What about that bolt under the rain tray though? Did you have to remove the rain tray to get access to that bolt? I don't think my torque wrench will fit under there.

 

*delete*

 

Is there a way to release the lower part of the front strut without a spreader tool? Thanks in advance

 

Screwdriver and some
Force is how we did it

 

Thanks! I was able to use a 1/4 socket and WD-40

Any tips on getting the top nut off without air tools?

 

The one that holds the strut assembly together? We used an air gun, makes life easy. You can rent one from autozone for a couple bucks and when you return it they'll give you your money back.

 

My neighbor let me borrow an impact driver. I definitely need to get one.

Thanks for the advice on borrowing tools from autozone.

 

I'm really having a tough time removing the hub from the strut. I removed the upper link bolt, the pinch bolt is removed, and I have a spreader in the pinch hub gap. I can twist the strut in the hub a bit, but it does not want to slide down. The only issue I could think of is that I only have the driver side jacked on stands. I'm thinking the car sitting on an angle may be causing the hub to bind with the strut. Any thoughts?

 

Wd-40

 

Brute force, it is naturally tough, you aren't doing anything wrong.


On another note for those of you that have paid to get an install done rather than do it yourself; how much did it cost?

 

A hundred bucks per corner is about the going price around here. I just had mine done last month, but I also installed the JCW BBK, NM RSB and end links, and NM adjustable rear control arms so my cost would be considerably different. When I was just contemplating the springs the $100 per corner was the quote.

 

I was ready to get my car towed somewhere on Saturday, but I stumbled across a method that made sliding the strut out of the hub much easier. I figured I'd share. So after I removed the sway bar link bolt, the pinch bolt and put a spreader in the pinch hub, I mounted the wheel back on with a few lug nuts. I then wiggled the wheel until I felt the hub drop on the strut. After removing the wheel, I was able to push the hub down the rest of the way and angle it away from the strut as my dad pulled the strut to the side. Just a tip when pushing the hub down: what seemed to work best was grabbing the rotor by the top and bottom, and pushing in/towards the car at the top and out/away from the car at the bottom, all while pushing downward.

Another mistake I made was jacking up one side of the car (passenger/driver side). That seemed to impact the ease of getting the hub to pull down at the right angle. So either put the entire car up on stands, or just the front or rear.

 

I used an impact gun and wasn't able to screw the nut all the way down. I ended up gripping the shaft and hand tightening the nut, which I'm a bit nervous about. Did you release the spring compressor to give it some resistance before using the air gun?

 

As in you put the lowering sprigs on and you are reassembling the strut assembly? And thanks for the advice on the punch bolt hub part. We just ruined a couple of screwdrivers and had three guys muscling it out... Not ideal lol

 

Yes, the top nut on the strut assembly. I actually just found a 9mm socket that fit inside a 19mm socket for the strut nut. I used a hand driver with a small shaft to go through the hole in the 19mm socket. I feel better now, I wasn't sure I tightened it all the way before.

And glad that helped with the pinch hub. It was torture getting the strut out.

 

I don't recall having to mess with the assembly to tighten the nut though but as long as it works lol

 

I installed the pss10 on my f56! Love them! Install was easy

 

Bringing this old thread back up... it's got some useful info, and hopefully someone finds my experience useful too. Just finished installing ST coilovers (same kit as KW v1 and JCW Sport). My car previously had NM springs, installed by a shop on my OEM Sport Suspension struts.

Install was simple, aside from 2 issues. First and biggest issue was removing the top hat from the strut. The rear wasn't too bad. The front... well I think the shop that did my springs zipped that nut back on with an impact. It was TIGHT. And even once loosened, there's some pretty strong thread lock or something in there. That nut doesn't want to come off. And the BMW engineers freaking buried it in that aluminum mount. An offset box wrench will not fit in there. You need a pass-thru socket. A buddy had this, and it kinda worked:





...but it was so deep that the 6mm allen key had to go in the long way, and it flexed too much. I actually broke one of these:



THIS is what got the job done. I would say it's a must-have for suspension work on the f56. Crescent X6 pass-thru socket set. Get the one with metric and standard. Maybe other brands would work the same, but this was perfect for me.



https://smile.amazon.com/Crescent-CX...ds=crescent+x6

This also worked great on the rear lower shock bolt, which was something like a 19mm star. One of the standard sizes was the best fit on there. That with a breaker bar got that right off. Anyway, back to the front top hat...

Also need these- 6mm front, 5mm back I believe:



And then you gotta get the nut tight on the ST. For some terrible reason, that uses a 9mm (I think) nut on the shaft, rather than an internal hex (allen) like the OEM strut. So you need a tiny nut driver that fits inside your Crescent socket. Well I had this, and it worked great. Probably a 1/4 size ratchet would work too.



https://smile.amazon.com/TEKTON-2938...ini+socket+set


Ok, so the second major challenge- getting the front struts out of the lower carriers. I tried the technique above- putting the wheel back on and jiggling. Didn't work for me. What did work: start with WD-40 for sure. I had floor jacks on each side of the car behind the front wheels. I put a jack stand under the strut, then slowly lowered one side, so that the *** of the strut poking thru the carrier contacted the tip of the U of the jack stand. Took it a little lower... pops out. I guess the other smarter way would be to have the car on jack stands, and use a floor jack to raise UP the bottom of the strut. Use a chuck of wood or something so it's just on the strut, not the carrier. Either way... So then it's loose... gotta loosen the top bolts so you get enough play to have it at the right angle (no need to remove the rain gutter, just use an open-ended wrench). And twist the strut back and forth... while putting all my weight down on the brake rotor and swearing. Eventually it wiggled out of there. Putting it back together wasn't that much easier... lifting the strut, bolted to the carrier, plus brake, axle, etc. with one hand... then catching a few threads on the top bolts... you know, a jack under it all probably would have made that a snap. Next time.

Edit- I guess there is such thing as a "strut nut socket". ECS has it, for one. I'd have that on hand too. Probably works when working on a factory-fresh car. I don't think would have worked on my previously-wrenched upon struts though (flexy little allen key being the weak point). But for the $14, good to have on hand.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...3046sch01a-02/

I think that's all I got. Hope that helps someone. Get that Crescent X6. It's mandatory. Great tool anyway.

 

I take it you need spring compressors for the front, but not the rear. Do you need any torx sockets or drivers please?

 

You absolutely need these:

 

The X6 sockets get a great grip on those rear lower strut bolts too.

 

 

Tools for DDC struts in another post I made!!

 

Thanks

 

First I want to say thanks for all the good info here, I was able to do the fronts in about 2 1/2 hours with all this info. The 2nd corner I did an hour and probably could have done it in 45 mins with some help. Now that the fronts are done I'm moving onto the rear and I can't find the trq settings/amount for the rear upper struts, can anyone help me out? Since they took down TiS I havent been able to find a site with them on it.