Touring Suspesion Kits

[shogun]

Search Ebay U.K. with : bmw 37211132043
Plenty new ones on offer, per piece around GBP 80

How to change http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/LA...cumulators.htm
the question is how corroded the old connections are, you might also need the short hose connections with the metal tube as shown, unfortunately pretty expensive, see www.realoem.com
or find a shop which crimps new hydraulic hoses onto the pipe bends. You need HIGH pressure hydraulic hoses, there is a max pressure of about 140 bar! My original ones are laid out for 180 bar.

[fran9r]

Great, thanks for the help. I'm a little concerned it didn't sure the author's ride quality, but appreciate it should have. Wonder what else they needed to change?

Definately think it would be best to change mine, maybe another job for the winter. The car can come off the road for a while.

[shogun]

A big difference you will feel. 2 weeks ago I changed on an E32 Alpina B12 750iL both LAD bombs, the owner complained about hard rear suspension. Original ones were from 1988! After I took them off with the hose still connected I put the bomb in a vice and used a large water pipe wrench to get the hose/pipe connection off. Then I pushed in a screwdriver into that hole into the bombs, the screwdriver went straight thru to the other side of the metal ball, on both bombs the 'bladders' with the gas were completely destroyed. No shock absorbing at all of course. After I installed 2 new bombs from Febi, he was very happy with the ride.
Pay attention not to buy "new" old stock. These bladders are not 100% tight and the material let's thru a certain percentage of the nitrogen every year, even when only stored and not in use. So if you buy old stock which is 10 years old, that is waste of money. The production date is embossed into the steel housing of the bombs.

[fran9r]

OK so I have checked out the shocks on the rear, and they seem OK -springs have a little rust but as the shock is covered by a runner cover there isn't much to see. There is no loss of fluid though.

One thing I have noticed is that the rear ride height seems low --only just above the tyre. It rose a small amount with the engine running, but not a great deal. Front suspension is stock.

Engine off:

Engine running:

Any comments?

[shogun]

Might be o.k., the front is always higher and that looks a bit 'funny', that is why many install lowering springs only in the front.

The Bentley Repair manual has info about that. As I do not have an E34 Manual from Bentley, I can only give you the data for the E32, but should be same/similar
Bentley's has a table for LAD equipped E32 cars as follows:
Wheels Rear ride height
15 in. 522 +/-3 mm (20.55 +/- 0.4 inches)
16 in. 529 +/-3 mm (20.93 +/- 0.1 inches)
17 in. 545 +/-3 mm (21.46 +/- 0.1 inches)

Ride height is measured from the lower edge of the wheel arch to the bottom edge of the wheel rim (not the ground).

You can adjust the ride height very easy, see my website. But make it slowly and wait till the pump pumps the fluid into the rear, 1 mm adjustment on the bar of the lever is/maybe about 1 inch of the ride height.
So adjustment must be very careful in small steps.
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/674635/
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/727174/

[genphreak]

Might be o.k., the front is always higher and that looks a bit 'funny'

Even though the human eye sees the e34 high at the front due to its lower rear arches, and the suspension height is measured from rim to wheel arch, this rule of thumb is simpler to use: Park the car on the flat, walk across the street and look at the car side-on: If the lower sill appears flat you are factory. If the rear of the sill is lower than the front, your SLS is not supporting the car's weight.

And springs get bad with age, new ones make a massive improvement. I replace them on mine when I do the shocks once the car gets >10 years old to restore factory ride and keep the feeling... yea baby!