pete_c
Guru
I saw while doing the brakes and rotors that one of the rear coil springs was cracked. Reading on the forums that is was an issue with the MFG BMW coils. My SUV has mostly been garage kept so I do not understand the rust I saw at the bottom of the coils.
Here is a picture of the broken coil. Note that it is difficult to see that it is broken. I do feel a wierd vibration when the SUV is shifting gears. It is almost like the tire is not balanced.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1356]
Note the painted mark on the coil is used when the SUV was built at the factory (in this case the SUV was built in Austria). This is used to match the two coils so that the two are the same when the car is assembled and to make sure that you replace the two coils even though only one is broken. It is also used as an indicator for the down section of the coil.
Here is a drawing of what I am working with.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1362]
Here is a hardware list. Note I ordered everything from FCP Euro which does a lifetime warranty on all its parts.
1 - 2 rear coil springs - Lesjofrs LES-4208450
2 - 2 upper shims - BMW OEM 33531136385
3 - 2 lower shims - BMW OEM 33531099418
Here is brief step by step with pictures. Follow safety precautions.
1 - remove wheel
2 - jack up wheel rotor up to level of bottom of shock absorber
3 - remove lower bolt to shock absorber
4 - drop rotor
5 - remove coil and upper and lower shims. Note that it should come out with no issues. You can use a pry bar to open up the spring coil area for more play space.
6 - insert upper shim and coil sliding it up and letting it rest on lower shim
7 - jack up rotor to be able to connect lower shock.
8 - connect lower shock bolt
9 - install wheel.
Watching videos this should take some 15 minutes to do and is much easier than doing the brakes / rotors.
This video is the difficult way to do this. It is easier to just drop the wheel removing the shock bottom.
It does show that the new replacement coil is better than the original OEM coil.
Note that this SUV was built on the same platform as the 330XI except for the SUV stuff.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/vdPiaf47jcc[/youtube]
Note that I am making a day project from one coil here taking my time as there is no rush and not driving SUV much now.
Rear shocks replacement are a bit different in that you have to dissassemble the side rear panels to get to the top of the shock (3 bolts). It is this part that is time consuming.
Here is a picture of the broken coil. Note that it is difficult to see that it is broken. I do feel a wierd vibration when the SUV is shifting gears. It is almost like the tire is not balanced.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1356]
Note the painted mark on the coil is used when the SUV was built at the factory (in this case the SUV was built in Austria). This is used to match the two coils so that the two are the same when the car is assembled and to make sure that you replace the two coils even though only one is broken. It is also used as an indicator for the down section of the coil.
Here is a drawing of what I am working with.
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1362]
Here is a hardware list. Note I ordered everything from FCP Euro which does a lifetime warranty on all its parts.
1 - 2 rear coil springs - Lesjofrs LES-4208450
2 - 2 upper shims - BMW OEM 33531136385
3 - 2 lower shims - BMW OEM 33531099418
Here is brief step by step with pictures. Follow safety precautions.
1 - remove wheel
2 - jack up wheel rotor up to level of bottom of shock absorber
3 - remove lower bolt to shock absorber
4 - drop rotor
5 - remove coil and upper and lower shims. Note that it should come out with no issues. You can use a pry bar to open up the spring coil area for more play space.
6 - insert upper shim and coil sliding it up and letting it rest on lower shim
7 - jack up rotor to be able to connect lower shock.
8 - connect lower shock bolt
9 - install wheel.
Watching videos this should take some 15 minutes to do and is much easier than doing the brakes / rotors.
This video is the difficult way to do this. It is easier to just drop the wheel removing the shock bottom.
It does show that the new replacement coil is better than the original OEM coil.
Note that this SUV was built on the same platform as the 330XI except for the SUV stuff.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/vdPiaf47jcc[/youtube]
Note that I am making a day project from one coil here taking my time as there is no rush and not driving SUV much now.
Rear shocks replacement are a bit different in that you have to dissassemble the side rear panels to get to the top of the shock (3 bolts). It is this part that is time consuming.