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Clarification of broken shock mounts on E30

In regard to my prior message about the broken shock mount, I must thank the
five or six digesters who mailed me back with similar incidences and
problems. To clarify what is actually broken, it is the sheet metal holding
the shock mount onto the body. Excuse my lack of mechanical terms, but the
"cylinder" through which the shock enters the boot, is tearing/cracking away
from the body work, and if I grab the top of the shock shaft, I can wiggle
it side to side (approx 5mm each side), and see how the metal on either side
of the shock is moving . Some guys who mailed me, I think, were thinking of
the rubbers each side of the shock in the housing. The suspension is not
that stiff, but maybe the angle of the camber is causing this problem ????? 

I have booked it in at a panelbeater today (Friday), as my BMW dealer said
they would be the best to fix it. I hope it is easy to solve.

Thanks especially, to Rion Groh from European Motorsport who made me feel at
ease that " this is a very common problem on E30's... It has nothing to do
with your suspension angles, but the mounts lifespans are affected by the
stiffness of the shocks and springs. We always check these mounts for
splitting on our routine services, so it is unusual for us to see them
progress to the point that they cause sheetmetal damage. "

Regards, Darren
darren@domain.elided
_____________________________________________________________________________
DARREN HILDER
RATT-Pac International
5th Floor                                            Tel (27 11) 836 4181
11 Diagonal Street                                   Fax (27 11) 836 0369  
Johannesburg                                         E-mail : darren@domain.elided
2000                            \|/
South Africa                    @ @
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