[BoostedBMW]

Originally Posted by FaintReality

You have an e90 and I have an e92. I am thinking the springs are different for the e92 and I have e90 springs

Actually, they are exactly the same so there are no worries there. I actually got shipped a kit that is marked for an E90, and I have an E92. They have the same parts inside.

[JacobT]

Boosted,

That's not true. I got my KW V2 from AutoTalent. Look at those pics. They all have different part # for e90, e91 and e92.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99717

[BoostedBMW]

Originally Posted by JacobT

Boosted,

That's not true. I got my KW V2 from AutoTalent. Look at those pics. They all have different part # for e90, e91 and e92.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99717

I didn't say that they had the same part #'s... they have different part #'s, but they are all the same parts so if you have an E90 or an E92 it doesn't matter. The coilovers that I got say that they are for an E90 on the box, but I have an E92.

[FaintReality]

Originally Posted by BoostedBMW

Dave... listen, I just fixed the problem on my car. Your problem is definitely that the rear struts aren't tightened down. What I did was just take an air wrench and hit the top nut with it. It tightened it down just enough so that I could fit a vise-grip onto the top of the strut and tighten down the nut with an open-end wrench. After I tightened them down a few turns, the car lowered perfectly... no more 2 finger gap. BTW, I set my drop distance from the tophat on the spring to the top of the spring to .75", and I think once it settles it will be perfect. If you have it dropped all the way, it will be WAY too low. So, after you get the struts tightened down, just adjust your springs again before slapping your wheels back on. Here's a picture of what i'm talking about... Hope this helps you out...



BTW, thanks to Bigchow, Spool, and Longtran for the advice in helping me to figure out wth was going on with the rear struts.

Thats exactly what it was Once I torqued the rear struts to specs, all is good now I did waste the entire day trying to get the car level though, ugh My back is going to be hurting tomorrow

[BoostedBMW]

Originally Posted by FaintReality

Thats exactly what it was Once I torqued the rear struts to specs, all is good now I did waste the entire day trying to get the car level though, ugh My back is going to be hurting tomorrow

I'm glad to hear that you fixed it. How tight did you go on the rear struts? I went from having the nuts spinning off of the top to possibly overtightening them.

[FaintReality]

Originally Posted by BoostedBMW

I'm glad to hear that you fixed it. How tight did you go on the rear struts? I went from having the nuts spinning off of the top to possibly overtightening them.

I tightened the top and bottom at 18ft lbs which was in the manual. At first they were too tight when I did them by hand, so I backed them off a bit and torqued them properly.

Up front, I tried for 48ft lbs I believe it was, but could not hold it tight enough, in which it started to spin. They are pretty close though, nothing I am worried about.

[FaintReality]

Are we suppose to remove these black plastic pieces off the struts?

[BoostedBMW]

Honestly, I don't know... I noticed them also when I was installing the struts, but I just left them on there. I don't know why they would ship them with them if you weren't suppose to use them though.

[Digital.James]

glad you guys worked out your issues

[FaintReality]

Originally Posted by BoostedBMW

Honestly, I don't know... I noticed them also when I was installing the struts, but I just left them on there. I don't know why they would ship them with them if you weren't suppose to use them though.

I left them to be safe, since I can always just break and/or cut them off.

[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by BoostedBMW

Dave... listen, I just fixed the problem on my car. Your problem is definitely that the rear struts aren't tightened down. What I did was just take an air wrench and hit the top nut with it. It tightened it down just enough so that I could fit a vise-grip onto the top of the strut and tighten down the nut with an open-end wrench. After I tightened them down a few turns, the car lowered perfectly... no more 2 finger gap. BTW, I set my drop distance from the tophat on the spring to the top of the spring to .75", and I think once it settles it will be perfect. If you have it dropped all the way, it will be WAY too low. So, after you get the struts tightened down, just adjust your springs again before slapping your wheels back on. Here's a picture of what i'm talking about... Hope this helps you out...



BTW, thanks to Bigchow, Spool, and Longtran for the advice in helping me to figure out wth was going on with the rear struts.

Can't see in that pic, but can't you put an allen key in center of the shaft to keep it from spinning? Most shocks have that so you can tighten it with hand tools. I did my rears that way with a gear wrench and an allen/hex key. Or I would think an impact gun would just sink that nut all the way down?

Be careful using vise-grips and a towel on the shock shaft... If you nick the shaft you can have some problems. The nick in the shaft could cause the shocks to leak fluid or gas, or it could catch and kink on the inside seal on compression or rebound strokes.

[BoostedBMW]

Originally Posted by Chowbow

Can't see in that pic, but can't you put an allen key in center of the shaft to keep it from spinning? Most shocks have that so you can tighten it with hand tools. I did my rears that way with a gear wrench and an allen/hex key. Or I would think an impact gun would just sink that nut all the way down?

Be careful using vise-grips and a towel on the shock shaft... If you nick the shaft you can have some problems. The nick in the shaft could cause the shocks to leak fluid or gas, or it could catch and kink on the inside seal on compression or rebound strokes.

That is actually what I did first. I took a 2mm allen wrench and held the center of the strut still with it while I tightened down the nut, but it would only hold it still for around one or two full turns and I didn't think that it was torqued down enough so I decided to use the vice-grip instead. I felt like I might snap something by holding it still from the allen head, but maybe that's because I probably over torque everything.

Good point with using a towel, but I don't think it will cause a problem because that part of the shaft will always stay above the nut when the shock compresses, right?

[Chowbow]

The part that you used vise grips on is OK. But sometimes people use vise grips on the actual shaft that travels into the shock body because that part spins while you're trying to torque it down... That's where you'll run into problems.

[FaintReality]

When I torqued the top of the rear strut, my dad held the shock shaft with his hands. To torque the bottom of the strut, my dad just held the shock tubing with his hands. Much easier this way if you can get a spare set of hands...

[BoostedBMW]

Originally Posted by Chowbow

The part that you used vise grips on is OK. But sometimes people use vise grips on the actual shaft that travels into the shock body because that part spins while you're trying to torque it down... That's where you'll run into problems.

Originally Posted by FaintReality

When I torqued the top of the rear strut, my dad held the shock shaft with his hands. To torque the bottom of the strut, my dad just held the shock tubing with his hands. Much easier this way if you can get a spare set of hands...

Yeah, you definitely need someone to lend you a hand with installing coilovers on this car, especially when doing the fronts. Its not too easy trying to pull the oem coilover out of the front fender while prying it apart and holding the rotor all at the same time.

I just adjusted my rears by raising them 1/4", and then I lowered the front another 1". I still need to install the driver's front tomorrow and then i'll be done. I have never had a coilover install turn into a three day project before, but I guess there is a first for everything. I kind of like working on the car a little bit at a time or else I get too aggravated and don't enjoy it. I guess its a good thing I have my bro's 350z to drive while my car is out of commission.

[Chowbow]

Yeah, 2 people definitely helps on this job. It took me a full day by myself and knew it would help a lot if there was another set of hands around.

[FaintReality]

Alright, I can't get my car level from side to side for the life of me... I have been messing with this for two days now. Everything is torqued the same, but if I adjust the coils identical from side to side, they are not level. I then adjust one side a little bit higher to even it out, then it will change the front. Then I adjust the front, and it will change one side in the rear, and vise versa. HELP, I am going nuts


And yes, I checked tire pressure first and have driven it around for the springs to seat properly.

[Chowbow]

Dude I wouldn't bother doing that yourself. You're going to need an alignment anyway so just get the shop to cornerbalance your car at the same time... The weight balancing will be much more important than the actual height from the ground on each corner, and they'll be somewhat close anyway.