Lan-suspension new shock absorbers and springs front and rear

deQuincey

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after realizing that not only the ride might be improved, but that also the aesthetics is not so good:



so a voice inside is saying: change the springs !

i am preparing myself for this task, first thing it has been getting a set of Carl Nelson springs from Gary, thanks Gary !

then i got all the rubbers and bits from BMW dealer, i made a comparison with Walloth&Nesch, and it was only 10 euro less, in addition that noone knows were the parts from W&N come from (usually the same source than BMW but lost of them are reproductions made in india of the worst possible quality)


rear

front
 
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deQuincey

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first problem

the question that i am facing is how to remove the front shock tower nut, it is something that i will do later, when the whole tower is out from the car, but i am trying to get myself prepared for it

the setup seems to be a little odd, it has the standard springs and bilsteins B6 right now:



the nut is M18, that needs a 27mm tool, but it needs to be undone while blocking the inside shock rod, no way:



i need to have access to the inner part through the 27mm hexagonal vase: i cut a vase and made two parallel faces to hold it with another tool, but it is so profound that i can not hold it





it is not a good way, i am figuring out another way, but, anyone knows how to solve this ?
 
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JFENG

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Big strut nut

Before I had power tools I made a special wrench by cutting off the drive end of a six point socket and welding on a handle (long) to the outside of the socket. The open end that you cut off provides easy access to the inner rod.

Now that I have a powerful pneumatic impact gun, its sufficient to apply a light restriction to the shock tube via a strap wrench and 'power ' the big nut off. If I had to pick one, I'd make just the wrench S it also. Eases instAllayion of the new parts.
 

Stevehose

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If you don't have them already, consider getting the strut "guide suport" mounts. Pricey, but depending on how old yours are you may want to replace them both while in there.

http://www.bmwpartsweb.com/Part-Number/Product-Detail__31331101663_GEN_E095124A.aspx

You may be able to find them less expensive in Europe.

Part number 31331101663

And like Bfeng says, the general consensus is an air impact wrench will pop them loose if you don't have a specific tool.
 

DerSchwede

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Be careful with the air impact wrench. I've seen that provoking the rod inside the Bilstein shock absorber come loose! Since more than 10 years I hence always use a open hex with a custom handle welded on to it when doing this (like descibed by bfeng)
 

deQuincey

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Be careful with the air impact wrench. I've seen that provoking the rod inside the Bilstein shock absorber come loose! Since more than 10 years I hence always use a open hex with a custom handle welded on to it when doing this (like descibed by bfeng)

good, the external hex is ok, but what do you use for the odd shape of the shock rod ? in my case it is 11mm on the two paralell faces, and diameter 15 on the rod
 

HB Chris

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Don't let this happen to you, I used an impact gun with not enough torque and the shaft unscrewed as discussed above. This is the HD in my NK sedan. Bilstein fixed it for me no charge, just a 90 minute drive from home.
 

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Henrik

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Here are pictures of the tool I made, I welded an old wrench on top of the 27 mm socket as a grip. You must mill or drill out the top of the 27mm socket to get room for the 11mm socket.
 

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deQuincey

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Here are pictures of the tool I made, I welded an old wrench on top of the 27 mm socket as a grip. You must mill or drill out the top of the 27mm socket to get room for the 11mm socket.

thanks, yes this will be the way to go, but instead of welding, i will probably cut the top of the 27mm socket and then make two parallel faces to use a conventional wrench
 

HB Chris

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deQ,

Take strut mounts out and tap out existing bolts. Camber plates are marked L and R. Place camber plate on top of strut mount, make sure bolts pointing upwards are now further towards outside of fender, this pushes strut mount towards engine. Easy once you have them out and look at them.
 

deQuincey

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here it comes a question about camber,
if i understand well when you cut the springs you will move the camber towards negative, so the top of the tyre would fall inwards the wheel well

this will produce less risk of touching the inner fender lip

so why are you using those negative camber plates ? to have a more negative camber and going more inside the fender so more far away from the fender lip ?

is this really needed ? isnt it too much ?

i do not mean to build a rally car... but i do not want to roll my fenders neither

thanks for your help
 

DerSchwede

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I wouldn't do the camber plates on a car used for cruisung and normal driving. And you have the std rims with 195/70 tires - plenty of space. Normally the car becomes less stable when braking hard as well... But it's up to the personal taste.

Cheers
A
 
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