1997 318i Rear suspension overhaul

[pureretro]

Hi all, we've had the car since it was new and I've been tackling all of the regular maintainence issues. It's got 154k on the clock now and i'm hearing a thunk in the rear suspension with uneven surfaces. It's the wife's car and hasn't had a particular hard life.

I suspect it's the rear shock mounts, but figured I'd do the following while the patient is open. I've gone through the suspension FAQ and figured a day to cover the following:

- Rear Strut mounts (ordered Meyle HD, I use some of their parts of my e39 M5) and gasket
- Boge Struts (or some Bilstein variant? stock spring will be used)
- Rogue Engineering RTAB Black for street

I'd consider the M3 ball joints for upper and lower but don't want too much down time. Thoughts? Am I missing anything else?

The front would be next...just have to find my spring compressor first.

[flyfishvt]

You're missing Subframe bushings. do it all once and forget about it for the life of the car.

[pureretro]

Was hoping to not get that involved. Is there a way to tell if things have gone south with the subframe bushing? I hear no noise under acceleration and given that this is a 318i, i figured the stress would be less....