[thegrinchboy]

Just processed the advance shock replacement with Koni. Won't get here until Friday EOD per UPS. I am guessing that your Dinan installer probably has something in stock as opposed to having to pay 1/2 up front first for the replacement.

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by thegrinchboy

Processed the advance shock replacement with Koni. Not so advanced or priority... Won't get here until Friday EOD per UPS. I am guessing that your Dinan installer probably has something in stock.

Are you shipping your blown shock back to them? I'd be very interested to hear what they say if they do an autopsy.

[thegrinchboy]

Originally Posted by ajsalida

Are you shipping your blown shock back to them? I'd be very interested to hear what they say if they do an autopsy.

Yes. I will definitely post the prognosis once I get that feedback from Koni. They are suppose to refund the $ if/when/once they determine that the shocked failed upon warranty conditions.

[nrrm1127]

New parts are being shipped out from Dinan in CA to my installer. There is no cost to me as both labor and parts are covered under Dinan's OEM matching 4 yr/50k mile warranty.

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by nrrm1127

New parts are being shipped out from Dinan in CA to my installer. There is no cost to me as both labor and parts are covered under Dinan's OEM matching 4 yr/50k mile warranty.

If it were me I'd be inclined to ask your installer, in whatever manner you please, if he is absolutely certain these are being installed correctly. And if he says they are get him to explain how it is that shocks can chew up perfectly good mounts.

[nrrm1127]

Spoke with the shop today, they've had an open dialogue the last couple of days to try and get to the bottom of this. Parts will be shipped out on Monday.

Originally Posted by ajsalida

If it were me I'd be inclined to ask your installer, in whatever manner you please, if he is absolutely certain these are being installed correctly. And if he says they are get him to explain how it is that shocks can chew up perfectly good mounts.

[nrrm1127]

UPDATE #2: Just got off the phone with Dinan. They're both surprised and genuinely concerned as to why this is happening, but there is one constant with the issues I've been having with my rear suspension. Both shocks are weeping fluid. There are two versions of the Koni Yellows available in Dinan kits: One shock has a hollow rod (the chrome rod extending from the yellow shock body) with a thin adjustment rod coming up through the center and the other has a solid rod with alternative adjustment location. The hollow rod shocks appear to have been leaking (Dinan describes it as "weeping") hydraulic fluid onto the rubber portion of the rear shock mount and have caused it to disintegrate completely - resulting in a failed shock mount. These solid rod versions should hopefully fix the issue. My vehicle is the first car to have any issue of this magnitude with a Dinan suspension kit. Will keep you all updated as I get more details.

[luckyu]

Orb commented a while ago that the Dinan mounts don't allow the rear shock to change its angle w.r.t. the car body. The shock wants to move a little as the suspension compresses and rebounds.

If it's severe, preventing the shock from moving can cause stress on the seal, and additional friction in the working of the shock.

The $64,000 question is whether it's enough stress to matter. But, it might be one factor in what's happening in your case. An unusual geometry back there, such as a slammed vehicle, can exacerbate these problems but Dinan would be on top of that. They're not going to be the first ones to condemn their own shock mount, though.

[nrrm1127]

Right, I suppose only time will tell. Dinan is genuinely concerned and have apparently brought Koni in on this as we could be dealing with a defective shock design as well. No doubt Dinan will not admit fault first. I shall update as I get more info.

Originally Posted by luckyu

Orb commented a while ago that the Dinan mounts don't allow the rear shock to change its angle w.r.t. the car body. The shock wants to move a little as the suspension compresses and rebounds.

If it's severe, preventing the shock from moving can cause stress on the seal, and additional friction in the working of the shock.

The $64,000 question is whether it's enough stress to matter. But, it might be one factor in what's happening in your case. An unusual geometry back there, such as a slammed vehicle, can exacerbate these problems but Dinan would be on top of that. They're not going to be the first ones to condemn their own shock mount, though.

[thegrinchboy]

Definitely update. This should be interesting. BTW my failed shock has a solid center rod.

[nrrm1127]

Originally Posted by thegrinchboy

Definitely update. This should be interesting. BTW my failed shock has a solid center rod.

Well in our two cases the shock internals are different, I'll reserve judgment unless this happens again. If it does I'm going to do my best to force Dinan to fly out a tech from CA to look at the car. Fingers crossed that this does the trick.

[ajsalida]

Do you know if Koni does the mod to make it top adjust or is that Dinan? TC Kline also used to sell rear koni yellows modified for top adjust, my understanding was they did that themselves (or paid someone to) and was not a Koni product.

I used to know a guy who had a business that did this for Bilsteins, which were not originally adjustable. Replacing the standard rod with a hollow rod and adjuster hardware is not trivial.

[nrrm1127]

@ajsalida - I was told that Koni does it on behalf of Dinan. However, it very well could be Dinan, but it was my understanding in talking with them that Koni modified the shock on their behalf.

[nrrm1127]

UPDATE #3: Car will be ready no later than Wednesday afternoon. According to my indy installer (Motorworks West - Wyckoff, NJ), E90s have a tendency to go through rear shocks (he discussed with me about the high rate of rear shock failure he's dealt with on stock E90s). Has anyone else experienced persistent shock failure on a stock suspension?

[nrrm1127]

UPDATE #4: Car has been fixed and is back with me. Good news is it feels like it should've felt two years ago when I first had this suspension installed.

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by nrrm1127

UPDATE #4: Car has been fixed and is back with me. Good news is it feels like it should've felt two years ago when I first had this suspension installed.

So was there installer error after all? If it were just the shocks leaking over time and then rotting the mounts, that would feel OK for a while I would think.

Also what was the post mortem on the failing custom top-adjust Konis? I would like to pick up a pair of these at some point.

Glad you got this sorted out.

[nrrm1127]

Well after breaking down the shock it seems the adjustment valves failed and were leaking fluid. MWW (my indy shop) chose not to replace everything that the dealer installed initially as both visually and physically nothing seemed to indicate any issues until components started to fail one at a time (this was winter 2012 into summer 2012). This all traced back to a botched install by a supposedly "authorized" Dinan installer (Pace/Greenwich BMW Service in Port Chester, NY) who botched the job (October 2011 was the original install date). My indy mechanic only replaced what appeared to be broken or malfunctioning last year (which seems both rational and understandable). Now we've basically started over from scratch with different shocks (explained in earlier post... solid rod version) and new upper and lower mounts and bump stops so everything should hopefully be good from here on out. I'll find out this weekend as I take the car up to Montreal, QC for a small vacation (and a lap of the F1 circuit ).

Originally Posted by ajsalida

So was there installer error after all? If it were just the shocks leaking over time and then rotting the mounts, that would feel OK for a while I would think.

Also what was the post mortem on the failing custom top-adjust Konis? I would like to pick up a pair of these at some point.

Glad you got this sorted out.

[ajsalida]

Huh, well you must be thrilled with it now after all this. Did you get the feeling the top adjust were a flawed design? I noticed you can't get these anymore through TC Kline last time I looked.

[nrrm1127]

@ajsalida, I think it's a flawed design for sure. Even when the old shocks weren't broken they rode worse than these new alternative Konis. Seomthing most definitely is up with these shocks.

[ajsalida]

Originally Posted by nrrm1127

@ajsalida, I think it's a flawed design for sure. Even when the old shocks weren't broken they rode worse than these new alternative Konis. Seomthing most definitely is up with these shocks.

OK well thanks for the feedback, this is the first time I've seen anyone has actually come out and said that, though I suspected something. I guess no top adjust rear Konis for my cars.

[thegrinchboy]

FYI: Just received the diagnosis from Koni: "Lost gas pressure. Scrap"

Koni is processing the refund for my advance replacement rear shock.

[nrrm1127]

Originally Posted by thegrinchboy

FYI: Just received the diagnosis from Koni: "Lost gas pressure. Scrap"

Koni is processing the refund for my advance replacement rear shock.

Glad to hear they are refunding you.