Hi again

[Ferrett 1962]

I am finally able to post again. Been busy for a while, check out the evil e34 angel eyes
79977998
I know some people don't like the conversion but at least people see me comming now and don,t pull out in front of me. I want to do all the rubber bushings on the car but can only find left hand drive kits on ebay, does anyone know what the difference is and which part ( I think there is only one) is different between the two. I have been in contact with one seller and they will try and help if I can give them the part number for the right hand drive one.

[shogun]

You mean the beer cans in the rear? That should be same for RHD and LHD. Or what else? Post the part numbers based on your VIN from www.realoem.com
You can also check by yourselves then by using the part number and paste it on realoem into search by part number and then you know where that part number is used, all BMW with the same part number will pop up.

[632 Regal]

Welcome back! There shouldn't be any difference in anything except the center link AKA drag link. All the bushings should interchange.

[Ferrett 1962]

Thats what I thought, I did find a seller on ebay who stated there was one part different but I can"t find them again. I took shoguns advice and looked up the part numbers on real for the drag link and idler arm since I believe the difference would be to do with placement of steering box and so the conection would be changed, all else should be the same but both parts were listed for europe rhd and US vehicles so a little bit more checking might show something.

[632 Regal]

Thinking about it the centerlink might be the same as the idler arm and steering box just change sides. Just cross the numbers regarding bushings to be sure although I think their the same.

[BMWFatherFigure]

Hi Ferrett from Perth out west. AFAIK all parts will interchange except the steering box which is a mirror image casting (to attach to the other side chassis rail).

[shogun]

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Steering/steering_link.htm
center tie rod (in Australia you call it draglink) is different RHD and LHD.
This is for example for a RHD http://data.yiparts.com/Part/en/n/EEPM

[Ferrett 1962]

Thanks everyone, if I could find the other seller on ebay again it would be easy since they advertised they would supply RHD or LHD on request. Somehow I knew SHOGUN would have or find the right info.

[Rustam]

This is probably some confusion. An odd number means LHD , but in the case of bushings I hardly imagine they can be side specific.

What's the part numbers for LHD kits you found?

eBay is likely to give extra information that may be misleading.

[genphreak]

I think I fitted one on my RHD without any ill-effect, if it wasn't a LHD one I'm sure the US supplier would not have had it. There was no difference that I noticed at the time or afterwards.

[BMWFatherFigure]

I stand corrected on the drag-link. Still learning after all these years.....................

[Ferrett 1962]

Yuo are the second person I have been told about fitting the kit from the US. Looking at the parts I can.s see any difference at all but the part numbers on real don't match the kit although the kit is for the e34 body, still some time yet to order so a little more checking first. If this works this is the kit link http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-16-PIECE-FRONT-REAR-SUSPENSION-REPAIR-CONTROL-ARM-KIT-BMW-E34-/300661328108?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4600cfc8ec and my vin BR81162 if someone knows what they are looking at I would like some advice.

[shogun]

I just had a drag link LHD out. There are 2 connections/ball joints on a drag link, 1 is basically solid/fixed, the other one is much more flexible, the old one I took out and also the new one, so the RHD versions is just the opposite side.
32211138854
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partxref.do?part=32211138854&showus=on&showeur=on&series=E34&lang=enUS

here I found it: and here we see also the reason about the ball joints, the two balljoints are differently preloaded
http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7915&highlight=rhd+problem
this is the old big coupe

And I just went out behind my garage and dug out from the pile of scrap parts under 30 cm of snow the one draglink of my E32, it looks the same, one ball joint is differently preloaded. So the shape is the same LHD and RHD, it will fit, but the preload is on the opposite side. This is original BMW.
And I checked a bit more pictures and much to my surprise some of the cheaper aftermarket draglinks show no difference in the shape of the bottom part of the draglink, so I wonder if they just make these to fit RHD and LHD without the small differences BMW and the better ones make in ball joint preload?

[genphreak]

I'm talking about the Idler Arm (32211136450) and bushing, not the Drag Link (32211138854). I'm pretty sure I never fitted one of those drag links- I sourced a Lemfoerder one (from the US, yes) but it was special order. It turned out to be TRW branded and may have been RHD specific (but I doubt it). Sorry not to make it easy for you! The guys at BMA (http://www.bmaparts.com) will tell you what's what if you email them with your VIN and ask about the different RHD and LHD specific parts.

[Ferrett 1962]

Finally able to answer, been busy again. So I have new struts (inserts for the front) and will be replacing when I go on holliday's next week, and have ordered the bush kit from the US. I found a kit where the numbers match but not for the drag link so I will see when it arrives, if mine looks ok I will reuse it and see if I can get the new one set up right later. Pulled my old front struts apart, check out the rebound in the old inserts
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no wonder it was like going over waves in a small boat.I have read a number of ways to remove the collar off the struts but without help or the correct tools I found a way, since the inserts came with new nuts I chose to use my rotary hammer drill. Not as dramatic as it sounds I switched it to hammer only and used the pointed chisel
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There are four holes in the collar so I put the point of the chisel in one at an angle
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and with two or three small bursts the nut was loose enough to remove by hand, even with this if I had to the nut was not destroyed
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I have the new to mounts from the US ( less than a week) so more in next post.

[Ferrett 1962]

OK so I have new top mounts for both front and back but I won't know the condition of the back till I change them since I don't have an old set to rebuild beforhand like I have the front. Do you think the old ones were worn out at all?
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and the struts ready to put together when I get the boot and bump stops
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I will continue to post to interested people as I go.

[632 Regal]

I love rebuilds with pictures. Those mounts look a bit aged. Good call on the strut collar, I use a pipe wrench which really beats them up a bit. Look foreward to the next episode.

[genphreak]

Nice pics. I have never changed top mounts on the fronts before myself, so with your pics I can now go see how much I need to. Grrrrr!

The collar nuts just need a big wrench- bigger than any I am likely to have... and I've been doing a bit of plumbing recently too.

LOL!

BTW, great pics, thank moit!

[Ferrett 1962]

The big wrench would work but but I found with the hammer drill I didn't need any one to help hold the strut just one hand on strut and one holding the drill, I will post a pic of the drill (talk about overkill).

[Ferrett 1962]

Thanks mate I look forward to posting more photo's. I am a bit worried the spring compressors might not get the spring small enough when I assemble the strut but I WILL find a way. Just waiting for the boots and stops.

[632 Regal]

I used a floor jack pressing the spring end into a bench vise. With lowering springs I could press the spring enough to get the nut started. Also make sure the strut rod is fully extended. I pulled it all the way out and used a small clamp over a rag to hold it extended.

[Ferrett 1962]

I would love to see pictures of that because the vision I am getting in my head does not match the actual process you discribe. Even if I get the spring short enough does anyone have a picture of the socket and hex nut setup used to tighten the nut, a plug socket and hex key would work but the nut is 23mm and the plug socket is 22mm and will not fit. With the depth of the centre of the top mount a ring spanner won't reach, to remove the nut I used a vice clamp and socket but I can't use the vice clamp on the new strut or I will damage it. Is there a special tool I need to do the job?

[632 Regal]

I just compressed it enough to get it started with my fingers. After that I used an impact wrench to get the nut fully tight. No messing with torque wrenches on this one, pretty straight. Tight is tight and once on the car you can get a wrench and allen on the top to make sure.

[Ferrett 1962]

8009
See what I mean about overkill but it was the only thing I could thik of quickly
I think I can see what you mean 632 Regal on using the jack, still waiting for the stops and boots but I will see how it goes (with pictures). The new mounts will lift the front a bit but checking standard ride height from the book it is about 1.8 cm low, time to choose if I should look at lower springs, cut a small bit off the ones I have or just let it sit higher. However I go I am looking forward to having the ride I expect form a BMW.

[genphreak]

I'd swap them if I were you, there's nothing like new springs- only then will it feel new.

King springs (from QLD) make reasonably priced sets with with reliable/known ride heights, and you can buy them in pairs if it suits you. But on any 20 year old car, it's best to swap them all

[Ferrett 1962]

Advice taken Genphreak I have ordered new kings 30mm lower, should be here quickly from Melbourneand I can get the fronts ready for quick swap. I tried to get my hands on some old rears a while ago but missed out so I will have to do the rears on swap day instead. If all goes well I should have the bushes by then so I will do all the front one day ant the rear the next and after an alignment I hope it will be like driving this thing when it was new, I will try and get lots of pictures when it all happens,

[632 Regal]

You don't do your own alignments? Lol, kidding it's easier to take in except when I spent oodles of money and time and it still pulled and the steering wheel was off center I decided to give it a try myself. We had a thread on it somewhere here, I'll never pay again. There is only the toe adjustment unless you buy aftermarket camber plates, then you need to take it in.

Swapping rear differentials this weekend, but some slight problems delayed the maiden voyage. Have not even looked at the front but I do get a clunk tapping the brakes going forward. Figure it's the control arms, thrusts look like they were replaced.

[Ferrett 1962]

Great I finally got the springs posted over a week after paying onlineperformance for them. Good products but bad service, took a phone call to get sent and was told it would be sent tuesday for wednesday delivery but not sent till wednesday recieved thursday. 30mm lower springs, went to install on rebuilt struts but it looks like the thread on the new struts is shorter then original ones. I checked with monroe sit and it confirmes right struts but the nut will only wind on about half of the thread in depth. does anyone have some old struts they can measure the thread length so I can check and I used a thread lock on the nut but am worried about if there is enough thread wound on to hold. I can post pictures if you nee to see.

[genphreak]

I've no idea about King's service, I've always grabbed mine from a third party.

I'll check the thread length tomorrow and post back. There is a set of stockers under the house with the 22mm nut.

Are you saying you're using Monroe struts? I wonder what they are- Belgian made perhaps?

[Ferrett 1962]

All it says is made in EU so I don't know where. The spring were from a third party, ok stuff just realy slow to send even though they were listed as available
other sites stated it the ad they were a special order but at least they are here. The thread length is the problem as I can only get half the length of the nut on.

[632 Regal]

went to install on rebuilt struts but it looks like the thread on the new struts is shorter then original ones.

Are you sure the threads don't go as far or is the strut holding the piston rod down? I have had struts that you need to pull up to get the nuts on as posted above.

[Ferrett 1962]

Here is a couple of pictures
80108011
in the side shot you can see the mnoroe insert I took back out yesterday and you can see how short the thread is.
In the top shot that is as much of the nut I can get on, the thread is at least 10mm or more short.

[Ferrett 1962]

Ok I took some measurements, the nut is 12mm, bearing in top mount is 16mm same as the old one, topspring plate is 2.5mm and the total thickness of all washers is around 7mm, with all this the thread on the strut is only 25mm. Now 37.5mm does not fit into 25mm space, I can't see how any top mount would fit into this space given the other measurements the top mount thickness could only be 3.5mm, too thin for any bearing able to carry the stress of a five series front strut.
But I am interested if anyone knows different.

[genphreak]

I'm trying to follow you but don't get how all these items need to 'fit in 37.5mm' as some of those items (esp. the bearing) sit on the shaft not the thread.

I've not been able to pull down the pair I have under the house yet, but took a look at some new Konis which are for earlier e34. Their thread diameters are different, but the rest should be similar. This is how they measure up:

Top thread (outside dia 11mm) height (not inc the uppermost extension that has a small hex head on it for the adjuster spanner)
=25mm. Under that is a 10mm high taper that expands diameter to 13mm.

The 13mm section is 40mm high and locates spacers, washers and the top mount bearing. Below that there is a 5mm taper that expands to the shaft's sealing surface which is about 25mm dia and 138mm high from the uppermost part of the shock casing.

Be sure also that someone has not supplied and fitted early type shocks for your '95, they can be made to 'fit' by increasing the hole sizes of the washers and fitting different top nuts.

[Ferrett 1962]

If you look at the pictures I posted at 301 pm on the left of shot you can see one of the monroe struts leaning against some pavers, the top spring mount will not go past the thread at the top nor will the washers or top mount. I would believe only the nut should sit on the thread but nothing will go past what you call the 10mm high taper section and on to the 13mm expanded part so it all needs to fit on the thread section or the struts are wrong.

[genphreak]

The smooth shank section above the main sealing surface (and below the thread section) us where the main bearing resides. Jeff is right in that the spring sometimes throws the upper mount on an angle which makes it difficult to bring the mount down over the taper between this thread and the shank.

I am positive about this as:

1. It looks bad in the pics ( ...as you know!)
2. Engineering practice would never put a bearing on a thread
3. You should never torque a nut under strain, they can fail (as per Westgate bridge collapse).

BMW would never do 2, nor make repair shops do 3. They'd be a laughing stock.

You just need to use a spring compressor to compress the spring, position the top mount and tighten the top nut. If the mount won't drop down, it may be the type of mount used on the smaller diameter strut shaft, as fitted to M20 and M30 e34s (IIRC). Late-model struts have a larger shank than the early ones.

[Ferrett 1962]

Thanks mate, the struts I am rebuilding are the original ones I removed when they failed and replaced with a couple of second hand ones I got for $50. The new top mounts are the same as the old ones in size and depth and I am using the original top spring plate, even fitting without the spring to check fit they will not go past the thread, I have measured the shaft at 15.85mm and the hole in the bearing at 14.1mm. It is possible the struts were replaced by previous owner since when I got it it had been repaired with a narrow grill bonnet and they may have just grabed the struts off the same doner car to replace the original failing struts while they were repairing the car (badly). Still have the silver narrow bonnet in great condition by the way if anyone is interested. The top mounts I got were for a later e34 but they match the ones I took out.

[Ferrett 1962]

Ok on the phone to monroe today they say the mg312 are a later version of the mg308 the later having a 2mm narrower shaft than the 312, so now to try and find some 308's. Thanks for all the help and I will post a report on how I go.

[Ferrett 1962]

Right I now have the right struts but with the different versions even with the washers now there is too much play so I have given them to a shop to put together, just want to make sure they are right before I put them in and I hope they will set them up.
I have the new bush set from the US and the information from here is right, the kit will fit except the drag link because of the preload.
8013
8014
You can see there is no markings on the bottom of the ball joints and they look the same.
8015
Looking at the link the left hand side seems fixed while I can move the right side by hand, I have read the left can be moved with a hammer but I don't think I will try that. I have asked the shop doing the struts if they can change the setup to right hand drive and they are lookig into it and since it is already of the car cost should be minimal.

[Ferrett 1962]

I am going to do the big install tomorrow, I got the struts back still not done so I went to an engineering mob and had some spacers made so the front struts are together at last
8029
now all I have to do is put all the bits in.I will try and get some pictures on the way, does anyone know what size speakers are in the rear of an E34 as in dimensions because with the leaky sunroof I think there is some water damage to the left one and might replace them while the rear shelf is out.

[Ferrett 1962]

Well due to a later than expected start I only got the rear struts done and the sway bar links. I thought there would be a problem with the stance of the car with only doing the back but even with the drop it sits ok,sorry no photo's since I didn't want to handle the camera with all the crap on my hands (very messy working on a 19 year old car) but what a difference. Looking at the old stuff I think the car was saging at the back so although it has dropped a bit to 52 cm it was already sitting low, the old struts were easy to push down and took almost 20 seconds to come back up so they were stuffed and the top mounts were slightly bent over at the top (will get a shot of them tomorrow) but driving home from my fathers house I was looking for more corners toward the end. Before the change the car would squat on takeoff like a dog trying to drag it's butt on the floor now no drop at all just the front lifting a bit so even though it has no more power it feels like it's in more of a hurry to move, and through corners and roundabouts the rear sat totally flat unlike before when half way through the corner the back would drop and it felt like the back was deciding if it was going to try and lead on the way out. Can't wait to do the front tomorrow with trailing arm links on rear + most of the other bits on the front.

[Ferrett 1962]

All done, what an amazing transformation from old to new feel. I have no idea how it was when new but now sits flat and direct through corners now and I can't wait to find another reason to go for a drive. When removing the brakes to to install struts I had to push th pads back a bit due to ridges around the disks so I will replace them, OEM listings show the ones for my car were fitted to a number of cars from 520's to 530's but does not list years does anyone know what I can use on a 95 525i. ebay has 525 touring for my year so will they fit and what was changed over the years and models?

[genphreak]

Great to read you're progressing.

Disks are the same on the front for all non-v8 e34s as well as the 530i V8.
Make sure you use good pads, Textar, Bendix Ceramics or even Bendix GCTs are fine, but Akebono Euros are the best I've found for a street driven e34.
Suggest you don't change teh centre rod if you don't have a RHD version. Make sure yo do the tie-rods though, they wear more than any other joint on an e34.

[632 Regal]

I wondered where all the posts were going, I must have the forum not loading right under preferences. I missed all these posts since March!

An after thought would be to compare the top of both sets of struts, you would have noticed the new set was thicker. On the Sachs/Boge struts they simply give a 1mm spacer so they fit both types of top mounts...

Anyways congrats on completing the job at last.

[Ferrett 1962]

Thanks Regal and Genphreak, the first time I found the struts were not right was trying to put the new top mounts on as they would not fit so be careful when buying on line (no mention of strut thickness ) ask the seller questions before buying. Good thing to keep in mind but I am learning, money it a little tight so I ordered RDA rotors having read both good and bad things about them and they come with RDA pads as well and I hope they should work well together.I will also replace the fluid at the same time. I am trying to do all the small stuff on the car since it turns 19 in august this year and I want to do all the things older cars miss out on, I also have a metal impeller water pump comming and aluminium thermostat housing plus I am looking at water hose kits. Once all this is done she should be right for a while and I will start on things like door seals to get rid of wind noise that I can pick out now rattles and clunks have gone, it's funny what you hear when you turn the radio down to listen after doing major work.

[632 Regal]

Mine has some clunking happening up front, probably the control arms since it looks like the thrust arms were replaced. Control arms are aluminum and the boots are pretty beat up.

[Ferrett 1962]

I recieved the disks and pads yesterday
8032
8033
8034
8035
For some strange reason they sent slotted rear rotors even though my car does not come standard with them so I hope that should not be an issue. Have to work tomorrow and have things to do sunday so it will drive me mad not being able to get them on
but they look ok and came with strict bedding in instructions. Ordered new hose kit today, what thermostat works best OEM lists part numbers for 88 and 92 degree ones any idea which is best? I would think with the high temperatures we get here 88 should be the one even though this time of year sub-zero is common. I have time to work it out while waiting for water pump.

[Ferrett 1962]

Brakes all done at last, they feel good and as yet don't make any noise and I am being careful to bed them in well before pushing them too hard. Water pump arrived in good time from UK to OZ $70 landed here and the quality looks good, went with 88 thermostat now just waiting for hoses. Rear pads were the only problem, too thick to get them into the calipers by just a couple of mm no matter what I tried so had to sand them a little bit to get them in and only just got them over the new disk when fitting together but everything is working well. I wish I had the money to blow ahving found a 93 540 with only 177,000 km on it but I can't live in it and I would have to if I got it, the wife is only small but can be nasty.

[632 Regal]

On the door seals you can cut them on the bottom under the foot plate and expand the seals to fit again. I found that brand new ones shrink in 5-6 years so I will chop mine and make them fit. I should have an old seal somewhere to put in the space on the bottom.

[mattyb]

hi ferret, regardless of the hiccups if u had all he bits at hand and no problems how long do you reckon it would take per side? im doing this next week so jus wondering if a day or 2 is enough comfortably, thanks mate

[Ferrett 1962]

If you have everything at hand it should take no more than one hour per strut to do. In my case I had some old front struts and had them together so it was a simple swap and I had changed them out before for some second hand ones when my original ones *hit themselves earlier, thats why I had old ones to prepare. The problem I had was the different shaft sizes BMW used during production so the new top mounts I got were for the smaller shaft and this is not mentioned on ebay sale sites, do some homework and it will save some time. Getting caught with the bimmer in bits only to find it won't go back together with the new parts would have been a disaster, that said the rear were straight forward even with removing and replacing the springs it was no more than an hour for the first side and a bit less for the second. It does help a bit to have a friend to hold things in place while you tighten nuts and stuff plus to line up the struts when you put them in, no real hard work for them ( my 81 year old father helped me) so anyone will do. Hope this helps and you will love it when it's done.

[mattyb]

thanx mate

[Ferrett 1962]

Right , after almost a year with the new struts in all was well untill a month ago whan the car started to shake badly at 90km/h around 55 mph. I checked the new mounts and it looks like the left front is failing, the rubber surround looks like it is seperating from the centre. There is no noise from the front end at all it just shakes between 90 and 105 km/h then settles down although I can still feel a very slight vibration. I want to change out the left side again, any other ideas about what might cause this.

[shogun]

I can tell you a story we had with an E32 Alpina B12 last year. Someone contacted me to solve his problem of severe shaking under certain speeds and road conditions. I almost could not believe what he told me. Drove the car and under normal conditions it drove quite smooth, but suddenly at a certain speed and road surface conditions it started shaking like hell in the steering wheel. The whole car was shaking.
We tried many things like.....
-changing front wheels and tires from another B12, same result, so we could delete this from the list
-changing front shocks, shock mounts from my parts car into the B12, no improvement
-removing the front wheel brakes and put them into a wheel balancing machine to check for unbalance. A bit of unbalance, that we could remove with grinding on the back. But no further improvement
-went onto a street with rough surface, let engine run and watched the steering movement with hood open. Noticed that the gear box was slightly moving when working heavy. It was moving only a little bit, although bolted on, but not according to spec, retightened it and re-tightening improved again a bit.
-changed upper and lower arms
-changed engine and transmission mounts and dogbones
-installed a new driveshaft center bearing as this was definitely shot. That improved shaking under the car/center console, but in the front it was still there.
-changed outer steering links
-then we changed the idler arm bushing, the pitman arm, tie rods and center tie rod http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Steering/steering_link.htm
All of these joints had a bit of play, the worst where the connections on the center tie rod, the one movable was very lose.
The sum of all made the big vibration, but the worst one was the center tie rod.
Let someone sit in the car, engine running, let him turn the steering wheel slowly till the wheels start moving while you watch all the joints. Then you can see where the problem is.

Also, I repeat for the others which do not read this long thread, you know it already, there are center tie rods for LHD and RHD cars. Most of the aftermarket companies sell only one version and mention it is usuable for RHD and LHD. This is wrong! BMW has center tie rods for LHD and RHD and the reason is clear.
The idler arm joint only rotates. The pitman arm joint both rotates and tilts.

In Australia you can get the right stuff, I quote: I can confirm that they are indeed different parts for LHD and RHD variants and are not interchangeable. I believe the part number you're looking for is 32211138855. Because it's a RHD-specific part, there's really not a lot of aftermarket support from manufacturers, so it makes it a lot more difficult to find a good quality replacement outside of BMW Genuine. We're actually just about to add them to the website for $89 each, along with the tie rods. As it happens, over the weekend we did a big front-end refresh on one of our own E34s that included the centre steering rod, tie rods, idler arm, sway bar links, upper control arms with E32 750i bushes, and aluminium E31 850i lower control arms with spherical bearings. We'll be offering almost everything on the website in the next couple of weeks. We'll also be putting up a blog post about it around the same time, but I can tell you now that it made a huge difference to the way the car steers and handles and reacts. The job was literally finished about 24 hours ago and hasn't yet had a professional laser wheel alignment completed, but it's already night-and-day. Cheers, Ben http://clickableautomotive.com.au/

Thread: E34 steering centre tie rod: RHD and LHD the same? http://www.bmwforums.com.au/showthread.php/44738-E34-steering-centre-tie-rod-RHD-and-LHD-the-same

[mattyb]

recently had the same issue, got underneath and had some one turn the steering wheel and sure enough the draglink had enormous play, passenger side, replaced it and no probs at all. In OZ it is definitely called a drag link. I normally do stuff like this myself but was too busy so got mechanic to do it cost about $24o all up. glad I did so when he showed me the right side it was fkd and he actually bent a breaker bar trying to remove it was that old and fixed into position.

[Ferrett 1962]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I know about the drag link LH/RH issue, this has made me think if there is another issue that could have caused the mount to fail so when I replace it I will do the reat of the parts I have at the same time.8374
The first picture is the right side mount
8375 the second is the left, you can see the left is comming apart. This could mbe the cause of the shudder or a result of it.
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This a part I got hold of, it is supposed to be a replacement for the old design. The bearing is larger than the old one , by that I mean in the old one only the small centre would spin but on this one the larger circle you see rotates in the middle. the only problem I have is the hole is 14mm but the shaft on the strut is only 12 mm and I don't know if this will be a problem.

[632 Regal]

the only problem I have is the hole is 14mm but the shaft on the strut is only 12 mm and I don't know if this will be a problem.

Yes it will be a problem, you will need a spacer to fill the gap. When I first went to the Boge/Sachs they came with a spacer so it could be used with both the 12mm & 14mm mounts.

Also be sure that the length of the strut will work with the new style mount IE: no up down play after tightening the strut.

[Ferrett 1962]

sSorry about the late reply, been busy with family issues. I will look for a spacer for the mount and try install, thankfully I have other transport now and don't need to drive every day
8382
came home just before christmas last year and told the wife I just bought this and she didn't even yell at me.
Any way I will get to install soon I hope as work should start to slow down soon over the break and I will let you know the result thanks for the help

[Ferrett 1962]

Fixed!!! Thanks to all who offered help, I looked under the car while someone turned the steering and saw a lot of play at the left control arm at the subframe and so went ahead and replaced both left and right control arms along with both thrust arms with parts I got with a kit. I have had these parts since just after doing the suspension but have been too busy and sometimes lazy to fit but after fitting the shakes have gone and the car goes like it should, thanks for the idea of removing the steering arm completely with both arms attached. It only took 10 min or so to replace both arms and then assembly back into the car was straight fowrard. Istill did not replace the strut mount as I have decided to get another one and do both front again at the same time, I am getting goo at pulling the front apart now but I was on my own and I think it realy is a two person job. My father can't help now, he has deveploed two terminal brain tumors he is paralized on his right side and has almost lost his speach. He taught me much of what I know about working on cars and for that I thank him, I know he will smile when I tell him what I have done.

[632 Regal]

Sorry to hear about your father.

Have my parts sitting here also. Between the weather and laziness it has not happened yet. If I had a garage it would have been done a long time ago. Working under a car on an unlevel concrete pad doesn't really enthuse me much.

[Ferrett 1962]

Buy a mate a case of beer to use his garage I think it is worth the effort, the front end feels tighter and more direct. Don't wait for failure before replacing, if I had known I would have done this at the same time as the suspension since it looks like this may have caused the failure of the strut mount. At first I thought the mount was the cause of the shake but after posting here the replies led me to look deeper and see the mount was a symptom rather than the cause. Went looking around today and found a 2000 740il in the back of a car yard today, very nice. He said he wanted $6500 or so but cash would bring the price down I think, this is Shogun's turf what should I look for in the way of problems?

[genphreak]

Also, I repeat for the others which do not read this long thread, you know it already, there are center tie rods for LHD and RHD cars. Most of the aftermarket companies sell only one version and mention it is usuable for RHD and LHD. This is wrong! BMW has center tie rods for LHD and RHD and the reason is clear.
The idler arm joint only rotates. The pitman arm joint both rotates and tilts.

Just re-read this thread so now have this little nugget of info confirmed, thank you Erich for taking the time to point it out. I would have missed it without your conclusion.

Ben at clickable is certainly a legend down here, I'm going to be buying from him wherever I can from now on...