper ball joint on the trailing arm didn't look right. It looks like the upper control arm pushed the boot in. I tried to pull it back into place with a small screwdriver but it still doesn't look like it was.

Here's the good side: enter image description here

Here's the less good side: enter image description here

As you can see I've managed to pull the boot mostly back and the retaining ring looks like it's in place, however I'm concerned I may have damaged the integrity of the boot and therefore the whole joint.

Is this okay to live with, or should I replace the joint?

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If there are no visible tears in the boot (ie: leaking grease), it should be just fine. I can see the slight deformation of the boot (right side), but other than that, I don't see any tears in it. My suggestion is to let it ride, but keep an eye on it for the next couple of months. If no hole develops in the boot, it should be good to go. I'm not sure if the boot is integral in the ball joint or not. If it is, you'd need to replace the whole thing if it becomes compromised. If not, you may be able to get a replacement boot for it.

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