E30 Rear Shock Change - United Bimmer Community

**celsdogg** · 10-04-2006, 06:16 PM

Kinda a take care of the cars day. Took my wifes car to have the oil changed (i take it somewhere coz its only around $20, and i dont have to worry about oil disposal), and since it was free, got the tires rotated.

Then i put new Bilstein Touring shocks in the Bimmer. It was really easy, I did not even have to jack up the car. We did the front struts on monday. Help truly recommended on that. But the rears, you can do yourself, as i did. mine is a 1990 E30 325i.

comparison from the old blue sachs, to the new black bilsteins. since they are in now, i kinda wish they were that trademark yellow and blue, but o well.

Here is the passenger side removed. i forgot to take pics until that point. to get here, all i did was crawl under the car, loosen the 3/4 inch bolt and then loosen the two mount nuts at the top of the tower. also, highly recommend loosening the nut that holds the top of the shock to the shock mount. need a 1/4 open end, and a 17mm open end.

view from the ground looking up. there is plenty of room to work. at least on this side.

here is the right side installed. what i did here was carefully lifted the new, fully extended shock up to the mount (after having moved the mount to the new shock) and o so carefully seated it inside the tower. then i pushed the bottom of the shock up to compress it, and threaded the bolt at the bottom.

**celsdogg** · 10-04-2006, 06:23 PM

here is the drivers side. a bit more difficult because of the muffler, but still manageable. just be careful on this side.

drivers side removed. same as the passenger side.

this gave me trouble because it was a bit tight. since i didnt care what happened to it, i sprayed some WD40 on it, let it sit, then used a good, solid channel lock to hold on to it. my 1/4 open end kept slipping.

drivers side comparison

since this side was harder, i had to prop up the bottom of the shock after i slid it into the tower, then i put some bolts on the top to hold it. then, after several trys, i was able to compress it, and thread the bottom bolt.

one more shot of it installed:

original equipment sachs. i wonder if this is still the first shock installed at the factory.

the two mounts after i was all finished.

took about 2.5 hours to do. very easy as long as you have a little strength, common sense, and a good set of tools!

also, sorry there arent better pictures; when i am working i never know what good pics to take!

**xsperf** · 10-04-2006, 06:48 PM

very nice, how do you like the new shocks, are they comfy?

**Dudesky** · 10-04-2006, 07:29 PM

Nice job, dude. And I thought all Bilsteins were yellow

**c1apton** · 10-04-2006, 08:27 PM

Bilstein sports are yellow & blue. He's got the "econo" Bilsteins (oem replacement version).

**TCossuto** · 10-04-2006, 08:54 PM

Nice. When I did my shocks on my eta, the exaust was NO where near it, so I guess eta's and b25's have different exausts? I know b25's are dual, and eta's are single, but what else is different?

How do they ride, compair to your old ones?

witeshark · 10-04-2006, 10:10 PM

Really nice

**celsdogg** · 10-05-2006, 06:05 AM

the old ones were pretty much shot. the new fronts and rears make a huge difference. much more firm and solid. the struts make more difference than the rears since the front is pretty much your suspension.

nick_318is · 10-05-2006, 06:46 PM

Nice work Cels. Enjoy them!