Did a front brake job over the weekend and I noticed that the rubber boots that cover the upper half of the front struts are split and move freely. I've been wanting to replace the rear shocks. I wonder about the difficulty of replacing the front too.
I noticed that the front strut assembly has three bolts holding the bottom in place. Can one disassemble the front strut from the front end through the three bolts without having to pry apart the lower ball joint?

1994 525i