Approx. time to front swap strut assemblies?

[bubba966]

So, I've got a Bentley, and am good at taking things apart (and even putting them back together!). But I've not taken the strut assemblies out of an E34 yet.

And by the looks of my drivers side strut mount I need to swap my struts out very soon for a temporary set out of a 530 I got from Ross.

Any good guesstimates on time required to swap the assemblies as whole units?

And I should be asleep right now (I usually am at this time of day) so I'm rather tired at the moment. And I'm starting to feel like I've possibly asked a similar question before. Sorry if I have, am too tired right now to remember if I have or haven't. Either way I don't recall a timeframe on swapping full strut assemblies...

[632 Regal]

first time most of a Saturday, second time a couple hours a side... gets easier each time.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

first time most of a Saturday, second time a couple hours a side... gets easier each time.

Even faster with air tools

[Dave M]

Once you complete the job and realize you forget something (like bump stops or spring pads), the job will go from a day to two hours ;)

Dave

[632 Regal]

air tools good, be very careful with the strut knuckle bolts, the chamfer in the socket can cause only a minimal bite on the bolt. I ground the edge flat on a socket for better gription. Yes, learned this on my own too.
Even faster with air tools

[Ferret]

Once you complete the job and realize you forget something (like bump stops or spring pads), the job will go from a day to two hours ;)

Dave

Amen to that! I had to swap rear mounts over recently, and halfway through realised that the PO had missed out the top 'bump stop stop' on the rear left.... after I'd put the rear left assembly all back together.

Had it out again in record time.

[e34.535i.sport]

If you do your research first and know what you're doing, I reckon 4hrs if you are talking about the whole assembly (i.e strut housing/shock/disc/carrier in one peice). Really all you will need to do is remove the caliper, remove the steering plate at the bottom (3bolts) and the three nuts supporting the top end IIRC. Bish bash bosh. :D Remember though there are some brake lines etc that will be supported on the housing so release these before pulling it away from the car!

[Bruno]

If you do your research first and know what you're doing, I reckon 4hrs if you are talking about the whole assembly (i.e strut housing/shock/disc/carrier in one peice). Really all you will need to do is remove the caliper, remove the steering plate at the bottom (3bolts) and the three nuts supporting the top end IIRC. Bish bash bosh. :D Remember though there are some brake lines etc that will be supported on the housing so release these before pulling it away from the car!

It now takes me 1/5 hours /side but I know all the bolts size by heart and I have power tools.

It can be longer if you run into problem: seized collar nut for example.

Still it is not a bad job if you have a good spring compressor and power tools to help.

The E39/E38 is super easy to work on, it takes 5 to 10 min to take the strut assembly out of the car. I LOVE IT.

[bubba966]

I'm talking about taking the whole assembly out in one piece (spring/strut/hub). Will be taking the rotor off the EDC assembly and putting it on the 530 assembly.

There should be no need for spring compressors (yet, will need them when I take the EDC strut assemblies apart to send the struts out for rebuild).

It should just be the three nuts for the top mounts, the wheel, caliper, rotor, and whatever else needs to be taken off at the bottom of the mount, right?

[e34.535i.sport]

I'm talking about taking the whole assembly out in one piece (spring/strut/hub). Will be taking the rotor off the EDC assembly and putting it on the 530 assembly.

There should be no need for spring compressors (yet, will need them when I take the EDC strut assemblies apart to send the struts out for rebuild).

It should just be the three nuts for the top mounts, the wheel, caliper, rotor, and whatever else needs to be taken off at the bottom of the mount, right?

Dead on. I'm sure you know, but top nuts come off last, just incase. You'll piss it.

[KBarcellos]

I just did the exact same swap on my 540i sport, though I did a permanent EDC delete (replaced with koni sports.) You'll need to loosen the through bolt on the control arm to allow the steering knuckle to drop clear of the strut assembly. When installing the new strut assembly, just attach the collar nuts very loosely before attaching the steering knuckle bolts or you'll have trouble getting the mating notches to line up. Also, the rotor set screw is not in the same spot on the hub so you'll have to struggle to get the rotor, wheel and hub bolt holes lined up as the rotor will want to fall off the hub ring. Took me a total of 5 hours to do the swap, I could probably bang it out in half the time if I needed to do it again.

[bubba966]

So, are you saying that the rotor set screw doesn't get used when you stick an M5 rotor on a non-M5 hub? I was wondering how the M5 rotor was going to mate up with the non-M5 hub that's on the temporary strut assemblies. I didn't really want to pull the hubs off and swap 'em if I didn't have to. Was starting to worry about the rotor set screw as I forgot to order a pair and the dealer doesn't have them in stock for some odd reason. But if I don't use one, then no worries...

[Dave M]

So, are you saying that the rotor set screw doesn't get used when you stick an M5 rotor on a non-M5 hub? I was wondering how the M5 rotor was going to mate up with the non-M5 hub that's on the temporary strut assemblies. I didn't really want to pull the hubs off and swap 'em if I didn't have to. Was starting to worry about the rotor set screw as I forgot to order a pair and the dealer doesn't have them in stock for some odd reason. But if I don't use one, then no worries...

I can't remember the last time a car I owned had a rotor set screw :)

Dave

[Jr ///M5]

Are you sending the EDC struts off to England to get them rebuilt? I'm glad to see you're keeping the system intact. When it works properly, it's the best of both worlds. Makes me wish the '95 M5 would have come to the shores of the USA.

Did they let you know about turn around times? How soon it would be rebuilt and returned? Good luck with the temporary swap, hope everything turns out well for you.

JR
(also a '95 MSport in *CoSmOs*)

[KBarcellos]

So, are you saying that the rotor set screw doesn't get used when you stick an M5 rotor on a non-M5 hub? I was wondering how the M5 rotor was going to mate up with the non-M5 hub that's on the temporary strut assemblies. I didn't really want to pull the hubs off and swap 'em if I didn't have to. Was starting to worry about the rotor set screw as I forgot to order a pair and the dealer doesn't have them in stock for some odd reason. But if I don't use one, then no worries...

No the set screw is in a different spot for the M5 rotor vs. the 530/540/ post 93 525. Interestingly my donor assemblies were from a 540 and a 535 and the 535 hub's set screw was in the correct spot. I haven't swapped hubs yet but may end up doing so as it is somewhat of a pain to get everything lined up correctly and the lug bolts started. The other option is to find a couple of studs that can be used as pilots to keep the rotor from falling off the hub ring while putting the wheel on.

Very interested in how this turns out for you, I decided that I didn't want to take a chance on the rebuild service, what with the shipping charges and inconvenience associated if things didn't work out.