New Toys Arrived :)

[ATF]

As some of you may well know, I was looking into a new suspension for ye ol ti.

I ordered a Bilstein BTS and ended up with Bilstein Sports and H&R Sports. I'm not gonna complain


Shot with DSC-H1 at 2007-07-13


Shot with DSC-H1 at 2007-07-13

Also that came today were my E46 M3 rear shock mounts, M-Roadster rear shock mount reinforcement plates, rear shock mount gaskets, 3.2L M3 front shock tower reinforcement plates andddd front strut bearing gaskets.

I've read in almost every Bilstein Sport Suspension related thread that you DO NOT use any of the bump stops (front or rear). Now my new question, probably silly but very important. I'm looking over RealOEM diagrams of both the rear and front suspensions.

Will I need to, or is it a good idea to replace the spring pads?
Rear:
14 SPRING PAD UPPER 2 33531128610 $6.48
15 SPRING PAD 7,5MM 2 33531136386 $6.25
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...59&hg=33&fg=45

Front:
09 SPRING PAD UPPER 3MM 2 31331128523 $4.80
13 SPRING PAD LOWER 2 31331090479 $3.79
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...87&hg=31&fg=10

Furthermore, the rear spring pads have 3 different options, and I haven't taken a look at my springs yet to see which color I have, but I'm assuming the 7.5mm came on the actives and the others were on the Sport or Club Sport? I just have to plan on making a trip over to the service center to pickup those parts if they're required for the install (I imagine metal on metal isn't a good idea).
Another reason why I'm asking is, if you search part "SIKF E36 6/92" on bavauto, it specifies that those parts aren't needed when going with sports, but I think that was more directed towards the bump stops. Another thing, should I zip tie the bottom of the boots on the front struts?

[mohaughn]

They are little rubber pads. Unless one of them is damaged you can re-use them and you do not have to replace them. If you want to lower the ass end a little bit you can get the 5mm pads.

The ones I pulled out where in good enough shape that if I hadn't switched to the smaller pad I would have re-used them.

[DocDuvi]

those look like H&R race to me my sports are purple but cool setup!! nontheless!!

[ATF]

Originally Posted by DocDuvi

those look like H&R race to me my sports are purple but cool setup!! nontheless!!

H&R Site says they're Sports

Sport Spring E36 Compact 1.4 1.0 29970
Race Spring E36 Compact 2.2 1.2 29593

Thanks for the concern though! And the comments. I cannot wait to get these on this sunday

[DocDuvi]

awesome I have my srping sitting at home 2!! cant wait to put em on!!

[elfhearse]

Same setup I just put in. I replaced all the spring pads since everything was torn apart. I also changed out #1 "front guide support" on each strut since it has a bearing that could wear...cost ~ $40 each IIRC

[ptarditi]

I'm about to do the suspension on my '95 and starting to do the research. Its my daily driver, won't see the track and won't haul heavy loads (except for me). In other words I don't want it to ride like a truck. The internal d3ebate is H&R vs. Eibach (whick I had on a 325). I am also concerned about which Bilsteins as I had put them on a '70 2002 and it rode like a truck. Kind of funny the other day a fellow employee brought his Saleen in and was talking about the Saleen made shocks and I looked over from changing my motor mounts and noticed that the "Saleen made" shocks were Bilsteins. While you are looking at the underneath check the mounts with only 120k on my car they were complely destroyed.

[PHL]

Will I need to, or is it a good idea to replace the spring pads?

I'd replace the pads, they're not too expensive. When I did my suspension a year ago (same set-up as you, like a lot of others), I found I had a tear in my upper pad in the rear. I simply haven't had time to fix it as of yet. The tear is not too bad, so it's not critical. I might tackle it when I have something to fix in the rear, but I like the idea of doing a job right the first time.

As for the spring pad size, there's a ti owner by tonyyy (?) who has quite a rake to his car. Everytime I see a pic, I think it's a little extreme, but, at the same time, I like it's really aggressive stance.

[ATF]

I swear the dealership is useless here... I called the parts dept directly 4 times over a period of 2 hours to find out if they had spring pads. I finally ended up calling the service desk and got forwarded after a few minutes to some guy who clearly didn't work in parts.

I gave him the part number for a spring pad and he said "we dont carry spring, we'd have to order it". I told him, it's a spring pad... "well we don't have the item number you gave me in stock". Well that was that.. I'm beginning to think they don't have any ti parts in their colossal service center. I should just order my parts from pelican, bavauto and other websites of the kind.

sigh /end_of_venting

[larryn]

If they look okay, you're probably fine to use the old ones.

Thanks a nice present for yourself!!

[StealthBimmer]

Hurry up and get it installed and let us know what you think about it. Nice set up btw! Yeah go to Pelican and look up the part yourself and probably save some $$ too. I guess you will have to wait a few more days...

[ATF]

I need your help guys, I'm planning on doing the install tomorrow, by myself.. arggghhh. My buddy has work so it looks like I'll be flying solo.

I'm going to print out various pages from various DIY's but I can't seem to find any torque specs or exact instructions on the process. The shocks came with what I should torque the nuts to, but the struts' instructions are MIA. Also what do you guys torque your lug nuts to? One last thing, I know that Bilsteins do not require bump stops, but should I remove the bump stop from the factory shock and try to reuse the dust boot? The front strut comes with its own dust boot, but the rear shocks don't have one.

Appreciate it guys, I imagine I'm going to be sweating bullets during the install. And btw, I'm working on a little side project too.. details to come

[ATF]

Ok turns out the Bentley has the torques, so I'm all set there.

My serious concerns now, which I'm afraid I'll have nightmares about!! areeeee...

1. I've found tons of how-to's to replace the RSM, but what about the rear coil springs? Bentley says to remove the axle, I thought i've heard people doing it easily w/o removing the axle? help!

2. Bilstein Rear Shocks need original bump stops or original shock dust boot? Yes no maybe? I know the fronts dont, but that rears look pretty bare!

3. Do I have to remove the rotor to take off the steering arm? I feel like I'm always second guessing the Bentley manual...

4. I still don't understand how the front calipers come off, I guess when I'm down on my hands and knees I'll finally see the full picture?!

Any tips and tricks that you guys have acquired from doing this, please now is the time to share so I can sleep well tonight.

[bullmand]

1. If you're by yourself this might be a little tough. After you disconnect the shock, you can push down on the hub and pry the spring out with a large screwdriver or a prybar. The new ones will just sit right in there with no effort.

2. Use the original stuff. It's just a little rubber disc and a plastic sleeve. It will be obvious how it goes together once you take them off the old ones.

3. No. Just make sure you support the rotor/hub. There are two bolts at the bottom of the strut and one nut/bolt combo on the rotor side of the strut. That's it. Take those three off and you're done. The hardest part of putting it back on is lining up the little locating pin on the hub with the hole in the bottom of the strut. You'll see what I'm talking about when you get in there.

4. You don't need to take the calipers off. Just support them underneath. You also don't need to remove any of the lines or hoses. Just keep everything supported and be careful and it will be fine.

I just did mine a few weeks ago and I just did a Z3 last week. It took me and a friend 2 hours to do all four on my car and 3 hours on the Z3. We had a lift and air tools so it may take longer if you don't have access to that stuff. Good luck.

[ATF]

bullmand,
you may have just saved me a few headaches. I've been reviewing diagrams and pictures of how the strut connects to the rotor (because I'm just that anal in doing things right the first time) and I knew that there must have been an easier way of doing things.

I really appreciate your help, I'd drive down to MD to give you a cold sam summer out of my fridge, but I've got some stuff to install!