Quote:
Originally Posted by gpchamp
48k miles. Leaking front struts. I suppose I could just let it be and drive it for a while under these conditions, but I decided to bite the bullet and get them replaced. Gotta love the shitty Houston roads.
BTW, this is the first real issue I've had with my 440i, and it's not really her fault. It's been an absolute gem in terms of reliability.
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The car handles amazingly well as delivered but if you can afford it, a few upgrades take it to another level. Not sure if you can do that without voiding the warranty, but that is ancient history for me...
FWIW, I just did my 5th suspension refresh thanks to the crazy roads here in the northeast. This was my 2nd set of Bilstein B8+ Sport dampers; I reused the Dinan springs and camber plates but changed everything else (bearing, rubber spring seat, boot/bump stop, etc). Car rides like a dream again. At 296K now and will hit 300K before the end of 2022.
In terms of cost, I get all my own parts (FCP Euro & ECS tuning) and do all the rear R&R work myself but have my indy do the front strut replacement for safety reasons. He charged me 3 hours at $137/hour, so just over $400 in labor. Parts costs can vary based on what you choose and if you do other upgrades (springs, camber plates, spherical bearings, and more).
Even if you are doing a stock replacement, I would still suggest changing all the little parts (boots, rubber seats, strut bearing, bump stops, etc). If you blew a strut, like I did, you'll find that other parts take beating and begin to fail. My suggestion is to inspect and replace anything that's not up to snuff while you are in there otherwise you'll be taking it apart again.
Another nice thing about buying your own parts and doing it yourself, is you can buy everything you need and then decide whether or not to use the new parts based on the condition of the old ones. In my case, I ended up not using the new upper rear shock mount since the one I replaced during a previous suspension refresh was still in great shape. Same thing with a couple boots and bump stops. The were 8-9 out of 10 so they will very likely outlast the damper and so some minor TLC and back on they went. Now I just return the unused items and everything is right in the world. It cost me an extra 20 minutes and about $10 in return postage.