Damaged suspension cover ?

Recently I just checked the bottom of my car and found this. It looks like suspension rod is supposed to be covered with something like sponge. However it seems to be damaged by age. The rod still looks shiny so that is good news. How bad is this if I don't replace the cover ? It seems hard to replace it.

Looks like an old bump stop. It probably won't rust, but you may be more prone to bottoming out.

jhkim:
See item# 9 in the following link

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...28&hg=31&fg=10

Originally Posted by jhkim

The rod still looks shiny so that is good news.

This means nothing more than that the piston rod chrome hasn't flaked or pitted. It does not mean the damper it's connected to is still good.

Originally Posted by jhkim

How bad is this if I don't replace the cover?

Your ride quality won't be what it's supposed to be without it.
To replace the bump stop requires dissembling the strut a bit. By the looks of the wear shown in the pic, the front end could probably use some TLC all together. The stops normally don't get pulverized like that unless the dampers have been completely neglected for some time.

Originally Posted by Radian

The stops normally don't get pulverized like that unless the dampers have been completely neglected for some time.

this

Thanks for the link ! The name of it is "additional shock absorber". Then it means that it absorb less shocks then before. It seems like it is hard to replace them Good to know the name of it at least. Lots of remaining works for the car. Today it failed smog test.

yes to replace it requires removal and disassembly of the front strut. you may like to get a specialist to inspect the shocks and replace these at the same time, as there will be no further labour cost to do this.

its your car, but i would focus on getting it to pass smog first.