[pkancel]

I just got my rear set of Bilsteins and want to install tomorrow. Looks pretty straight forward but I cant tell where the top of the shock mounts into the car/body. Anyone know. I assume I remove the trunk liner from each side and that will expose the top of the shock mount? Just making sure so I dont waste time removing things.

Thanks

[pkancel]

Anyone watch as their rear suspension was replaced? Anyone do DIY or anyone see a see through graphic of an F30 which shows the suspension to give a possible idea of mounting location?

[JN1]

Originally Posted by pkancel

Anyone watch as their rear suspension was replaced? Anyone do DIY or anyone see a see through graphic of an F30 which shows the suspension to give a possible idea of mounting location?

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=648418 Here's the underside which should give you an idea. But yes you have to remove the trunk liner to get to it from the top from what I can see.

[pkancel]

JNLBC, so while I appreciate you trying to help, it doesnt help if you are just guessing and then someone wasting time going in the wrong direction based on your comments. Not beating you up, just mentioning that you sounded like you were pretty sure of what to do.

This should actually be in the DIY section. I didnt take pictures but this is pretty easy with a floor jack, some wrenches, sockets and jackstand.

I tried to take apart the inner trunk liner and didnt see anything at all that appeared to be the top of the shock. So I lifted the car, removed the wheel/tire and removed the plastic cover on the underside of the rear control arms. That allowed easier access to the lower shock bolt. I removed the nut and bolt on the bottom. The top is removed also from the same area. As you move up the shock, you see a top shock tower mount with 3 bolts holding it up into the body. Remove those three bolts and then compress the shock by pulling down. That will allow you to remove the shock completely. (By the way, my stock, non-sport shocks were shot, dead, done at 10,000 miles. Almost no rebound at all from these crappy spongy things) I put in the new bilstein sport shocks but I had to remove the top shock mount from the old and transfer to the new. Then reinstalled back into the car just reversing the steps. I had a jackstand under the control arm to help compress the rear suspension on that side so the shock could be remounted but I did it slowly just to the point where the top mount bolt threads were catching. Then I lowered it more so I could completely tighten. Once that was done, reinstalled the lower bolt, then the plastic cover and then reinstalled the wheel/tires. Then moved to the other side and repeated. Total time, approx 1 hour. If I had to do it again, now after knowing exactly what to do, would have taken 30 min max.

The best part...the ride and handling are enormously improved. I had never been that happy with the ride and handling of this car from day one. I changed the springs to OE sport springs and while that helped lower it a bit, really didnt change ride and handling. The front struts always seemed relatively fine but the backend was always kind of soft, spongy and annoying. Now it is firm, tight and both the ride and handling are what I expect and want from BMW. It is like night and day. I bought the rears only online and paid approx $270.00 for both rear sport shocks including shipping. With 1 hour of installation, thats the best money i have spent in a long time. Its like a new car all over again but much more fun to drive now.

Originally Posted by JNLBC

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=648418 Here's the underside which should give you an idea. But yes you have to remove the trunk liner to get to it from the top from what I can see.

[momo3605]

so you didn't need any special equipment to do this? You removed the shocks by hand and a wrench?

[pkancel]

It was literally that easy, yes for rear only of course. wrenches to remove the lower and sockets to remove the upper bolts.

[DWCP]

Originally Posted by pkancel

It was literally that easy, yes for rear only of course. wrenches to remove the lower and sockets to remove the upper bolts.

So the rear is now M-Sport springs with Bilstein dampers, but front remains stock standard? Isn't the M-Sport springs 10mm lower? Do you have any pictures? Thanks.

[pkancel]

Springs were changed all around which made the drop same as any other Sport but Bilsteins only replaced on rear. So the front has the Sport Springs but standard OE struts. No pics right now but again ride height same as all other sports. 10mm lower sounds about right if thats what BMW states.

[jlaspire]

Can u share the website u got the shocks from as well as part number

[pkancel]

Originally Posted by jlaspire

Can u share the website u got the shocks from as well as part number

Sure....ProAmAuto.com, based in Houston. Here is what I ordered. It doesnt say this in the order below but these are the Sport Shocks, not the HD. The HD are the standard ride height, no Sport. The Sport, number indicated below are just exactly that and slightly shorter.

Order Details:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quantity: 2
Item: Bilstein Shocks 24-217873 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber (5418802)

Unit Price: $132.28
Total Price: $264.56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
subtotal: $264.56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
total: $264.56

[jlaspire]

Thanks!

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by pkancel

Sure....ProAmAuto.com, based in Houston. Here is what I ordered. It doesnt say this in the order below but these are the Sport Shocks, not the HD. The HD are the standard ride height, no Sport. The Sport, number indicated below are just exactly that and slightly shorter.

Order Details:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quantity: 2
Item: Bilstein Shocks 24-217873 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber (5418802)

Unit Price: $132.28
Total Price: $264.56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
subtotal: $264.56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
total: $264.56

Thank you so much pkancel! I believe the rear shocks of the F30 are completely horrible. Every time I drive the vehicle I become extremely irritated by the spongy, bouncy stock rear shocks. I lowered the car on H&R's and it made the sponginess that much more apparent. I was going to start a thread on this, but you saved me the trouble. I'm in SoCal as well. Could you help me with a DIY install if I come down to your area? I'm in the Rancho Cucamonga area.

[Fraggy]

Originally Posted by pkancel

Sure....ProAmAuto.com, based in Houston. Here is what I ordered. It doesnt say this in the order below but these are the Sport Shocks, not the HD. The HD are the standard ride height, no Sport. The Sport, number indicated below are just exactly that and slightly shorter.

Order Details:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quantity: 2
Item: Bilstein Shocks 24-217873 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber (5418802)

Unit Price: $132.28
Total Price: $264.56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
subtotal: $264.56
------------------------------------------------------------------------
total: $264.56

Hi,
They are even a hair cheaper now, and I'm considering doing the rears only. After you've driven the car for some time how did you feel about only doing the rear shocks? Was it still fun over time, or did you start to notice other problems because you didn't do the full set?

Thanks in advance!

[pkancel]

Was fine for a long while but I need to get the fronts now, still fun but the front isnt keeping up with the rear. Was fine initially.

Originally Posted by Fraggy

Hi,
They are even a hair cheaper now, and I'm considering doing the rears only. After you've driven the car for some time how did you feel about only doing the rear shocks? Was it still fun over time, or did you start to notice other problems because you didn't do the full set?

Thanks in advance!

[Fraggy]

Thank you, that's very helpful. Have a good day.

[akgambino]

Big time bump on this old thread! I have another thread detailing my nightmare experiences with vibration/oscillation/bounciness in my F30 335xi (http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1417635) I have had everything possible checked and really think it is just the crap rear shocks that i was able to compress literally with one finger and they would take a minute to rebound slowly, i think they are shot even though the car has 25,000km lol

So my question is can this be done, only replacing the rear shocks? Will the car handle like crap with the stock struts remaining up front?

[pkancel]

No, I have done that a few times where I felt like the rear was too spongy and didnt have the time to get the fronts done at a shop. Worked just fine. Eventuallly I changed the fronts because the I like the way the rear was performing and wanted the fronts to be just as good .

Originally Posted by akgambino

Big time bump on this old thread! I have another thread detailing my nightmare experiences with vibration/oscillation/bounciness in my F30 335xi (http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1417635) I have had everything possible checked and really think it is just the crap rear shocks that i was able to compress literally with one finger and they would take a minute to rebound slowly, i think they are shot even though the car has 25,000km lol

So my question is can this be done, only replacing the rear shocks? Will the car handle like crap with the stock struts remaining up front?

[akgambino]

Originally Posted by pkancel

No, I have done that a few times where I felt like the rear was too spongy and didnt have the time to get the fronts done at a shop. Worked just fine. Eventuallly I changed the fronts because the I like the way the rear was performing and wanted the fronts to be just as good .

Thanks!

Anybody have a good vendor that can do a deal on a pair of rear bilstein b8?

I have been digging around online and can't find anywhere that has them in stock

[nickf30]

Looks like Tire rack has some B8 24-264563 rear shocks in stock.

[akgambino]

Originally Posted by nickf30

Looks like Tire rack has some B8 24-264563 rear shocks in stock.

Thanks! I actually ended up ordering a pair of koni yellows I was able to find in Canada that will be here in just a couple days