How to install coilovers on your e30
Notes
Main focus on the front passenger side and touched based on the rear.
The front driver side is identical except for the fact that the brake wear indicator sensor wiring is only on the front driver side and right rear passenger side, its just a wiring harness you need to unplug.
parts
Front
- coilover sleeves
- springs
- top hats
- sport strut shock
- gland nut for the strut
- washer
- stock strut bearing or camber plates
- automatic transmission fluid or motor oil
Rear
- heavy duty rear shock mount or aftermarket rear shock mount
- sport shock
- bolt for the bottom of the shock
- lower spring pad
- coilover sleeve
- spring
- polyurethane top spring pad
Tools
- safety glasses
- spring compressor
- 3/8 impact gun
- 12 deep 6 point
- 13 deep 6 point
- 17 deep 6 point
- 19 deep 6 point
- 15 mm open end wrench
- 5-8mm size allen for the abs sensor
- air chisel-hammer attachment
- ruler
- water pump pliers
- calipers with a dial gauge
- bungee cord
- long pry bar
- Bilstein tool for tightening the shock onto the strut
- carb spray
FRONT ASSEMBLY
new Bilstein sports
GE coil sleeves
HyperCoil springs
take an initial height measurement
a hair under 23 inches at the highest point on the fender
leave the key in the ignition and make sure the steering lock mechanism is not engaged
get the car up in the air
remove the wheel
rotate the steering rack towards the driver side to allow better access to the caliper
remove the 17mm bolts on the caliper by holding the inner nut with a 15mm open end wrench
hang the caliper to relieve stress on the brake line
loosen the bolt on the tie rod
17mm
6 inch extension
3/8 impact gun
loosen the bolt on the control arm ball joint
19mm
6 inch extension
3/8 impact gun
un bolt the sway bar
13 mm
3/8 impact gun
unbolt the abs sensor
5-8 mm allen bolt
(cant remember size)
unbolt the 3 nuts on the strut
hit the strut where the tie rod and control arm are bolted to
with the hammer/chisel gun to break it free.
with a long pry bar insert it into one of the holes in the control arm
push on the control and use leverage
to move the ball joint off the strut to remove it from the car.
now the strut is here complete
next aim the spring at wall and wear safety glasses
disclaimer
if you are removing stock springs i would take your struts to a a shop and have the springs decompressed and removed.
these springs are shorter and dont have as much "spring in them" when compared to stock.
make sure you are wearing your safety glasses
Step on the strut with your left foot
hit the top gland nut with your impact gun
and commit.
19mm
3/8 impact gun
a second later
all arms legs and eyeballs still intact
water pump pliers to remove the retaining nut on the strut insert
you could also use large channel lock pliers
coworker here demonstrating one technique while i snapped the picture.
lowered the lift slowly onto the strut to keep it from rotating
then loosing the retaining nut on the shock
old vs new
left old H&R touring cup kit front strut insert
right new Bilstein Sport shock custom valved and the bumpstop cut in half
compare the shock shaft size.
After speaking with an owner of a shop in L.A. Cesar Navarro
has the same setup as mentioned in the first picture.
He recommended setting up the front coilover sleeves at an
1.5 inches from the bottom.
Going to use this as a base/starting point
add some oil to the shock strut.
use about shot glass amount
clean the strut well slide the coilover sleeve on
install the shock strut
tighten the retaining nut
install the spring
install the top hat
install the bearing
install the washer
tighten the new 19mm nut
with the car back on the ground the front sits at 23 3/4 of an inch
id like to come back down 1/2 an inch.
23 1/4 would be good
REAR ASSEMBLY
the rear is much easier
un bolt the top shock bolts
2 13mm nuts on each side
right angle air ratchet with a deep 13 mm works best here
un bolt the lower rear shock mount
19mm and 3/8 impact gun
no picture
new rear shocks
reusing old external bump stops
old dust boots on
turner motorsports polyurethane/aluminum rear shock mounts
17mm nuts tightened back on with a 3/8 impact gun
lower spring pad
lower spring pad with alignment o ring installed
1 inch from the bottom as a starting point
sleeve pressed on top of the o ring and lower spring pad
600lb rear spring placed on top of the new spring pad
polyurethane top spring pad placed on top
clean the lower mounting area with some carb cleaner.
installed
1 big problem I ran into
My front coilover sleeves where made out of round.
I had my coworker true the sleeve a little bit.
the strut is 2 inches outer diameter
the sleeve is 2.10-2.15 inner diameter
i had him take off 0.0055 TIR
and they still fit tight but exactly what i wanted.
i tapped the sleeves on the strut with the palm of my hand.
{global_content name='coilovervideo'}
