Next up for my '04 R53 will be replacing both the front strut mounts, which with 140,000 miles on the clock have seen better days. There is some tearing in the rubber and it's time to take care of this and cross it off the list.

That said, I can't help to think that while I'm "in there," I should look into replacing the front and rear struts themselves. Ride-wise, everything is tight and feels real good, no complaints; with none of the trademark 'bouncing' that shocks or struts are supposed to exhibit when worn and in need of replacement. But the car has 140k on it, and I've got to think that they must NOT be optimal at this stage of their life, correct? I've read that generally, the recommendation is that struts are supposed to be replaced every 50,000 miles.

I wonder if this could be one of those instances when slow degradation of the struts over time make it impossible to point a finger at the moment they "jumped the shark," and that as soon as I take it out on the road after installing new ones, it will result in that "Ah-Ha" moment, where a huge difference is immediately felt. Or not?

Has anyone else been in this place, where there's no discernible evidence that the struts have degraded, even with somewhat high-mileage on the car, but replaced them anyway?

Interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

Yes as a matter of fact, I am there right now... My 2005 R53 has about 125K. Technically it's my wife's car but she never drives it, doesn't need to, she can walk to work - wish I could do that... anyway back on topic... She likes the slightly softer feel from the dampers. I do not like the softer feel. It is noticeable as we got the car with about 25K on the clock. If you do replace them, you may not FEEL much of a difference but it will be there. I replaced my R50's with Megan Racing adjustable coil overs. It was cheaper than having just the dampers changed out at the time. I was looking at about $200 each for the front dampers and about $150 each for the rears and 5 hours labor at around $100 per hour...

 

How long have you had the car? I'd have a good look at them. My car doesn't bounce too much, but both fronts are blown. If they're of unknown age and you can afford new ones, I'd probably do them while you're in there anyway. No sense in either doing the job twice or paying someone to do it twice. However, if you can't afford them, put them off if everything is tight now. If you do the job once, it'll be easier the second time around - and it's not a terribly difficult job as is unless you run into corrosion/rust issues.

On my e46 the rears went and I had crazy wheel hop. I know at least the fronts are blown as bumps are slightly jarring in the mini.

 

Yes with 140k they are for worn. The biggest thing is that shocks slowly wear over time so they slowly change how they ride and you get use to it. So compared to original it is a bigger difference than you think. You may even pull them off and find that they bind or don't rebound as we often find that even without a ride complaint.

I would suggest going with the Koni FSD's as they ride great and still perform. Also we have a rebate on them right now making them even better.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/koni-fsd-shocks.html

 

The current shocks/struts are original to the car, so even though the car still feels great in the turns and on smooth roads, when I go over a bump or hit a pothole, yes - it's quite jarring, so as with yours, they're most likely toast...

It's a super-easy job; going to do the work myself, and because it's my daily-driver, and I don't track the car, I'm leaning towards the Bilstein B4s, as they're priced right, and by all accounts a bit of an improvement over the OE shocks. That'll bring the suspension back to that "as-new" state, which is fine by me...

I was intrigued by the Koni FSDs, but for every positive write-up I came across, there were just as many folks that didn't like them - very polarizing, and at a price-point that's three-times higher than the "old reliable" B4s, I'm not willing to take that chance.

 

The B4's are a great choice, I put them on Scarlet. I would consider replacing the rear upper strut bushings while you have them off. When I did mine, I noticed they were a bit brittle after 110K, I didn't replace them and noticed a knocking in the rear, thought I had faulty struts, took me a min to realize it was the strut bushings.

 

Are you referring to the complete "Guide Support" (pictured), or just the foam inserts for the steel guide support piece?

 

Once I took it out for a 2nd time, I just replaced both.

 

Can you supply part numbers? RealOEM seems to be confused on the rear strut support stuff...

 

These are the parts I'm talking about, these are just examples, as they do make different types:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...xoC4QwQAvD_BwE

https://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts...ad=47433968292

 

Thanks much, my man!

 

@AoxoMoxoAAoxoMoxoA

While you're "in there" you can examine your ball joints and LCA bushings too (if you haven't already). I replaced mine while doing the struts, and it tightened everything up nicely.

 

Good info.

I planned on replacing the outer ball joints in this go-around, but the inner ball joints and LCA bushings will have to wait for a future sub-frame drop, unless there's alternate method I'm not aware of that doesn't involve dropping the subframe. While I'm a huge fan of Mod MINI's videos, I'm not interested in the Sawzall method of cutting the LCA bushings out...

 

Waymotorworks sells them pre-pressed in! You install his with brackets, and ship your old ones back for a partial refund! That's what I did the first time. Huge, huge, huge +1 on PowerFlex LCABs, you'll notice the front end feels noticeably more nimble, and you'll never have to replace them again.

Once you do that though, if you're anything like me, you'll be disappointed you didn't press them in yourself. I saw someone make up a bolt+washer press system that's super simple that worked wonderfully....and cutting the bushings out isn't too hard. CooperSAZ's thread shows the process nicely, if I remember correctly.

As far as ball joints, Pelican sells the Lemfoerder ones for a great price. I've also read that the powerflex bumpstops are pretty nice...I didn't believe the hype, and when I took everything apart, found that mine were totally chewed up. Been regretting it since.

 

I did my LCA bushings and inner ball joints without completely dropping the sub-frame. I loosened and lowered the sub-frame so that it would not completely drop out. I then un-bolted the inner ball-joints, dropped the outer ball-joints and removed the whole control arm. I used the LCA Bushing tool to remove and replace the LCA bushings. I used a pair of plumbers pliers to grab the lip of the control arm and LCA bushing housing to insert the control arm back into the LCA housing. People will say if I went through all this, why not just drop the whole unit? I could not get the steering knuckle bolt removed, the space was too tight and with my big hands, I could not remove it. If you do it my way, you'll save a little time by not having to undo the steering knuckle and removing the connections to the PS pump. It's not that bad of a job if you have the correct tools. The biggest problem was trying to get the control arm back into the LCA housing, looking at the guy that did the Sawzall method putting the control arm looked easy, did not work for me. Guess I didn't have the leverage, I was on jack stands and not a lift. Once I stopped cursing, it came to me, the control arm has a lip, so I push the CA in as far as I could, opened the jaws of my pliers, grabbed the lip and the back end of the LCA housing, and it popped right in...Of course I used the Poly Bushings.

 

You will definitely notice a difference with new suspension after having 140k on yours. You got some good use out of them. I do hope that our tech articles will come in handy for you during this job and I am here if you have any questions.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

 

Interesting method -- which proves there's definitely more than one way to "skin a cat" as they say...

I came across an interesting video where the CAB bracket was heated with a torch, then the bushing driven out with an air hammer... Seemed to work very well.

Another reference I found stated that to put the new (poly) bushing back in, all you needed to do was to coat the outside with petroleum jelly, then whack it in with a dead-blow hammer...

I say, it's better to go into the job with multiple methods in your knowledge database, and go at it.

 

is the rebate still active 😅

 

I replaced my front an back suspension with Bilstein B4. I not a fan at all. Going to change to something else.