[kasyak]

Looking up my VIN, I have option S704A M Sports Suspension. I ordered Bilstein B4 through FCP Euro that are listed as compatible with my car. Part numbers 22-135032 and 22-135049.

Getting the spring compressed enough was a challenge as it appears the shaft is shorter. Now I'm getting a whole lot of clunking even after replacing all hardware and torquing to spec and gained some massive wheel gap.

Is it possible I have regular non-sport springs? The car was pretty low before.

[kasyak]

I might add that I ordered Lemforder 31306775098 upper strut mounts and they did look a lot taller than what they were replacing, albeit replacing most likely original beaten-to-death strut mounts. Still not sure where I went wrong and it's driving me nuts.

[djbobbless]

Did you tighten the top hat strut bolt in the middle to specs? I did mine yesterday and it was clunking until i double checked and my impact did not get it within specs before spinning yet.

[PerfectAce]

Likely something is installed improperly. Ride height is way too high. Are you sure the strut bodies are fully inserted into the collars on the steering knuckles?

If you could post some close-up pics with the wheels off, we might be able to spy the issue.

BTW, did you also happen to replace the control arms?

[kasyak]

Originally Posted by PerfectAce

Likely something is installed improperly. Ride height is way too high. Are you sure the strut bodies are fully inserted into the collars on the steering knuckles?

If you could post some close-up pics with the wheels off, we might be able to spy the issue.

BTW, did you also happen to replace the control arms?

My thought was that something was wrong with the springs. But since springs dictate ride height, even the different in strut should've not increased the ride height so much.

The first time I changed the struts and shocks with some eBay special I was able to do it myself with traditional spring compressors that hook onto springs and you torque to compress. This time around to get the spring seated back on I had to use a spring compressor press and even then it was super sketchy. I dug around and saw that some people complained about the same issue - difficult time getting stock springs on, almost as if there's an extra coil. I will try to snap some pictures but everything seemed to seat well and upon installation there was no noise.

I have not yet replaced the control arms, but I attributed part of the noise to very worn down bushings. I have the M3 TRW kit on hand and will be replacing that soon.

[6ixSpd]

Did you ever end up resolving this?

[porsche959]

couple issues i see here

1) incorrectly installed washers (black side UP) - this is specially true if your steering feels sticky and if it clicks on turns
2) tighten down the strut hat bolt once car is under its own weight - if it clicks during straight driving
3) sway bar endlinks are not torqued properly - clicks during turns

[kasyak]

I triple checked the washer was orientated correctly. No clicking. Everything is torqued to spec. The only thing I know I didn't do correctly is torque the control arm bolts (removed them to drop strut) under load. That could very well be the culprit, but apart from the increased ride height - it makes a lot of noise/feels disconnected over road imperfections.

[hi_swerve]

Originally Posted by kasyak

Looking up my VIN, I have option S704A M Sports Suspension. I ordered Bilstein B4 through FCP Euro that are listed as compatible with my car. Part numbers 22-135032 and 22-135049.

Getting the spring compressed enough was a challenge as it appears the shaft is shorter. Now I'm getting a whole lot of clunking even after replacing all hardware and torquing to spec and gained some massive wheel gap.

Is it possible I have regular non-sport springs? The car was pretty low before.

I did the B4s on my E92 with stock sport suspension...FCP had different part numbers on their site as compatible, so I went off the part numbers from Bilstein's website.

I ordered & installed the following part numbers

22-136602 Front Left
22-136619 Front Right
19-136622 Rears

Also did the SP front lowering perches and M3 control arms...no issues here.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by kasyak

I triple checked the washer was orientated correctly. No clicking. Everything is torqued to spec. The only thing I know I didn't do correctly is torque the control arm bolts (removed them to drop strut) under load. That could very well be the culprit, but apart from the increased ride height - it makes a lot of noise/feels disconnected over road imperfections.

Eesh. Well there's your trouble, and that's probably why your ride height is so tall.