[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I did my coilover install and found it odd that the front strut gasket was mounted onto a kindof metal plate.

I look on real oem and fcp euro and all I can find is the paper gasket by itself with no metal spacer looking thing.

Can anyone confirm the only thing between the strut mount and the front engine bay strut cutout is only a paper gasket? Which would mean someone installed a spacer before?

I can't take pics now but I will go back in there this week end to remove it. Just wanted confirmation now if possible. Car is a 2011 335is. Maybe this explains why my car had a odd looking fender gap at the front on stock suspension... maybe for winter driving?

[PerfectAce]

I think those "spacers" are actually reinforcement plates installed at the factory as part of a rough road package to prevent deformation of the strut tower.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by PerfectAce

I think those "spacers" are actually reinforcement plates installed at the factory as part of a rough road package to prevent deformation of the strut tower.

Wouldn't they show up in real oem though?

I'll see if I can find a PN on them this weekend.

I really hope I can have enough wiggle room with the struts without having to loosen control arms.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by PerfectAce

I think those "spacers" are actually reinforcement plates installed at the factory as part of a rough road package to prevent deformation of the strut tower.

Think I found it... number 6 but it's greyed out and not showing a PN...

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=31_1224

[PerfectAce]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Wouldn't they show up in real oem though?

You would think so. But people have been finding these things for years when replacing struts and thinking, "WTF is this?"

Check out this link: http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E9...absorbers_rear

It's for a euro spec e90 320d, but the point is that it identifies the part as being included with the "poor road package" (option code S815A.) It shows the part number being 31306779671.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by PerfectAce

You would think so. But people have been finding these things for years when replacing struts and thinking, "WTF is this?"

Check out this link: http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E9...absorbers_rear

It's for a euro spec e90 320d, but the point is that it identifies the part as being included with the "poor road package" (option code S815A.) It shows the part number being 31306779671.

I tried to drop my strut without loosening control arms and wouldn't go down. So I said eh f it.

But I could see the washer from the engine bay strut dome. It is like 2mm thick + a paper gasket. Doesn't look like what you linked.

I did read in another thread a guy said BMW did some with paper gasket and others with that metal black painted one but mine has both.

Oh well I guess I'll leave it like that for now.

[Tambohamilton]

A bit of a revival... @TMN, what is the part number for your strut mounts in realoem? And does your car have SE suspension, or sport/Msport?

From info in this handy thread:
https://www.e90-forum.de/index.php?t...-e9x/&4f3b3dbc

It seems like some cars with SE suspension (my 2007 330d included) have M-sport top mounts, which actually are a little lower profile than the normal non-sport top mounts. Now the normal top mounts are also aluminium whereas the sport ones are steel bodied, so I guess the sport mounts are specced on heavier cars which need stronger/stiffer mounts...

Long story short, those little steel discs which seem to have no part number are just spacers for cars which need the strength of sport top mounts, but want the standard SE ride height/suspension travel etc.

The only other plausible explanation I've heard is that they're reinforcement plates, but that is hard for me to believe, since they don't spread the load away from the centre of the shock tower any further than the top mount itself. There are reinforcement parts available for the rough road package (as seen in realoem), but these thin discs in our cars are not the same!

I hadn't realised that sport and non-sport top mounts (and their non-oem, pattern-part equivalents) were different from one-another, so it seems I've put non-sport top mounts in my car, which is actually not correct (even though it has non-sport suspension). I also put the thin spacers back in, so the car is now riding very slightly higher than it should.

From the above thread, I'll either replace with sport top mounts and lose the spacer for a little drop, or go with the Xd top mounts (maybe with spacer) for some more drop. I don't care much for the 'stance' of the car, but the FSD shocks really make it awkward to load the front end into a turn...something I hadn't thought of when I bought them.