Replacing Front Struts - 535I

[vping]

Evening Gents,

When I got my bimmer (1990 535I) I knew it needed struts. So in replacing them this evening, the first thing that was odd was the diameter of the tube was different than the original. No problem here as when I decided to check the box, there is a collar that fits over the strut tube and into the strut housing on the original to make it fit. Don't kill me for not getting BMW parts but the KYB was all I could afford for now. OK that problem solved but I also happened upon the destructions and decided to take a look - although I'm a real man and who needs them. Well the instructions are only in pictograms. One picture is of the strut tube in a vice and a pictogram of a drill showing that I need to drill a 5mm hole, 20 mm up from the bottom and another one 50mm down from the top. Then another little pictogram showing that I need to shakeout the gas and oil. Why in the world would I drill into a new strut cartridge? Is this correct or is this their way of showing how to dispose of the old ones?

Let me know what you think. I'd really like to finish it up, install the rotors and see how she handles.

Thanks
Vince