It's not that bad of a job, if you have the right tools and some time. I did have a couple of issues that I thought I'd point out to save anyone else the trouble of figuring them out.

• Since I did not have an impact gun, I had to remove the top strut nuts with regular wrenches. The oem struts use an allen key to keep the strut shaft from turning with the nut, the Konis use a conventional hex surface. If you can't keep the shaft from turning, you won't be able to remove the top nut. So, I had to make my own tool, by using an angle grinder to cut most of the face away from both a 21mm deep socket (for the oem) and a 19mm deep socket (for the Konis). With the open deep sockets, I could insert a 6mm allen wrench to hold the oem shaft steady while I used the socket to remove the nut. On the Konis, I used an 11mm (front) and 9mm (rear) box end while turning the nut with the socket. I've attached a couple of bad images, so you can see what I mean.
• To remove the front struts, take out the pinch bolt first and move the steering knuckle to get the strut bottom out of the collar. Then remove the top nuts. To install the strut, do the top nuts first, then locate the strut bottom in the collar.
• You need a spring compressor to take apart both the front and rear oem struts, and to assemble the Koni rears. The H&R springs were short enough that the compressor was not needed on the fronts.
• Don't forget to trim your bump stops at least a half-inch, or you may be riding on them, not the springs (thanks, George).
• Don't follow the new Bentley manual torque specs when tightening the nuts on the strut-to-body nuts. It says 25 lb./ft....when I used that spec, I snapped one of the studs off the bearing, necessitating another strut removal and another disassembly of the strut, not to mention a new bearing.
• Pay attention to the little yellow markings on the rear strut tops, so you can properly align the strut when you re-assemble it.
• I had a heck of a time getting the front struts to fully drop down into the strut collars. In fact, I had to take the car to the local race suspension shop to have it done. The suspension wants to droop, not go up, and it's a tight fit. I tried my floor jack to no avail. And make sure the locating tabs on the struts line up with the slots in the collars.

The final results, after an alignment, were everything I had hoped for. Next, and final, step is front control arm bushings, then the suspension transformation will be complete.

 

Widmerpool
Good job!
Just a quick tip for getting those struts into the collars. If you use a 1/4 socket extension ( i believe BMW has a special tool for this application also) in between the slots in the collar you can twist the extension to open up the collar a slight bit to give you some added clearance.
I have removed and installed my upper strut brace several times and always torqued the strut nuts to 25 ft/lbs. Knock on wood I have never had a problem. I am using I.E. fixed camber plates though. You may have had a bad stud or used a torque wrench with 25 ft/lbs on the lower end of the scale. I use three torque wrench's (different capacities) and try to choose the one with the torque needed in the middle of the range. I would highly reccommend staying with the correct torque spec.
Steve

Widmerpool quote


[Don't follow the new Bentley manual torque specs when tightening the nuts on the strut-to-body nuts. It says 25 lb./ft....when I used that spec, I snapped one of the studs off the bearing, necessitating another strut removal and another disassembly of the strut, not to mention a new bearing.

• I had a heck of a time getting the front struts to fully drop down into the strut collars. In fact, I had to take the car to the local race suspension shop to have it done. The suspension wants to droop, not go up, and it's a tight fit. I tried my floor jack to no avail. And make sure the locating tabs on the struts line up with the slots in the collars.

 

We had a Hell of a time trying to get Bilstein's to fully drop into the collar too. My question now is, did we? Does anyone have a photo of how FAR below the collar the strut should sit?

 

vicj...I'm pull a wheel and post a pic tomorrow. You can drive the car without the struts being fully seated in the collars (ask me how I know), and if the struts are high enough, the pinch bolt will pass through the collar below the locating tab on the strut, instead of through the tab. Then you can tighten up the bolt, giving you the illusion all is good. Do you have stock springs?

 

Not stock springs. TSW. Just drove the car from D.C. To Philly on the new suspension. Overall better, but something not quite right up front. After the 120 mile drive, still no movement up front when I push on it. Hard to believe the struts are valved THAT firmly. Looking forward to seeing your pics of the installed struts.

 

vicj
widmerpool is correct, the pinch bolt will go all the way thru, under the tap if it is not fully seated. Their was a change in the bilstiens to correct the diameter of the front struts. The first ones that came out were almost impossible to fully seat. Someone made Bilstein aware of this and they then started to undercut the diameter of the front struts which inserts into the collar.
They should end up being fully seated when the pinch bolt goes thru the tab.
Steve

 

Dont wanna hijack this thread...but as I said, I think we got the bolt through the tab, though it wasnt easy, by any means. I'd still like to see pics, and still need to know whether or not I should have removed that upper, second bumpstop.

 

I used a spreader bar to open the strut collar in the front a bit before dropping the Koni through. The paint is so thick on them, it was hard to just slip it in without prying it open a tad. Worked like a charm. H&R / Koni Yellows = perfection!!!

 

mini4tide...nice car. Couple of questions. Did you replace your stock bushings with poly? Made a huge difference for me, particularly the "void fillers" for the rear trailing arm bushings; it takes out a huge amount of compliance and really locks down the rear end. And, how do like the Ventus?

 

I Have adjustable control arms in the rear, but the bushings are next on my list. The Ventus are FANTASTIC! I love them and will get them again. Sticky and great wet weather traction. Aggressive looking and nice rim lip protection as well. The price is unbeatable for this type of quality. I've owned Michelin's, Nitto, Dunlop and Conti's, and these are right up there with them at a fraction of the cost!

 

thanks for this great thread that I dug up installing my Konis. Still have trouble getting them all the way into the strut collars. Is it OK to bang on the collar with a hammer through a wood block (I have the car on a lift) ?

Also - what is the torque for the Koni strut nut ? According to the cryptic Koni instruction sheet it's 33 lbs, but that's sounds a tad high...

 

Bor...going from a pretty faded memory, I think the 33 lb./ft. is correct and that's what I torqued to.

I would bang away on the collar, although as others have pointed out, it might be better to try to spread the collar a bit.

 

My Koni yellows came with this sheet and it says 37 ft-lbs for the strut nut.

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

I had a decent amount of corrosion and crap inside the collar that the strut slips into. Cleaning that and a wipe with some oil helped them a bunch. I used a second floor jack to put some pressure on the bottom of the knuckle, then tapped on the assy with a dead blow hammer to finish the installation.

I replaced my bump stops with the urethane ones that Way sells. First time I used the stock bump stops with TSW's it was awful. amazing what an extra inch of travel gets you (with OEM shocks), but still a great upgrade with the Konis.

Mike