Shock & Spring Write-up

[Ågent99]

Originally posted by DDB
Hey Chris, how's the E39 shock/spring writeup going? :)

~ DDB


Uh, uhm, eh, :dunno:

I know, I know...a big :thumbdwn: to me on that one.

I keep blaming it on time :mad: but that is more or less true.

It would be a nice one to get out there, I agree. I should do it. :tsk: :tsk: on moi.... :(

Chris :eeps:

[vietsb]

Yo DDB-

We'll take pictures next time we hack up someone else's E39. Or, I go w/ coil-overs.;)

But

Courtesy of H8LUUZN, w/ my comments at the beginning:

Front
-Break (but don't remove) the large center nut prior to jacking up the car.
-Be sure the "L" and "R" are positioned properly as per David Z's comment:
"Must be oriented properly so that the "L" or "R" mark lines up with the gap over the pinch bolt. If they aren't, your car will have a noisy front suspension and may not track properly on grooved or crowned roads." I noticed the ears of the lower spring hats are pointed back slightly when they is correctly aligned.
-Replace the front lower spring pads as they are thinner than the rest, so it's a good time to change them.
-Check any spring documentation for possible info on cutting the bump stops.

Rear
-Must remove rear deck and speaker pods from the rear parcel shelf to access the shock mounts. Have to remove rear seats as well if you don't have fold-down seats.
-Probably have to remove one of the rear control arms (18mm nuts/bolts) for extra clearance to pull the rear assembly out.

-----Original Message-----
Subject: front suspension

Prior to starting:

1) Insert one jack under one of the front jack pads. Place a piece of wood or similar under rear tires to keep it from rolling. Lift car until wheel is off the ground.

2) Take second jack and place it under the cross member to raise the car from the center.

3) Remove jack from under the jack pad.

4) Loosen the lug bolts on the front wheels.

5) Raise car by the second jack which is under the cross member until you can fit the jack stands under the front jack pads. Make sure the jack stands are placed correctly.

6) Lower car SLOWLY from the Jack under the cross member.

7) Once the car is resting on the jack stands, Raise the jack at the cross member until it BARELY touches the member. (for added support)

8) Remove tires.

9) Spray WD40 on the bottom 3 inches of the strut. (This is where the strut goes into the holder.) Make sure you spray this very well.

To dismantle the front struts:

1) Open hood.... loosen the three 13mm bolts on top of the strut tower. Just loosen, do not remove just yet.

2) When you look at the suspension, look at the strut from the top to the bottom. The first bolt you will see will be the one for the TIE ROD. It is to the LEFT of the strut, just above the top edge of the rotor. And there are two more right underneath that, one holding the connecter for the Tie Rod, another clamping the strut at the very bottom.

3) Remove brake caliper, lets get that out of the way. This can be done by removing the 2-17mm bolts from the back side. Remember which bolt goes where, since they are of different sizes. Do not just let it dangle, use a bungee cord or place it somewhere where there is no tension on the brakeline.

4) Loosen the MIDDLE bolt that holds the connecter for the tie rod. it is a 16mm. Do not take it out completely yet.

5) Loosen the bolt directly underneath that one. 16mm on one end, 18 on the other. you can remove the nut, but do not take the bolt out.

6) Loosen and take off the nut for the tie rod. The tie rod will most likely not come out. NOTE: when you do this, keep one hand on the back of the tie rod. If you see the tie rod is spinning on the other side, STOP. you will have to use a 16mm wrench to hold it in place. Be VERY careful when you place the 16mm wrench to hold it in place, so you do not rip the rubber. If you
twist the back of this too much, you will rip the ball joint.

7) Go back to the engine compartment and remove the 13 mm nuts.

8) Grab a jack, place it under the lower control arm ball joint, (bottom center of the rotor, about 4 inches behind it) and SLOWLY start to raise the suspension. Keep one hand on the TIE ROD. Once you reach a certain level, the tie rod will slide right out. just keep a little pressure on the bolt sticking out with your finger. No force needed. (hammer, etc)

9) At the same point, you should also be able to remove the 16mm MIDDLE bolt. Take caution, when you remove this bolt, there might be some (but not much) tension on the connecter.

10) Remove the LONG bolt (16mm nut and 18mm bolt) It should slide right out, not requiring much effort. If the last two bolts seem tight, move the jack up or down just a little bit, and they should slide out.

********remove the connecter, brake wires, and the tie rod out of the way, and remove the brake line connecter from the holder. If your car is equipped with auto leveling, you will need to remove the 10mm bolt to remove the rod from the control arm.*****

11) SLOWLY start to let the jack back down. Keep one hand on the strut.

12) You will see the suspension start to drop, keep an eye on the
threads sticking out into the engine compartment. They will start to go down. (If for some reason they do not, and the jack is completely down, tap the tip of the three bolts lightly with a hammer)

13) Move and set the jack to the side.

14) Turn the strut from its holder (bottom). You should be able to turn it side to side to get it loose. (If you have trouble getting it loose, you might have to separate the housing for the strut with a flat head screwdriver)

15) You put both your hands on the SPRING. Have your friend use his leg and put pressure on the hub of the rotor, compressing it downward (he should stand towards the front of the car, facing to the rear). As he does this, you should be able to pull the entire assembly out of the wheel well. Be VERY
careful here, as you pull it out, the top of the strut will be about 2mm from your fender!!! Also, to get it out, you will have to remove the assembly towards the BACK of the car. It helps if you also push down on the strut cartridge as he forces the hub down.

16) Once the strut is out of the wheel well, just twist the strut
cartridge side to side, and pull up. The entire assembly should come out of the holder. Be VERY careful here also, as the tension will naturally pull the cartridge back to the fender. I would recommend placing a damp towel on your fender just to play it safe)

17) Once the assembly is out, CLEAN the spring where you wish to make contact with your spring compressor. I would recommend WD40. Make sure you clean the contact points VERY well. If they are dirty or oily, your spring compressor may slide.

18) Next, after the spring is completely compressed, (you can tell when you can freely rotate the spring, and there is no tension from either side touching the top or bottom) you will need a 21mm wrench, and a 8mm to loosen the top strut tower bolt. ONLY DO THIS AFTER YOU HAVE COMPRESSED THE SPRING.
Loosen the 21mm bolt and at the same time hold the 8mm bolt in place. It will take a good amount of force to initally break the bolt loose.

19) Remove the upper strut tower mount, and the accordion shaped cover. Also remove the lower spring pad if you did not purchase a new one. If you wish to purchase a new one, the part number is 31-33-1-096-664 and it goes for ~$6.00. I would HIGHLY recommend replacing these.

20) Replace the new spring and new strut in the reverse order. Be VERY careful as to making sure when you loosen the spring, that it sits correctly on the spring pad and lower spring perch. Also keep an eye out for the upper mount, There is a special point on that where the spring should be seated.

21) Replace cartridge back in the car.

22) Reverse the order to install completely.

HTH

PS - If you have questions, e-mail H8LUUZN instead of me.;)

[DDB]

Great writeup. I'm pretty sure those are the same instructions I got from Tej when I did my suspension job. They were tremendously helpful.

I found the rear removal and replacement to be easier than the front. We got really hung up replacing the caliper.

~ DDB

[vietsb]

Ah, so you were mainly giving Chris crap? :thumbup:

What's the latest word on the Cup Kit? Still backordered?

[Ågent99]

Hey, I gots pics to go wid dem werds, doooood! :rofl:

Just gots to puts thems all together 'n crap 'n stuff......

Chris :cry:

[vietsb]

Burn'em to CD this weekend and I can give them the "bmwdiy.info" treatment and then have Mola suck them up as well. Ah, that's work for me.:thumbdwn: Maybe we should just badger you instead till you do it.:dunno:

[Ågent99]

I deserve to be badgered...I mean I am just "willy nilly" deleting threads over in the 5er forum is all.... :(

Chris :eeps:

[vietsb]

Hehe.

At least it was someone we all know and love. :)

Plus, it wasn't quite a POOF! deletion like we've seen in the past...

[Greg S.]

If you need more pictures I'll volunteer my car as a subject. I pains me to make this offer but for the good of the board I'll do it. Just let me know when and I'll pick up the H&R's and Koni's.

Greg S.

[vietsb]

Hehe. You mean you want MY H&R's + Koni's, or some new components??? Of course, mine are practically new. :D

Hmmm, our cars are getting closer every day...

[Greg S.]

In the interest diversity I'll have to get coil-overs. We're twins until you open the hood.

[BillP]

Viet, I have ~100 detailed photos from my shock/strut/spring install if you want to try and assemble this into an illustrated set of instructions.


Bill

[Ågent99]

Ditto, Viet...I have the same as Bill since we took them of his car and I planned to write something up but just never had the time.

Chris

[Rick-97]

Check out: www.beisansystems.com/procedures/front_struts_procedure.htm

Has anyone gotten around the use/purchase of the special strut nut socket tool used to remove the upper strut nut?

[Ågent99]

bump