Okay, fine...I'll buy OEM.

[Tenrac]

Problem? :D

These came from Ebay. :embarrasm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/slowsoul/photo1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/slowsoul/photo2.jpg

[ShapeShifter]

That sucks, this why I always say Do NOT buy the cheap parts.

Who was the vendor?
Do you know what brand they were? Uro?

[Tenrac]

Yes, they were Uro's. This must have been a gradual failure, because I didn't even notice it until I was under my hood...

My general philosophy with tools and car parts (there are some exceptions) is that I buy the cheap stuff first, and then if it breaks, I replace it with the more expensive stuff. So, far I have a pretty good win/fail ratio.

[marct335i]

Where's the top washer? You didnt put that back on.

[Tenrac]

There was not a top washer on the assembly when I disasembled it. I put it back together the way it was when I got the car. From the Strut top diagram in the FAQ, the only other piece I see that goes with the strut top on the top side is the piece that allows the dust cover to snap on...I don't see a washer.

Besides that, I don't see how a washer would stop this failure from occuring, the rubber has sheared loose from the inside of the bushing. The strut rod punched through the mount, most likely on compression. A washer at the top nut would only help on rebound. I am guessing this happened during one of my recent trips up into the mountains.

[Travis R]

FYI, for every compression there is also a rebound, so the top washer is almost as important as the bottom washer... which is probably also missing.
The washers distribute the damping loads across the entire mount, not just the tiny bit of rubber that happens to be touching the inner sleeve.

[Schneider]

IMO that strut rod looks like it has too much thread out. It seems like you are missing both washers which is one of the reasons for premature failing (besides they are uro).

[Tenrac]

Before anyone gives me anymore advice about washers...kindly take a look at post #4 of this thread http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=938227 and point out to me the washers you are talking about in these diagrams...they are numbered so it will be easy for you. The strut mount you will be looking at is VERSION 1. (the first one) ;)

Of the three different versions of strut mounts, the only one that has washers on either side of the mount is VERSION 3. Item #3 and Item #7 in the VERSION 3 diagram...I am not using VERSION 3 mounts, I am using VERSION 1 mounts. There are no washers on the VERSION 1 and 2 mounts.

[bubba966]

#'s 3 & 5 in the version 1 pic is probably what you're missing. Definitely #5 as you can see in the pics that it's not there.

[jehu]

No top wahser here... rears need them though..
FWIW the front strut mounts on mine as far as I know are original and thus still good after 388,000 miles of brutality.

Even if they were replaced before the 129,000 when I bought it that's still impressive.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/j/q/78.png

[M Quick]

Ya, #3 and #5 definately looks like washers and i can't see #5 on yours?




EDIT: meant #5 not #3

[jehu]

#3 goes UNDER the Mount though so you wouldn't see it,right?

[stija]

I dont think he's missing #5, it's there in the picture. The strut rod just went through the mount and #5.....he however may be missing #3. We can't know from the pictures.

#5 is the first inner metal circle, look more closely.

[jehu]

The absense of #3 will definately result is blown out mounts as the inner metal sleeve through which the strut rod passes will meet the ridge on that rod without #3 distributing the force away from that sleeve so it just punches at it and easily breaks it loose.

[wastedincome]

This entire "washer" on strut mount/bearing seems to be a BIG topic lately. I went and checked mine= NO washer between top nut and mount. YET according to both Bently AND realoem is NOT there for sub 93' years. MY mounts are about 3yrs old w/NO washer AND drivin HARD w/ NO failure

[Tenrac]

It is very possible that I don't have #3 installed. This is a late model E34 running early model E34 struts/strut mounts...I very well could have left #3 out because I bought the strut mounts seperately, and therefore I didn't have #3 to begin with, it is not a part of the original VERSION 3 assembly, and I didn't know that it was missing from the VERSION 1 assembly...follow?

I could see how the absence of #3 could cause this to happen. I'll find out when I break these down. I bet that is it.

If that IS the case, then I am actually very impressed at how long these mounts lasted getting pummeled like that!

[jehu]

This entire "washer" on strut mount/bearing seems to be a BIG topic lately. I went and checked mine= NO washer between top nut and mount. YET according to both Bently AND realoem is NOT there for sub 93' years. MY mounts are about 3yrs old w/NO washer AND drivin HARD w/ NO failure

How about your rears?

I had rears done recently and the shop left off the top washer. Its a big,flat maybe two inch diameter heavy washer with an opening for the shock rod directly under the top nut. They left that off and the mount busted. I was back to them in a week. They looked at it and said the washer's missing...

It had to have been left off by them because that mount had been fine for a couple of years.. bought a new washer , had a new mount installed and its still good 8 months out.

[Meeve]

Cheap lowering?

[wastedincome]

How about your rears?

I had rears done recently and the shop left off the top washer. Its a big,flat maybe two inch diameter heavy washer with an opening for the shock rod directly under the top nut. They left that off and the mount busted. I was back to them in a week. They looked at it and said the washer's missing...

It had to have been left off by them because that mount had been fine for a couple of years.. bought a new washer , had a new mount installed and its still good 8 months out.


ALL my suspension work was changed out by ME and at the same time. It's tough to check my rears, but I will soon.

[Tenrac]

Cheap lowering...not really. I only cheaped out on the strut mounts. When I bought the struts, I didn't know about the different versions of the strut tops. The struts that I bought were not compatible with the strut tops on my car. I was out of money, so I cheaped out on the strut tops.

[wastedincome]

When I bought the struts, I didn't know about the different versions of the strut tops. The struts that I bought were not compatible with the strut tops on my car.

Perhaps, THATS the reason!?!?!?! NOT sure IF they changed anything is the later years on the strut towers OR angles, BUT obviously different parts were used:confused:confused

[Tenrac]

No, the strut mounts and struts are interchangeable between the years. As long as you keep everything matched up correctly, it is fine, meaning VERSION 1 strut mounts have to be matched up with the corresponding struts, VERSION 2 and 3 etc. My struts match my strut mounts...I have already had that discussion, and it is covered in the forums.

I am positive that the problem that I am having in the pictures is because I am missing part #3 in the diagram above.

[marct335i]

Number 5, the washer I pointed out that is not there, evenly distributes the pressure put on the strut mount due to the compressed spring and strut. It spreads out the pressure over a wider surface area. With out it, the force is much more concentrated.

Number 3 seems to come into play when the bumpstop is hit... IDK about that one though. My billie sport fronts have internal bumpstops so...

Of course this is my understanding with could be completely wrong.

[camaroguy]

Can anyone else see that it looks like the top of the strut tower is also starting to mushroom slightly? It looks to me like a couple of the mounting bolts for the strut mount are actually coming off at a slight angle (not quite 90 degrees).

I had this problem on my car, and wondered how common it was. Maybe its more common than we think, and its hard to notice because its not super obvious like the e46 in that other post?

[attack eagle]

yep, you are missing #3 for sure, so every bump you hit is sending the entire force thru the rubber (in shear) to rip the mount apart.
instead of in compression over the entire mount.

the actually inner part of the mount is designed to simply isolate suspension vibration and road noise, not actually carry any 'real' force...

looks like 5 is missing too.

[Tenrac]

Can anyone else see that it looks like the top of the strut tower is also starting to mushroom slightly? It looks to me like a couple of the mounting bolts for the strut mount are actually coming off at a slight angle (not quite 90 degrees).

I had this problem on my car, and wondered how common it was. Maybe its more common than we think, and its hard to notice because its not super obvious like the e46 in that other post?

In the picture it does look like that, but not in person. What you are seeing is camera lens distortion in this case.

[Tenrac]

Just to update.

I bought the new strut mounts, the #3 and #5 washers that we discussed, pulled my front struts apart, installed everything as it should have been, zipped it all back together, and it's all good. The steering response and stability have improved, and the ride is about 30% more harsh than it was. I attribute both of these to the fact that the struts are now being retained by metal rather than rubber.

Thanks for the input guys!

[strad]

Can anyone else see that it looks like the top of the strut tower is also starting to mushroom slightly? It looks to me like a couple of the mounting bolts for the strut mount are actually coming off at a slight angle (not quite 90 degrees).

I had this problem on my car, and wondered how common it was. Maybe its more common than we think, and its hard to notice because its not super obvious like the e46 in that other post?


Well I have not seen the mushrooming, but I definitely have seen the strut mount get deformed so badly that all the mounting bolts were pointed outwards instead of straight up. The new mounts fit fine on this car, so I think the tower itself was fine. Sure was a PITA to get the old mount out though lol. This was on a 94 525i with 93k miles on it.