So I am finishing up the spring change over on the used 04 Cooper I bought a month ago. The H&Rs are too hard and too low and I am putting on my old H-Sports from my previous 03 MCS (BMW 135 in between). Thanks to an excellent photo post on this board I was able to take the backs off and reinstall no problem. The fronts came out nicely with a good spray of PB Blaster. I got the spring compressor on and even have the 22mm custom socket for the caps. So I am in the home stretch, right? Uh Uh, the caps won't budge. Even with a freaking 4 foot breaker bar and the allen wrench wedged against a brick there are not moving. I don't want to strip the center strut opening so I am taking it to a shop down the street tomorrow.

Here's the message to all you knuckle dragging shop monkeys: If it's supposed to be tightened to 47 lbs. do not use your effing impact wrench set to 300 lbs on the strut tops.

There I feel better.

 

they always tighten my lugs beyond the point of manual removal too. SUCH A PAIN IN THE A$$

 

yeah i always loosen my log nuts and re-tighten them with a torque wrench to the proper specs. i don't trust any shop to do it right especially on wheels. so i know what your talking about with regards to your struts.

 

Air powered impact gun on those top nuts is also a fun way to snap the strut shafts....we've gotten a few calls from shamefaced do-it-yourselfers and professional installers as well.

A weak electric impact is fine when used very carefully.

- Andrew

 

I am an electrician by trade and even in my world every fastener has a specified torque setting and should be followed. People and shops that get lazy cause disasters for others later.

 

When I first got my pre-owned Mini, I went to take the lugs off at my buddy's place, and my buddy who is about 150 lbs was using his entire body weight on a 2 foot breaker bar before they broke loose, so we figured the lug nuts were tightened, literally, to approx. 300ft/lbs.

 

Using an impact on the strut top nut is a no-no for a much more important reason: you can damage the internals of the shock with a gun, whether it be air or electric. Do it the old-fashioned way: by hand.

 

On my old car I needed to reuse the tophats with my new shocks/springs and ran into the same problem. I ended up lobbing the top nut off with a hacksaw .

 

I've always heard you need to use a gun or some sort of impact driver to get those top nuts off. Even says use an impact wrench in M7's directions for changing top hats when installing coilovers.

http://www.m7tuning.com/techinfo/ins...7coilovers.pdf

Last paragraph on the second page.

 

Off is one thing, ON is another.

 

Third page, step eight, still says to use an impact wrench to bring it all together. Are they wrong then?

 

Yup.

 

I only ask because I'm about to install coilovers soon and had always wondered about that step. The top retaining nut is a locking nut. Whats the best way to get them on and off without an impact wrench? Some muscle to get it off and a torque wrench to get the new one on...?

 

Thats what im going with next week when i install mine.

 

I'm thinking of taking my front struts off and checking the nuts on them, due to an awful, awful rattle I have. When I check the top nuts, do the springs have to be compressed for me to check the tightness?

 

If it was correctly torqued to 47 lb/pounds last time it should not be that hard to get off. If you buzz it off with an impact wrench don't forget to use a spring compressor unless you want various strut parts shooting into your ceiling when it comes off.

 

"I'm thinking of taking my front struts off and checking the nuts on them, due to an awful, awful rattle I have. When I check the top nuts, do the springs have to be compressed for me to check the tightness?"

 

Sorry, hit the send button to early. First check the pinch bolt behind the strut to see if it's loose. If it is your strut could be moving up and down in the assembly. I think it torques to 47 ft/lb. You can check the top strut nut on the car with a 22mm socket but to torque it correctly you'll need a special BMW tool to keep the strut pin from turning. Obviously also check the strut cap mounting bolts where they hit the strut tower.

 

By pinch bolt, do you mean the one that holds the bottom of the strut into the steering knuckle?

 

Correct.

 

I read in another thread that that bolt should be torqued to 122ft/lbs. I wonder if I'm thinking of something else.