New Koni Sports going in today...

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Last night the strut assemblies came out and one side has been dismantled. The failed Koni is now little more than a device to keep the wheel on the car - offers no resistance to movement and gurgles during compression/extension. Oil from the shock has ruined the lower spring isolator (which I didn't buy in advance :( ) so now I have to drive 80km round trip to pick up new ones. Frack!

Anybody want pictures of anything while it's apart?

[Qube]

Sure! It's always good to learn. Frankly, those shifter linkage pictures in the other thread were helpful. Pictures usually are ;)

[Kobe Diesel]

Please post pics of it all. Im going to be usign Koni sports myself and would like to see what parts are involved. Im thinking that the Konis my bro gave to me might be incomplete set.
TIA

[Ted K]

I will soon be installing my Eibach and knois. Any tips would be great. What setting will you be runing them at?

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Allrighty then.

Here's the driver's side front suspension as found. As you can see, I went to great effort to make a fully viewable shot by taking off any offending bodywork (j/k. This is a shot from last spring...). However, note the flat brace at the upper right of the inner fender. Some cars can crack the welds there and it causes a clunk you cannot cure without re-welding. Sounds like a failed sway bar link. Not a problem on my car, but others have found it especially if driven hard with very stiff suspension.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/Koni%20Sports/111-1178_IMG.jpg

Strut assembly removed. Note brake caliper firmly suspended from the bodywork to prevent damage to the brake flex hose. The oil you see on the sway bar link, ABS sensor and brake wear sensor is from the failed damper :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/Koni%20Sports/113-1332_IMG.jpg

Close-up of the steering knuckle, all cleaned and ready for re-assembly:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/Koni%20Sports/113-1333_IMG.jpg

More on next post...

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Underside of the strut. Run a tap through the threads to clean off the old thread locker. Use Loctite 262 for re-assembly:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/Koni%20Sports/113-1340_IMG.jpg

New Koni and M5 bump stop installed and ready for the spring. Koni instructions call for 50ml (2 tablespoons) of antifreeze in the strut housing, not oil. This is for heat transfer. You need to make sure the housing is clean and empty as prior installations may have used oil or the oil from the failed damper is inside:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/Koni%20Sports/113-1338_IMG.jpg

Ireland Engineering camber plate installed on top of strut mount. This adds 8MM to the ride height:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/Koni%20Sports/106-0630_IMG.jpg

Results? Back to truly amazing ride and handling. I actually went out in search of dips and bumps that would hopelessly unsettle the car prior to the work. Now it rides like a dream.

Initial setting is 1 turn from full soft. I usually run them at 1/2 turn from soft in the winter and 1-1/2 in the summer to compensate for the changes in temperature. Technically, you should measure the setting as turns from fully firm, but my experience shows there's so little difference between the two methods as to make it moot.

Happy again.:)