e34 540i Koni sport and H&R sport install notes and performance review

[summitp]

So my car is a 1994 euro spec 540i 6 speed manual. It did not have sport package. It was previously lowered on an unknown green lowering spring, and bilstein sport dampers. Shocks were worn which precipitated this work. I don’t post too much, but wanted to put this info out there, as I struggled to find good info on suspension for the e34, most of the reviews out there, are my konis are awesome, or my bilsteins are great, but super stiff, etc… not a lot of detail.
Parts replaced were koni sport dampers, H&R sport springs, new front shock mounts and spring pads, bump stops and shock boots, new rear shock mounts, gaskets, spring pads, bump stops, and shock boots. You must use external bump stops with the konis. They do not have an internal bumpstop like the bilsteins sometimes do.
Performance: I have konis on another car (Porsche 944 Turbo), and love them, and have had them on past cars. In my experience, they are the standard. Great shock absorbers. This is again the case, I think they pair well with the H&R sport springs. I have both my front and rear shocks adjusted 1 full turn clockwise from soft, and am pretty happy with the setting there. The ride is firm, not jarring at all, and very smooth. The body is very well controlled. You know a bump is there, but it is well absorbed. Large bumps are also well absorbed with no harshness. My car is used as a commuter/kid hauler, and I have a separate sports car, so I wasn’t looking for a track feel, or super stiff setup, I wanted a sporty ride, but it had to be smooth, and the konis provide this. Turn in is crisp, and the chassis responds well to inputs, and bumps of any size do not upset the car. I am very happy in this setup, and it is a great all around performance oriented daily driver set up.
I have had bilsteins HD and sports on other cars in the past, and they are good, but not as good as koni. Koni finds the sweet spot between performance (very good) and comfort. I do not have experience with the bilstein on an e34, but have read repeatedly that they are very stiff. That was not what I was looking for with this car, as I don’t think stiff really fits the character of the car, but to each their own.
Install and Notes
About a month ago, I put in new tie rods, drag link, idler arm and bushing, sway bar end links, front control arms, rear pitman link, sway bar end links, and I think that is it. This work went a long way to tightening the car up, but it was clear the bilstein shocks were tired.
The work is very straightforward. Jacked the car up onto 4 jackstands, removed all the wheels.
Front
1. Remove brake calipers, and unhook the brake line from the strut, zip tie out of the way.
2. Remove the abs sensor, and unhook line from strut, move out of the way. For the driver side you will also unplug the brake wear sensor and remove the line from the strut. Move out of the way.
3. Using a 16 open ended wrench, and a 17mm wrench, remove the sway bar end link from the strut.
4. Use a 19mm socket to undo the three bolts locating the strut on the control arms. A pry bar between the strut base and the control arm plate will separate those two.
5. Use a 13mm to undo the three bolts on the upper strut mount.
6. Remove the strut.
7. Always put spring compressors on the spring before you pop the nut off the strut mount that holds the assembly together. OEM springs will send your stuff flying every which way.
8. I used a pry bar wedged into the strut housing and spindle to keep it steady, and used a pipe wrench to get the gland nut off of the top of the strut housing. Easy peasy.
9. Put a little motor oil in the strut housing before you insert the new strut. This helps transfer heat generated away from the strut and to the housing where it can dissipate.
10. Insert the strut, and for konis, make sure the steel ring included is put on the strut, it locates the top of the strut body in the top of the strut housing. Very important piece.
11. Thread the gland nut onto the strut housing and crank that sucker down.
12. White plastic ring goes next.
13. I trimmed my bumpstops by 1/3, koni specifies in their instructions to cut the bumpstop, but not by how much. I have had no issues riding on the bumpstops with 1/3 cut, and it leaves a healthy portion to absorb bottom out impacts.
14. Insert bumpstop into strut boot, and slide on shaft.
15. Then the BIG washer that sits below the strut housing.
16. Compress the springs, and slide lower spring pad, and spring into place.
17. Slide strut upper spring pad and strut mount into place, then put funky rubber washer on top, and put the strut nut on the shaft and tighten. I hit mine with the impact to crank it down.
18. Feed the completed assembly up into the wheel well, and get the studs of the strut mount into the body of the car, and start threading the nuts onto the strut mount to keep the assembly from falling out.
19. Locate the bottom of the strut on the control arm plate, and put the 19mm bolts back in and tighten them down.
20. Tighten the strut mount nuts on top.
21. You are done with the front.
Rear
1. Remove the lower seat cushion by pulling up on the front of the seat, and then pulling it forward and out.
2. Remove the locating nuts on the rear seat upper. There is one on either side beneath the seat back, and two behind the center fold down bit.
3. Remove headrests, and then remove the headrest inserts. To remove the inserts, there are two plastic fasteners that need to be rotated 90 degrees with a flathead screwdriver, then pried out. Then the insert can be pulled out.
4. Unclip the upper seat belt plastic guides, slide down the belts.
5. Using a 17mm undo the bolts locating the seat belts beneath the seat back.
6. You should be able to pull the seat back out of the car.
7. There are 4 black plastic fasteners holding the rear shelf down. Pry out with chisel.
8. Remove the speaker grills.
9. Lift the shelf up to get access to the upper strut mounts. I used a short hammer and a long grill lighter to hold the shelf up.
10. Lift up the insulation to see the upper strut mount nuts.
11. Use 13 mm to remove all three nuts.
12. Beneath the car, there is a 22mm bolt holding the shock to the trailing arm. Remove the bolt.
13. Some have had trouble removing the shock from the trailing arm, as the shock has an insert that slides into the arm that can seize making removal not too fun. Some put the bolt partially back in and use a puller to pop it out. I just removed the bolt entirely, and gave the shock a firm kick, and it popped out.
14. Shock assembly can now be removed if it didn’t already fall out.
15. Again, always compress the springs prior to removing the nut at the top of the assembly.
16. Adjust the rear shocks prior to install, as it cannot be done on the car. I put two nuts on the end of the shaft and locked them together, and used a wrench to keep the shaft from turning. I put the wrench and shaft end on the ground and stepped on the wrench, compress the shock all the way, turn all the way clockwise until you reach the stop, then count the turns back to full stop counter clockwise, this is full soft. Mine had 2.5 turns. Then turn clockwise again to your desired setting. I used one full turn from soft. Note, Koni sport dampers are rebound adjustable only, and the rebound should be set to match your springs. A correctly adjusted shock will keep the rear end from bouncing, but also keep it from stacking up due to slow rebound.
17. With the shock adjusted, you can assemble the spring and shock assembly.
18. Put white plastic ring on first, then bump stop (again, trimmed by 1/3) and shock boot. Put the cup facing down on the shaft, then the lower spring pad, spring, and then the shock mount with the upper spring pad. I tried to match the orientation of the lower spring pad on the new shock with the old spring pad on the old shock, but probably not necessary. I did not need to use a spring compressor on the rear, your mileage may vary. After the shock mount, slide the big washer on, and the nuts, and I hit them with the impact to crank them down.
19. Feed the completed assembly up through the body of the car, and get the strut mount studs into the body, hold with one hand, and get a couple nuts started on the strut mount to keep it from falling out.
20. Insert lower shock sleeve into trailing arm, I was able to push down a little on the arm and pop the shock sleeve in, and get the 22mm bolt threaded in. Tighten the bolt.
21. Tighten the three upper shock mount nuts with your 13mm socket.
22. Done. Don’t install the interior yet, you will want to drive the car and see if additional adjustment of the shocks is necessary. Mine are good at 1 full turn from soft.
Put all the wheels back on, and lower the car, crank down the lugs and go for a spin.
Happy with the rear shock adjustment? Reinstall the interior. Not happy? Pull the shocks, disassemble, and adjust. I have konis on my Porsche, and have had to pull and adjust rear shocks before, and in my experience, you should adjust in ¼ turn increments.

[q20v]

Thanks a lot for posting that info! I'm currently on H&R springs, installed by the PO, and stock shocks. I don't drive the car much but had it out on a winding road on the weekend and definitely feel like it needs better shocks. I was thinking of Koni so it was good to read your review.

With your old setup, or even the H&R/Koni, do you get any bump steer? I feel most bumps through the steering wheel and the car does squirm over bumps as well. Not a lot, but it's there. I was thinking about the 1" AKG spacers (or making my own as I have the capability). Interested to hear your thoughts.

Where did you end up buying your shocks?

Thanks again for posting.

Barry

[summitp]

I don't get a lot of bump steer with my car. Some times the squirm can be due to worn bushings in the control arms that allow the geometry of the suspension to change as it hit bumps, this would be particularly noticeable in turns. I had issues where the car would get unsettled in bumpy turns, and it was due to the combined bad control arm bushings, and the worn shocks. New control arms made a huge difference, and the shocks have settled things down even further.
I bought my shocks and springs through Tire Rack, decent price, great shipping times (their warehouse is close to Salt Lake in NV.) There is a deal going on right now for $70 back or something or other on konis from most places. Make sure you get the form to fill out so you can get the rebate.

[Billyj]

It should be stated that you absolutely need to compress the spring before removing the retaining nut on the top mount. Not "you maybe should but I didn't" sort of thing. My email you got lucky and had short lowering spring... Someone can very easily mame themselves if trying to do this without first removing spring tension from the strut assembly.

Thanks for the review and analysis, like stated my billy b8s with h&rs is firm but crashy over larger stuff. All you need to know about them.

Thanks again for the great write up bud happy motoring

[summitp]

It should be stated that you absolutely need to compress the spring before removing the retaining nut on the top mount. Not "you maybe should but I didn't" sort of thing. My email you got lucky and had short lowering spring... Someone can very easily mame themselves if trying to do this without first removing spring tension from the strut assembly.

Yes, this is correct. I have edited my post. Thanks for the feedback.

[Mixzzz]

You forgot one thing - you need to release and torque down all of the bushing bolts since the car now sits at a new height...

Sent from my Samshit SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[summitp]

Right! But mine were ready torqued down for lowering springs. Ride height in the front is almost identical. If you go from oe springs to the h&r, or other lowering spring, you do need to loosen those control arm bolts, let the car sit on the wheels, and tighten them down. I use ramps, makes it a little easier.

[squirrelhill]

Very informative post and quite helpful with my recent koni/vogtland install.

Quick question -- Did you use both (two) top nuts for each of the rear shocks? I installed mine with just one top nut on each shock, but upon further review I believe that the Koni yellow rears use two top nuts for each rear shock. The good news is that I did not put the touring back together yet so adding the second nut to each rear shock should not an issue.

What is the purpose of the second nut? Is it to keep the bottom nut from backing out?