Quote:
Originally Posted by critical05
I just did mine last week and I basically followed the DIY from the 335i. Some items where i ran into issues was the exhaust for the rears, had to remove the hangers and push the exhaust out of the way. There was about 3 points per side to give me enough flexibility.
As for the fronts, I intended to just put the eibach springs in at first. I left the strut brace in place and used an open ended wrench on the one top strut bolt. I held the nut in place with masking tape so It wouldn't drop into the engine compartment since there isn't enough clearance with the strut brace to remove it. I removed the entire strut assembly while in the wheel well, removing thr strut from the lower purch. I read around here about issues with reassembly due to the driveshaft/suspension binding up. Removing the entire assembly, i assume, doesn't require you drop the wheel assembly low enough to bind things up. It turned out to be easier to compress the springs and remove the top hat with the whole assembly out. I rented the spring compressors from Autozone and had no issues.
I ended up getting the new koni's for thr XI on all four corners in the middle of this project. I was reassembling the original struts and used a impact to tighten uo the top strut bolt and shear the threaded portion of the strut rod, i see it as a blessing in disguise.
This is the first time i had done suspension work and recommend a few things:
1) On Koni's, remove the part number sticker, it makes it impossible to insert the strut in the lower purch.
2) there are two little welded nubs on the strut, they align with the split in the lower purch
3) My car only had 25k miles and the strut boots were already hard and splitting. I ordered 4 universal shock boots, i cut them down for the proper height. Once you cut the bumsptops, the original boots do not work. Front and Rear.
4) Something has to be done to the front bumpstops, be it cutting or a different one. When I was finally done, the height from the ground to the wheel well lip was 26.25". Stock is about 26.5". I found that i was riding on the bump stop and had the thing compressed as much as it would go. I ended up cutting the bump stop in situ. The black rubber ring has a steel core and has to be cut off, i used a dremmel. It would be alot quicker when replacing the spring, 2 minutes vs an hour for me. Once i cut the bumpstop it dropped to the ride height that everyone else got, about two finger or 25.25"
reassembling the strut assembly into the car, I inserted the strut into the purch and then lined up the top bolts, i did this by myself and used a small jack on the rotor to help hold the wheel assembly/strut to the needed height.
my two cents and first write-up here. Lots of useful info here.
I just had my alignment done, one week later and they were able to get everything in line except for the camber on the back wheels. I noticed the camber before the install so i assume its fine. Was about a degree. Remember that they recommend 150lbs in the drivers and passenger side while doing the alignment.
|
Nice write up. Is there any recommended OEM replacement bump stop (like M3) here for this application? Also as you found out you NEVER want to use an impact wrench to tighten nuts on top of strut rods. That is a special type of steel that is very strong in compression and extension but does not like any shear forces.