For some time my Coupe had entertained me with a certain sound as I reversed out of my garage. there was a "clack" that I could not pinpoint. I would put the car up on jack stands and inspect all of the steering gear, and it was all new and tight. No play anywhere. Wheel bearings to spec. Hmmm. So, with an NOS set of Koni adjustable front struts in the box just waiting to be installed, I thought it was time. Took everything apart. Much to my surprise, there were Bilsteins in there. Nice! Have never had a complaint about their operation, but I had never really been in there to look. Next up, those front strut bearings or "carriers". Removed, cleaned, and found they had that angry, gritty sound and warranted replacement. Major impediment to moving forward was the discovery that replacement units through the BMW dealer, were in Canadian Dollars, now $467. ...each! I wasted time cleaning and applying more grease to the original units, but still, they did not seem good. I searched this Forum and as usual, I found a useful post by Luis where he identified that a different part number unit could be substituted, just change out the 3 mounting studs. I did this and the price difference was C$300 per side! I know! Ridiculous. Made the swap, completed install, finally road tested today. Difference is night and day.
What I did find out is the original bearing did not seem tight. There were extra threads visible once the cap was removed. It is a shame these top nuts are not exposed in the wheel arch so that we can check torque, but I guess the cap is there to prevent contamination. In any event, job was successful, car drives better than ever, always worth going in there.
I had significant anxiety about using a spring compressor, ( not difficult to find stories where a compressor has failed and there were some injuries) so I had a professional perform the initial removal. Some research later, I discovered, new coil spring compressors have come a long way, and I found one that had huge jaws to really grip lower coil and the unit included a band that united the top part of the compressor and prevented any scary slippage or mis alignment, at least in my case. And I was successful at the re-install. Very pleased with result. Mike
What I did find out is the original bearing did not seem tight. There were extra threads visible once the cap was removed. It is a shame these top nuts are not exposed in the wheel arch so that we can check torque, but I guess the cap is there to prevent contamination. In any event, job was successful, car drives better than ever, always worth going in there.
I had significant anxiety about using a spring compressor, ( not difficult to find stories where a compressor has failed and there were some injuries) so I had a professional perform the initial removal. Some research later, I discovered, new coil spring compressors have come a long way, and I found one that had huge jaws to really grip lower coil and the unit included a band that united the top part of the compressor and prevented any scary slippage or mis alignment, at least in my case. And I was successful at the re-install. Very pleased with result.
Mike
