RE: Reply to Re:e28 schock replacement

[alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Tom Mathews [mailto:bimrone@domain.elided] wrote:
> 
> Removing the shock springs is not that difficult. Autozone 
> will rent for free the spring decompression tool. You just 
> need to take your time and be carefull.

Tom is right.
Though somewhat scary, this is a fairly straight forward DIY job. 
Air tools are a great help, but are not required. 

> If you are going to replace the shocks, the top shock 
> bearings should be replaced at the same time. It is a waste 
> of time not to replace

I will respectfully disagree.
Front upper shock mounts rarely go bad and they are not cheap. New ones for
my E30 would have cost around $100 each for OEM and about $300 for a set of
KMACs. My old E30 ones have 197K miles on them without any slop. 

> You also will need to buy the tool from Bavarian that will 
> separate the suspension components without ripping the rubber boots.

What components are you referring to?
Unless E28 suspension is very different form E30s, every suspension
component attached to the strut tower is simply bolted to it. 

> I would stick with the Bilsteins. The boge shocks are 
> definitely not as good and I have had problems with them.

I agree. I've put 90K miles on my Bilstein HDs with stock springs on the E30
I still can't detect any wear (they are stiffer than new Boges on my wife's
'98 328i, two of which have already failed under warranty).

good luck with the job,
alex f

------------------------------