Cost: $80 - $300 Time 1.5 hours/side | |
When I saw my Bmw 535i shocks like that and I noticed that my car leaned a lot in high cornering driving, I knew that it was time for a new set of rear bilsteins. Syndromes:
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Procedure (525it PDF procedure from David A. Odom) | |
1. Lift the rear and support it on jacks. From John C. in Ireland: I have an easier and better method of rear shock removal. One you have the large 22mm bolt out of the bottom attachment, measure and cut a length of 10mm mild steel rod to go in the hole, and rest approx three millimetres in from the mouth of the hole. Use the end of this filler rod to seat the centre of a small three-legged gear puller, and arrange the puller's legs around the bottom ring of the shock. It is then easy to tighten up the puller, and wind the shock out of the housing, no damage, no violence, no heat, no acetylene. Having tried all those things, I can vouch for the gear puller!
9. Installation is the reverse of removal. (Strut assembly to trailing arm 22 bolt: 127 Nm - 94ft-lb) Just replaced the rear shocks on my E34 and wanted to pass on a tip. The refurbished unit measured 23" from bottom shock bushing to the top mount surface, and the corresponding distance was 19" on the car. At first I couldn't work out how to lower the trailing arm to get the extra distance- it just wouldn't budge and there was no way the shock unit was going to fit. Then I realised why- the handbrake was on! I released the handbrake and this allowed the trailing arm to drop another few inches. I undid the link to the rear stabiliser bar and this gave a couple more inches to play with. Job done. Thanks to Phillips V.
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Rear shocks on BMW e34