Thank you Jason for this video, it was very helpful when I did this job over the weekend. Also for other DIYers who's planning to do this job, here are somethings I learned and maybe helpful to you. 1.) Remove the break caliper including break pad and speed sensor when you are doing this job, it is an additional step but will make the job a lot easier as it will provide you a lot more room to remove the strut from the steering knuckle and will also lighten the weight of the wheel assembly especially if you do not have a helper. 2.) Crack lose the 21mm center bolt (but DO NOT totally remove) while it is still attached to the car BEFORE you remove the 3-13 mm nuts on the strut tower, (12:24) mine was on really tight and would have been impossible to remove if you don't have an impact wrench or some sort of table vise once the strut is out of the car. 3.) When compressing the spring, use the metal collar (Retaining Plate 17:50) just below the strut mount plate as your top anchor point for your spring compressor, you will not be able to compress the the spring far enough to release all the tension (as what happened to Jason in this video) if you only clamp on the spring itself. Be EXTRA careful when you use the metal collar as anchor point since this method will not be totally secure and there is a small chance it could slip. This risk can be mitigated by making sure BOTH spring compressor are anchored on the metal collar (not just one) and to secure the anchor point by tapping it with a rubber mallet. Tighten compressor bolt manually (no need to use an impact wrench) and switch bolts every few turns to equally compress the spring, after a few turns, check your anchor points again to make sure they did not slip before proceeding. Also like Jason said, it is important to place the spring compressors equidistant from each other as this will compress the spring evenly and prevent it from buckling as this will be bad news. If you use this method, you do not need to compress the spring all the way, just enough so the shock absorber detaches from the spring about half an inch and you will be able to turn the shocks by hand, this means that you have released the tension far enough to remove the 21mm nut. Do not over compress the spring as this will only increase the risk of failure. I also I had to shave portion of the rubber tab on the side of the spring rubber pad to secure the anchor points properly. The rubber tab I'm referring too can be seen on 16:08. Good Luck!
You've got a video for everything I've run into so far. Much thanks for saving me time, money, and a ton of headache so that I can actually have fun driving and repairing my 325Ci and 330Ci!
I learned most of my e46 skills from you and have so much to upgrade and replace because of the videos you post. This has an impact. Just so you know, some guys at Dinan are familiar with you suggested your videos. That's a top quality company that cares about customers over just making money. Your help has been tremendous and without your videos, I'd have a stock e46 that would probably breakdown in 10k miles.
Also found a Craftsman spark plug socket worked well for the front upper strut nut. The SAE conversion was close enough that the fit was snug. Pulled the rubber core out to fit an allen key through the top. The spark plug socket was important because it had flats at the top to fit a box wrench on.
Just picked up a 2000 323ci convertible for cheap a guy had parked in a garage for over a yr using your channel as a go to guide thanxs alot doing shocks and struts next week. Finished all new brake hardware today with your help calipers rotors pads thanx again
You have given me so much help with these vids, I have changed my steering rack on my E46 with the help of your video, now I have enough info and courage to change the front shocks and save a TON of money doing it myself! 👍👍👍👍👍
Yes flip flops means you have not met misfortune as of yet. When you do misfortune will help you understand why protective clothing is a blessing. Self injury.is hard to accept. Its the nature of neglect. Great video though you took a grrat amount of frustration i was feeling going into this project. Your videos have improved.thanks. p.s. ads are running longer that start before your videos. That means they have public value.
I just made a 02pilot mod, BUT! Changing rear shock absorbers is easy and fast on a convertible. I had looked at a few non conv changing the shocks, so the day when i cleaned out everything in the trunk, i realized a conv has a lot more work to be done than a sedan. A LOT! Next day i got my shocks and went home. But before i started i wanted some coffe and started up my TV and computer and klicked on RU-vid, and guess what? On my recomended was a guy changing rear shocks on a 330 convertible! Just open the top until the cover comes up and rear window is lifted, and have a broom or something to stop it from closing. In the bay there is 2 plugs on top of the shocks to loosen the 2 nuts on each shock. I just lifted the rear end high enough to get under the car so i could crawl under it far enough to see what i was doing when sending up the new shock, but i think the car can stand on the wheels on a ramp as well. Or a narrow deep ditch. Its plenty of space to send up the shock, just some sand coming down. It did not take long time to do.
Hi! Just starting this job on mine and had to re watch this video. Thank you Jason for this tutorial. You help a lot of eager people connect with their cars!
After seeing the trouble you had with the spring compressors, and having the exact same tool, I decided to hook it to the top spring seat and it was a lot easier since I could compress more of the spring. I could still remove the bearing easily which I also replaced. Thanks for the vid.
just a bit of trivial information.. the top nut on the strut is 21mm or 13/16 if the strut is Bilstein so a sparkplug socket with 1/2 drive will work so all you have to do is remove the rubber plug from inside the sparkplug socket so you can then put a 7mm allen key inside the socket to hold the strut shaft and that will work to undo the nut and tighten it up
Some struts won't come out unless you disconnect the lower control arm from the wheel hub assembly; without the disconnection, you simply won't be able to get the hub assembly low enough to get the strut valve tube out of the collar. He was lucky he didn't have to. I did. And if you've got rust, you need a ball joint puller/separator tool (it looks like tapered tuning fork) to do the job. And don't replace with stock parts. They are useless. Get Bilstein B6s. They are far more robust, and, if, like most, you've been riding without any shock valve pressure, then the B6s will never feel "harsh," like many say.
Yes, awesome video. I was thinking I was going to have to drop everything on the front end to do the shocks. Saved me going to the mechanic again and spending hundreds.
I’m giving this a go after a front spring broke on my 1999 E46 323 saloon. Think the metric sizes are slightly different on the older car. 16mm top strut bolt. Saw in another video that you can use a 7mm hex and a 16mm ring spanner to loosen the top bolt, from the front. RTher than a box spanner around the back. Lower bolt was a 18mm too. Cheers for the videos...
Thanks for your videos find them very helpful saved me a lot of time trying to figure out what to do on my own BMW, whole shock change took me about half an hour after a two minute argument with my dad about how to remove them and put them back! Keep up the good work👍🏻
Thanks for the tips about using the spring compressors. As someone else commented, I highly recommend adding the front strut tower reinforcement plates. My towers were both bowed as well as the strut bearing plates being bent. I installed Koni FSDs and really like them for my daily driver 2001 330ci.
Great videos clear and concise. Thanks for all your tuition. Btw wish I had seen your transmission rebuild before I spent £980 on the same problem and had it fail again 14 days later for exactly as you describe. The video has given me the confidence to do a complete transmission rebuild. 👏🏻🔧
OMG. I have a set of visegrips just like those from my grandfather also. How strange. They do work better sometimes than newer version. I have used them for exactly this too.
Great video(s)! Still very helpful. Luckily I didn't do all the steps in your video, I was able 2 get my front struts in without removing brakes. Getting stuff disassemble was much easier than getting them assembled (spring compressing for me was tough trying to get them in the right spots to compress evenly) rewatched and noted where you set yours and copied and completed.
good job buddy! you really do help many people save themselves from especially the bmw rip offs! I am a mechanic too, but just wanted to say a good supporting word to you and the kind deeds you do sharing your knowledge! Cheers brother!
I know this video is a little old, but I'm surprised you didn't change all the mounts. Definitely a 'while you're there' part and they are all pretty cheap. Rear mounts can fail, and also rip out from the body. Reinforcement plates are super cheap and highly recommended.
Thanks for the quick response but I mean for the front struts .. I put mine at the bottom of the strut tower but I believe that's maken my ride height a bit to high at the front
The BMW procedure for compressing the struts uses a tool with an adapter like the Hesselink FS-1 to compress from the top spring plate. Otherwise it's difficult to compress the spring enough as you found out. There's a video by bavarian autosport for the E39 where they show this albeit without the adapter.
Do you have any recommendations for high quality shocks? I live in Boston, aka pothole city, and because of that, I'm looking for the comfiest ride ever...Thanks! Love your vids by the way...they're literally the best on youtube
My 2005 330ci has a clunking noise in front suspension. But only at low speeds around town. Makes no noise at highway speeds. I looked at the front of the car but can’t seem to find the noise. The lower control arm rear bushings were just changed. What am I missing?
I have an xi. The strut didn't sit all the way back in the cup. The alignment pin on the strut... should it be above the bolt hole or below. Trying to figure out what's causing the front to sit high.
hey guys i just watched this video and addition to watching the control arm replacement. I have a "clicking" noise coming from the front left side that i noticed after having the shocks replaced. The mechanic that says it is a bushing on the left control arm. But the noise appears when i am driving st. ahead. Another mechanic drove it and says it is not the bushings but something in the strut. He says that after driving a few hundred miles it can loosen up and take it back to the guy that replaced the shocks.. Anybody have an opinion?
I'm having a real problem removing the upper strut mount. I have 2 different impact drills and they don't do a thing to the top nut. maybe my drill are just crappy... Thanks for your videos.
Watched your video cause I'm doing my front struts. Can't see how you got it out without compressing the spring cause there's not enough room to pull out of the strut clamp. Did you disconnect the lower control arm? Thanks
Hello, I changed upper struts on my E91 LCI...old ones making knocking/rapping noise when slow ride on damaged road...I put on the new upper struts and noise was quite better for a while. But now again. When I check my upper struts during the replacing, he has swaying... little bit loosen...it is normally or must to be firm and only spind around? Thakns.
hey 50's kid , i am trying to figure out which way to have my lower spring perch , i bought some bilsteins that did'nt come with the lower perch and now i have all the parts , yet can't find anything that shows which direction the lower perch will go , any ideas ? i checked realoem and no luck plus mine is a xi if that matters
My bmw doesn’t bounce but when I hit pot holes or uneven dirt roads I get a loud bang and hit every time my front tires hit a bump. Almost as if whatever holds the tire hits the top of the car each time the tire goes into and over a hole/bump. Any idea as to what that could be??
Hey 50sKid been a tech for 38 years, got an E46 325ci, love it. need to do the struts and shocks, what type of aftermarket brand would you suggest... love your comment about the D*** H**** on the spring strut tool have one just like it and saw that right away, made me lol...
I'm having a problem with my 99 BMW 323 I E46 maybe you can help me with this the problem I'm having is I'll be driving 4 maybe 25 to 30 minutes and all of a sudden the car shift into I don't know if this the stability control or traction control but the transmission starts shifting really fast on take off the RPMs are revving up higher the car seems like it's basically in a valet mode maybe you can help me with this please contact me if you can help me
Strut mounts on my 04 330Ci are cracked and will be replaced soon. Is it OK to use the torque wrench on top nut if I am re-using the old struts ? Should I be adding the strut reinforcement plates ? My towers are not mushrooming (yet). May be coz it was a FL car. Now in NYC.
There's a set of adjustable coilovers here at my local junkard on an 05 e46 330i rwd sedan that look great & am considering going and taking them off. However i own the same 05 e46 330 sedan but mine is an 330Xi (AWD) model, they look like they'd fit/work. Should i not attempt the replacement or what Should i do?
Hi I would like to know if anyone has any information about replacing the left strut knuckle? Shop said they couldn't properly do alignment after I did front struts because they believe the knuckle may be bent. I've searched online but can't find a video on how to do it.
On my Konis the large fender washer included with the rears went between the lower strut bolt head and the strut. Some people on e46fanatics have had issues with struts separating from their bushings and slipping off the bolt. The design of yours is different though so I'm not sure if its the same thing.
CompCrasher86 this is correct. The washer goes between Bolt head and strut to prevent Bolt head from pulling the sleeve through the bushing. The exceptions are when the strut has a beefier one side to the bushing plate...the oe ones have a reinforced square instead of the aftermarket sleeve through the bushing. The non directional struts have a washer and the directional ones have a heavier plated side and no washer.
could you have loosened the bolt that you took off using the vise grips before taking the mounting bolts off? Prior to actually getting the strut removed from the vehicle. i saw that it was accessible from the top in the trunk.
Hey! I have 2016 Mini Cooper S and there is some thumping noise coming from the rear when going slow over uneven roads or some patches. Also noise is heard when entering/exiting driveways. I checked the trunk for any loose parts such as tools, stereo amplifier, rear seats and seat belts but everything is all tight. Took it to MINI dealer, drove with a tech 2 times within 10 days but the guy doesn't really hear anything. There was no sound in the spring and summer but all started in October. So the tech took the car into the shop, lifted the car, checked all suspension parts but couldn't find anything that is loose or needs repair. I am personally leaning towards the rubber dampers(just like in your video) that go between the the rear strut and upper mount. It is possible that something got deformed and is a bit loose OR possibly you can give some other ideas.
Very helpful video. I think I will need to do this job soon on my car. Does anyone know if the 04 convertible has the same suspension? Any differences? Also, I have ZSP sport package. What is the difference between normal suspension and sport package suspension? Thanks.
Hey brother!!! Your videos are awesome!! I'm definitely a fan of yours. I have a 2004, 325i and I replaced the front struts and rear shocks on my own thanks to you. Keep them coming!! I'm going to do more work on my car based on all of your videos. I have an oil leak right now on the 2004, 325i with about 170k miles, but I have to clean the engine to find where the leak is. (based on your video which you replaced the oil filter housing gasket, that's what I'm hoping the leak is). I end up adding a quart of oil after driving about 4,000 miles. Could you please make a video on cleaning the engine so that I can locate the leak?
+Ken Can't really make a video on that because my engine is now clean, lol. What you really need to do is follow the same repair procedures I've gone through. Odds are you probably need to do both the oil filter housing gasket and the oil pan gasket, but the filter housing gasket is the much bigger cause of leaking oil of the two.
Jason. What kind of shock is the right to buy for a 328-sedan- 2000. ( sport or standard ) ? Looking forward for your respond. I will use this video to instal them. Thank you so much.
Always love your vids, super informative. I’ve a tired set of struts/dampers on an e53 (rear airs) so taking the opportunity to fit a set of Bilstein Prokit which will bring it back to life and lower it by about an inch etc. I’m keeping the rear airs and think some lowering links will take care of the rear air/computer throwing codes issue. Do you have any experience of this sort of modification? Some say you need to recalibrate the rear airs? But HandR offer a kit with the links and don’t suggest any sort of recal. Any thoughts? Keep up the great work btw.
well I am having a hell of a time getting my strut off!! it seems like the suspension assembly will not go down far enough to pull out the strut, the pinch joint is binding on the strut,,,any ideas to resolve this???
+ramosc40 ramosc40 take off the lower control arm bushing. The two bolts that bolt it to the chassis. That should give you more than enough room to swing it down.
how important are these mini washers for the back struts.i dont install them on my new struts,Do they serve any purpose? Not the two big ones, the small one you put on First. .
Great videos. I have just make a comment about using air wrench or similar and vise grips in process of the tightening new locking nuts. Well that is not good practice at all. Back in Europe I used to work in car parts wholesale store, and most our customers were car shops. I had one shop constantly coming back and complain about shocks quality, and after some time we discovered that they use air gun for mounting lock nuts on new shocks and sometimes hold shock rod using vise grips. Well, any damage on the rod or exceeded spinning of the rod will damage inner shock seals. So they had customers coming back shortly after service and they use to come back to us blaming shocks quality. After xx replacement we just quit to do business with that shop.
+YesNo018 Ah, that's an interesting comment you make. I only used the vice grips to keep the bad shock from spinning, so I didn't care about damage to the shaft in that case. I see what you are saying about the shaft spinning and damaging the seals. I doubt ANY shops actually tighten the lock nuts manually with the proper tools as intended by the factory for two reasons, a) no shops provide specialty tools for their mechanics, not even car dealerships (I have a friend who's worked for several), and b) it's just faster to use air tools and get it done--most technicians work on a flat rate system here in America, where they get paid the same no matter how long it takes so the goal is to get more jobs done per day. In the case of the rear shocks I could have held the shaft from spinning with a wrench, but for the fronts it would require an allen key AND a specialty socket, and those sockets are hard to come by. I will look into that.
+50sKid I agree with all you said. Last time when I did front shocks on my old Audi, about 5 years ago, I did use air gun. If I am not wrong locking nut doesn't require some huge torque. Holding the rod on new shock and possibly make marks on it, will be main reason for short life of the new shock. And one more time I have to say there is many other videos on youtube but for some reason I like how you did the jobs. I was looking some DIY for cooling system and came across your channel. BTW you did not do any cooling system repair yet?
+YesNo018 I did repair about half my cooling system when I first bought the car. Thermostat housing, water pump, and radiator hoses. I'll be redoing those just for the sake of video very soon, plus changing the radiator and coolant tank as well.
+50sKid Could you please explain bleeding procedure for cooling system? I just did my radiator and now I have cooling sprayed out off the expansion tank cap after few days driving. Car doesn't overheat, heat is working, temperature seems to be around 92 F for highway driving and goes up to 95 - 96 in traffic. I did notice if I shut off the car and open the hood there is some gurgling, burping noise coming from the expansion tank cap. It stops after 5-10 mins. I did try different ways to bleed system and I am about to order spill free funnel and try one more time. I did pressure test on cooling system and looks like there is no any leak. It is just annoying to see coolant spray around. And that noise, do your car have any noise coming from the expansion tank right after shut off the car? Thank you.
So there is a bleeder valve on the top radiator hose a few inches from the radiator cap. You can't miss it. You use a #3 large phillips strew driver to get it off. It allows air and excess coolant to bleed out of the system. I've over filled the cooling system before and it'll just spit the coolant out of the cap, as you are describing. However, if yours isn't stopping, perhaps your radiator cap went bad and you might want to consider replacing it to see if that helps you.
just looked at that yesterday. how ironic... I found a folded up wire on the left side behind the carpet..has a 28 pin connector I think . you know what that is??
Got a question? do you know why the controller on the steering wheel won't work cruise control & radio controller the light for the cruise control is on in the dashboard, Any ideas?
Jason: That is my next project about to do in the near future replace rear and front shocks. Do you recommend or think replacing the springs will be better. Thank you. You the best.!!!
ok, I have a 2000 bmw 323i. I'm having problem removing the struts. the spindle is not falling down enough for the bottom on the strut to clear. I did change the lower control arms 2 months ago. Do I have to remove the control arm so the spindle will fall enough to give me more clearance?
Thanks for the inspiration to do my own work on my e46 tour. Just did rear shocks and springs . All is good. I maybe have a stupid question , but, I am working on cooling system next, and I am wondering if I could just change the pulleys on the tensioners or change out the tensioners and the pulleys , tensioners seem fine when I changed the belts the pulleys are a bit noisy .. I would appreciate your thoughts on this situation. Thanks again for all your video Help.
hey 50sKid got a question. I got a 2001 325I 5speed. and for whatever reason the doors will not lock nor unlock. either using the lock/unlock button by the hazards or by using the key on the door. I cant figure this out. what do you think?
good vid. how do you know when to replace the sway bar link? is it like the tie rod ed "meaning" I should be able to pivot them at all while its attached?
