E30 Zone

I have just bought some spax PSX shocks and springs (-40mm) for my 318iS so 51mm shocks. The fronts are inserts. The rears look simple enough to fit but am not sure what I need to do to get the old front inserts out and the new ones in?

Can I compress spring, undo top of strut from top mount, push strut down towards the bottom, remove top mount, remove insert from outer casing and slide out the top mount hole, remove compressed spring and then reversal for fitting new ones? Or do I need to seperate the bottom of the strut from steering etc?

Any pointers from anyone who has done the job before would be great as hoping to do it one weekend soon!

To remove the inserts you do need to remove the struts completely:

Slacken off the main shock insert nut (normally 18mm deep socket) under the little plastic cover on the strut mount top while the car is on the floor
Jack car up with rear wheel chocked.
Remove wheels.
Undo 13mm bolts securing ARB links.
Undo the two 17mm bolts securing the caliper, remove caliper out of the way and support so not pulling on the pipe.
Undo 17mm nut on steering rack end and seperate joint using a splitter (nut type work best).
Undo 19mm nut securing strut to wishbone and seperate joint with a splitter.
Disconnect the cables for ABS and brake pad wear sensor from strut leg
If ABS is fitted remove the sensor from the back of the hub - 5mm allen key
Disconnect the cables for ABS and brake pad wear sensor from strut leg.
Supporting the leg from below undo the 3 13mm nuts securing the top mount to the strut tower.

The strut will now be free to remove

Compress the springs using a proper spring compressor (about £15 from GSF)
Remove the shock insert nut followed by the top strut mount and top hat.
You can now remove the spring - uncompress it
Undo the strut locking collar/ringnut. Various styles out there but if the oem you will see 4 holes in the top, using a hammer and metal bar tap it to undo. You may need to soak it with WD40 or similiar.
The strut will now slide out, be careful as there is oil in the bottom of the strut - it's meant to be there.

Refitting is the reverse of all the above

I did the above a couple of weeks back to find my collar nuts don't fit and will have to go through it all again when the replacement parts turn up

HTH

Charlie

if you get stuck or don't mind wating a week (busy) i have a unit in fareham if you want a hand give me a shout

If it were me i would build the new ones before touching the ones on the car.

TheHeap wrote:If it were me i would build the new ones before touching the ones on the car.

If you've got spare struts lying around with good wheel bearings then yes definately a better way of doing it but not really worth buying more parts to do a job that only takes a couple of hours from start to finish..

If replacing with gas shocks you can ditch the oil from the strut right?

I'm not quite sure what the oil is for but boge shocks (which are gas) are oem so I'd leave the oil in there.

http://www.e30tech.com/articles/suspension/front/

This one says oil is not needed dunno

bpowell555 wrote:http://www.e30tech.com/articles/suspension/front/

This one says oil is not needed dunno

That is a really good article, I'd take it out and wouldn't worry about it. Think about the amount of people buying second hand struts, I haven't seen anyone pouring oil back down when they fit them.

I would love to know why the oil was there in the first place...

Check out this video, is the method at 4 minute 30 for insert replacement possible on an E30 where you leave the strut on the chassis?

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Warning! No gloves were used refitting interior parts to this E39, and no torque wrench, and the calipers were left hanging. Sensitive viewers look away