Well I got in a hurry and screwed up again. My son and I were installing Koni FSD's on my R56 and everything was going great. I showed him how on the left and he was doing the right (he never wanted to work on cars before and now that he is an adult he decided to learn). Things went well on the front and I wasn't paying much attention to his efforts on the rear. Unfortunately he torqued the upper bolts before inserting the lower bolt and must not have had it aligned well. He wasn't going to make me think he was a wimp so he muscled the bolt in, only to strip the threads in the aluminum trailing arm.
So what to do now. The trailing arm is $350 and it appears to be a b***ch to replace. I'm think I can drill out the hole in trailing arm to clean it up a bit and then grind a flat spot on the outside of the hole for a bolt and washer. I have access to lots of quality high strength bolts and if necessary can make one in the machine shop at work.
So do you guys think bolting the lower shock mount is a feasible solution?

Not so cheery,
Greg

 

Take a picture of it...
Ill tell you the steps...

 

Easy to do. Ask me how I know. Get a new bolt from the dealer. Go to a shop that can install a helicoil. You will be good as new. Be careful next time.

 

TerryD,
That's what I am doing. Had to pull the trailing arm off because I couldn't insure I would drill the hole out correctly. I took the arm to the machine shop at work and talked to the machinist. They looked at keencerts and helicoils and decided that in the aluminum trailing arm the helicoils would work fine. The had all kinds of kits around, but no M14x1.5 coils or taps. So I ordered a set from McMaster-Carr and should have them tomorrow. They also made an ingenious drill guide out of brass stock to drill the hole cleanly. The arm is too irregular to fit well in a lathe or drill press.
So hopefully I will have it back tomorrow, then reinstall and off to the alignment shop. Hard way to learn a simple lesson.
Cheers,
Greg