Im looking for an adviser, some one to help me change out springs, rear sway bar, and front and rear endlinks. any one interested?

 

About to do this job myself. Are any of the parts not reusable? (especially bolts)

 

all parts are reusable, better watch out for the pinch bolt. You will also need the 21mm specialty socket and the spreader is a good idea.

 

About ready to tackle it, any gaskets or bushing I should replace? Using Alta Lowering Springs and I'm at 100K! Thanks! Also do I have to cut the bump stops?

 

You might want to replace your sway bar's bushings, considering that it might "squeak" if you dont, also make sure you put grease inside the bushing before setting the sway bar in. You have to be extra careful with that pinch bolt on the front struts. If you're at 100K I wouldn't be surprised if they break, but good luck!

Also, I didnt have to break my bump stops and my ride feels the way it should, but again it all depends on your springs. My TEIN S-tech's came with a chart on which bump stops to cut on what car. You might want to consult that with ALTA or unless someone else here knows.

 

Well I will replace the Swaybar bushing for sure because the last thing I want right now is another squeak! Pretty sure the previous owner had it dropped because there are already ProMini Adjustable Control Arms on the rear. What happens if the pinch bolt breaks? Is there a way to do it where there isn't so much tension on it? The springs are supposed to be 1" in the front and 1.25" in the rear so not too sure on how much to cut but I will contact Alta! Thanks for the tip on the grease as well!

 

I just spent the last 2 evenings trying to remove one strut on my stock '07 S (the other is still waiting for me - putting in Ireland fixed camber plates). Followed the instructions at the beginning of this thread. But when I got to the part about the R56 front struts will pull free (of the steering knuckle) without compressing the spring - it was no-go. Everything was loose and the strut would slide out to within an inch of coming out. Then no more. I even tried unbolting the lower ball joint, still not enough drop. Finally I resorted to the "stick and jack" compression of the spring that is described for the R53. That worked but to reassemble the strut that way is kind of scary as it was tough to hold the stick and lower the jack at the same time.... Any ideas of what I missed? Or have other R56 owners had this problem?

BTY - The impact wrench works well to loosen the strut bolt and the sparkplug socket works great with a 6mm allen wrench for the rest of the removal and assembly. As for the flex in the allen wrench, I just stuck a 6 mm box wrench on it. That also allowed more leverage...all great ideas.

As for the Ireland camber plates - they will raise the car a little less than 1/4 inch for the stock suspension.

 

so let me get this straight, the top assembly of the strut has no tq figure?

so with the bmw special tool, you tighten it as far it goes?


Drew-

 

You can't get much torque when you are holding it back with a 6mm allen wrench. Once it is snug, I found that you could tighten it a little further without the allen wrench. As someone said earlier in this thread, don't over tighten (with a impact wrench) as you could snap the stud off. And forget the special tool, the sparkplug socket with the hex on top works just fine (see earlier).

 

hey guys, i just finished my install but sorta ran into a problem.

after the h-sport springs install, the front driver side makes popping noises, as if the spring itself is bumping itself.

so i checked the top of the strut mount, where you pop the cap off to reveal the hex nut, the entire rubber assembly is noticeably higher than the passenger side.

everything is tightened down with correct tq measure and the spring is also seated properly.

i am baffled here, help?


Drew-

 

The only thing that come to my mind is that one of your springs isn't set in the seat or hat correctly. Even if you make sure to place the end of the coil at the correct stop point in the seat, there is a tendency to turn the spring while tightening the top nut on the strut shaft.

Have you measured both sides to see if one side is higher than the other? Measure from the top middle of each fender to the ground and note the difference. You may have to go back and reset one of your coils.

Chad

 

i just took the driver's side apart and reinstalled everything, torqued everything up with load put on the suspension and the problem did not go away.

I am leaning towards putting the stock spring back on that side just to see if the issue is with the springs :(

such a pain in the *** to take the strut off and doing all this work to find out i have to repeat this process over again...

 

Any chance of posting pictures of the left and right side? Another potential cause may be that the top spring plate camber plate bearing has hung up on the strut shaft and did not get properly seated before you torqued it. How did you assemble it? Off the car with spring compressors?

 

I suspect one strut is not seated all the way down in the tube that's secured by the pinch bolt.

 

I currently have the strut off to put the OEM springs back on so i couldn't get any picture.. but honestly, I couldn't find any faults.

all i can say is, when assembled and the car on the ground, the top of the strut where the plastic cap is rises about half an inch above compare to passenger's side.

and yeah, I took the strut off and used combination of buddy-method/spring compressors to get it on.


the strut was seated all the way down and the pinch bolt was correctly through the hole and tightened down..


just curious, if I put the stock springs back on and the problem goes away, it HAS to be the springs right? maybe sagging or collapsed springs?


Drew-

 

I would check that a piece of the wheel well liner didn't get caught up in the assembly. It seems really strange that the rubber part of the camber plate is high on the one side. It would seem that if both plates are seated in the tower correctly then the plates should be at the same height. Let us know how it goes.

 

ok, so I just finished putting back on the stock spring on the problem side and the problem is still there.

so now, it's either my installation was fault or some other stock part has been damaged during installation or something..

I looked closely at the difference of the two sides to find the problem and I can't seem to find out..

I'll tackle it one more time tomorrow

 

It sounds like the camber plate is somehow become damaged. The camber plate is the piece at the top with the rubber surrounding the bearing, nut that holds the top of the strut and the plastic cap at the top (just making sure we are both referring to the same piece). Did you push on that piece or clamp the spring compressor to it and maybe now it is bent or the rubber is damaged? Just guessing. But I would look at the two of those side by side. The should look like this:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ustment-2.html

Look at post #44, there are some good pictures to compare to. But then again, that should be how your "good side" looks. But each of them should be flat on the top with the 3 stud sticking straight up.

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but it would be good to see some pictures of the strut assembly, especially of the top and before it is installed. Or just pictures of just the top of both struts the way it is now. It is hard to help without seeing it.

 

thanks Eddie, I'll take some pictures in following hours and post it asap.

 

Awesome Step by Step write. Unfortunately I know My limitations and will opt for adjustable Coil-Overs and have them installed......

 

I have a 7/8 modified socket I used for the removal of a strut/spring on a vw gti.
Is the 7/8 the same as the 21mm? My tool kit only goes up to 19mm.

 

7/8" equates to 22.23mm.

 

" h-sport springs install, the front driver side makes popping noises"
I have the same problem!!
have you fit it yet? what wrong with it?
need help it getting worst

 

The one line "remove pinch bolt" can be a bit faster to read than to do. I tried to get it out carefully. After wasting time trying not to snap it, I snapped it. My buddy made fun of me and I said, you try the other one...he snapped it. *Not so smart now, is he...(If it looks bad, just heat the thing, don't bother with anything else.)

Anyway, if you have no torch or are reading this too late to try that, it isn't bad really. Just remove the entire strut assembly. Two nuts on the joints, a bunch of hammer whacks, one castle nut and it is out.

The trick is just to drill it out clean, and use a 3" hardened bolt with a lock nut. The rear facing half has no threads, so just drill out the front half. Remember to go really slowly with a sharp bit. Once it starts making tinsel, keep that speed. No lube (except maybe water) and drill it out. Once I went to the store to get the bits, it took less than 10 minutes to drill out. I had a torch so I cut the bolt in half, and that probably made it easier to get the non-threaded half out.

The bits are still sharp as new. Just go slowly. Remember, once you heat a bit by spinning too fast, it is done, even sharpening it may never make it right again since the temper could be gone. A good bit when sharp will drill for hours if it doesn't get hot.

Once reamed out, just put the bolt in (opposite way for potential clearance issues) and tighten. No more messing around with it. Next time you can just snap and pull if needed.

I also used a spark plug wrench and a cresent for part of the install, but for the last bit a 21mm deep socket and a big vise grip got it tight.

 

The bearing can punch through the encasement without cracking the rubber up top; replace the guide support. To verify, turn the guide support upside down and compare with the other support for thickness, it will show signs of separation around the bearing sleeve edges on the bottom. Also, the early model (R53/50) guide support rubber encasement is flat on top, and the bearing rides a little higher; the later version for the same model (R53/50 etc.), is dished with a conical neck around the bearing, you could have a different guide support version between sides if it has seen repair before.