Z3 M Strut Hats Swap DIY

[ldf]

This DIY is based on the fact that you will have a basic knowledge of your tools!
The other day i got around doing this thanks to somebody here that suggested this as an option to clear my wheels and offset in the front end and it worked like a charm! If you know what you are doing this will take you less than 2 hrs!
PLS NOTE: Do This At your OWN RISK! And if there are mistakes , sorry its the first time i did this and i hope it will be explicit enough!
"THIS WILL WORK ON M version ONLY"

First Step is to jack the front end of the car! and place the vehicle on jacks as you will need the jack to support the base of the Rotor to move the suspension Up and down as needed!

1. Unscrew the top 3 bolt nuts, the strut will not be set free until you unbolt the link from the strut



in order to do so , i placed the jack under the rotor and i played with the height up and down untill it aligned with the link and the bolts will unscrew very easy! same step is needed to put the strut back!

2.These are the tools i used to open the top strut on my coilovers, and this may very with every coilovers setup ! Mine are KW



this is how i applied the method, i also used a halo metal bar on the allen key for stronger force



you will now also see the "R" Or "L" engraved on top of the strut hat, which also points on the front end of the car!



Simply swap the hats so that the L goes to R and vice versa !

3. Make sure that when the strut sits freely you check your brake lines and dont have them tangled, mine was stretched a bit but nothing close to breaking or anything like that but make sure you do watch out for them!




4. After the strut top is opened and unscrewed, you will need to compress the spring in order to put the strut back together!

I used plastic ties and it worked great! the bigger the ties the less of them you will have to use! if you get the thick ones you will probably only need a couple!
NOTE: Do Not Attempt This With OEM Springs or if the tension needs to be greater than half an inch for coilovers.



5.after the spring is back on the strut, you now have enough space to compress the bolts and tighten it!


6.Now put everything back together and you should have plenty of negative camber

BEFORE


TOP VIEW


AFTER


TOP VIEW

[Robstah]

Coilover suspension and didn't want to pay for camber plates? Interesting.

This is very dangerous guys. I don't recommend doing it like this. His coilover springs are probably not tensioned nearly as much as the stock spring setup. Each setup will be different with spring tension. Removing 3 extra bolts will allow you to do this off the car, just in case if anything happens. I would hate to see a picture with a strut hat stuck in someone's head.

[kobayashi]

I need to do this in a couple of months when I get back to the States. The PO of my car put on TCK supsension but didn't opt for the camber plates. :-(

[SunzOut]

This is very dangerous guys. I don't recommend doing it like this. His coilover springs are probably not tensioned nearly as much as the stock spring setup. Each setup will be different with spring tension. Removing 3 extra bolts will allow you to do this off the car, just in case if anything happens. I would hate to see a picture with a strut hat stuck in someone's head.

+1 - With coilovers there is no need to compress the spring, just screw the lower spring height adjuster until there is no tension on the spring.

For OEM struts you really need to use some form of spring compressor (not cable ties!!) before you remove the top nut on the shock.

[janikphoto]

Yeah, I'd be more willing to buy a cheap spring compressor than to use cable ties. However, the cable tie idea is great to know, in case i am ever stuck in the middle of nowhere without proper tools and need to perform a similar task! MacGyver for the win!!!

[ldf]

[QUOTE=Robstah;21899016]Coilover suspension and didn't want to pay for camber plates? Interesting.

Why Get Camber plates when there is an option not To?
Espcially when camber plates dont use the OEM Strut hat and tend to get Noisy, also not using the car for TRACK!

[ldf]

"This is very dangerous guys. I don't recommend doing it like this. His coilover springs are probably not tensioned nearly as much as the stock spring setup. Each setup will be different with spring tension."

I agree , the tension on my spring was minimal, i would not recommend this for other setups, its just how i got around it!

[CLWNSHU]

I just rented a pair of spring compressors from an auto parts store...this is a MUST for OEM springs.