Rear shock top mount??

JFENG

JFENG

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Decided to chase down a rattle from the rear left/right. Here is what I found when I dropped one of the shocks. Does this look right to anyone? Where is the metal sleeve (33521105047)? Why the 2-piece rubber bushing?

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John, I think those mount parts were standard with the Bilsteins for our E9's, came in the box. I still have all of them brand new as I used new OEM mounts.
 
Yeah- that’s a known issue. As the rubber gets old the shock shaft gets shifted (loudly) into the chassis.

That’s why we use the metal sleeve and the through bushing as seen in ETK
 
I have had to use that style to fit my new spax as the rod is too short for originals. Are there any through bushings for these shocks?
 
sfdon said:
Yeah- that’s a known issue. As the rubber gets old the shock shaft gets shifted (loudly) into the chassis.

That’s why we use the metal sleeve and the through bushing as seen in ETK
Click to expand...

Yep, as noted also in other threads.
Note that @deQuincey also figured out that the rubber 'trough' piece with the metal sleeve is pictured upside down in the tech drawings. If i remember well, the thick side should be in the trunk, thin side towards the road. Opposite of what you would expect.
DeQuincey has a thread on it here, somewhere.
 
I had exactly the same rattle / clunk coming from the rear that sounded like an exhaust system banging against the body but it was the upper rear shock mounts. I had the shocks mounted for 4 or 5 years before it started and my hypothesis is the rubber in the lower part of the mount started to soften a bit allowing the shocks to wiggle in the shock tower which has a hole the size of a Nickle or so.

This was a very helpful thread on the right type of bushing to use which I got from Carl

Installation Bilstein shock absorbers

Hi guys, I would like to install the rear sub frame of my E9 tomorrow. I have a question about the rubber(s) that should be used in the shock towers. Can I use the original rubber with bushing (nr. 10 & 11 picture below) or should I use the rubbers delivered with the Bilstein shock absorber...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com

I was dreading doing this but it turned out I was able to knock it out in an afternoon. I removed the top retaining screws and jacked up the car allowing the shock rods to come below the tower. The removal of the old bushings was easy but I was worried about the new ones with the sleeve which seemed rock hard. In addition my car has some an additional plate welded into the top of the shock tower making it thicker. I trimmed off some of the bushing flange on the big side to allow it to fit. To install I removed the rear speakers which gave me better access and leverage to press them in. Before this however I put them in a measuring cup of water I boiled in the microwave to soften them up a bit and used dish soap before pressing them in. The went in like a charm. I installed the sleeve from the bottom and used the jack to raise the rear suspension arm to guide the strut rod into the sleeve and bushing. To my surprise it went in very easily.

-Kurt
 
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I installed new bushings (from BAVBOB) from the bottom. I used a teeny bit of rubber friendly silicon lube and it went right in with a little twisting (without the metal sleeves). To get the bottom of the shock onto the threaded rod, I had to fully compress the Bilstein shock with both hands. Removal and replacement of each side took maybe 30 minutes .

I didn’t have the metal sleeves, but found a 1” long bronze bushing at the hardware store that was within 0.5mm the right length and OD. I drilled it out to fit over the shock rod.
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