1990 BMW E30 325i - Front Strut Replacement

[chomowitz]

I need to replace the inserts in my front struts for a 1990 BMW E30 325i. I have done a lot of research on the procedure and watched several YouTube videos on the topic. I did a trial run to see if I could get a strut out of my car and determined that I could.

There are two areas that I am not sure I can succeed at ... Removal of the top nut on the strut and removal of the gland nut that holds the insert in. Several "how to's" show the need for special efforts (sometimes destructive) to remove these nuts.

I don't mind hard work and I have encountered removal issues that require ingenuity and a lot of hard work on other repairs. So far I have found a way to succeed in each case. The issues for removing the strut assembly and old inserts have me a little nervous.

Can anyone who has tackled this task and gotten through it please share your experience and guidance on this repair.

Thanks for the help ...

[superj]

I have done them numerous times and never had issues getting those nuts off. the only thing was I don't have any type of special tool to grab the nut that holds the insert into the housing so I just used a big pair of pliers one time, a big pipe wrench another time, and once I used a punch and hammer to tap the nut around till I could take it off by hand.

the nut on top, that you see in the engine bay, loosen it with the weight of the car on the suspension still first. if it doesn't come loose than jack the car and let the suspension droop. doing that always got it loose enough to remove, for me

[chomowitz]

I just noticed that the top of my strut insert has an 8mm male hex head. Is there a tool that can be used on the head to hold the shaft while turning the top nut off?

Also, how do you get the gland nut to loosen. I watched one video where it would not turn due to rust and age. That person ground off the top of the gland nut and tried to chisel out the rest. While chiseling in one direction, the remains of the nut started turning and it came out. I'm hoping there are easier methods for a stubborn gland nut.

[superj]

I think I tried to put a wrench on that and it didn't hold it. I never had to cut or grind the nut on top of the strut rod and goes through the bearing. that one always was ok to turn doing the way I said earlier.

instead of chiseling (this is the nut on the housing, that holds the insert in, right?), I used a long drift punch because it looked like something that a special type of wrench went into (I cannot think of the name of that type of wrench but it seems like it would be a like a coil over wrench)

- - - Updated - - -

like this

[img]https://www.jegs.com/images/photos/900/944/944-308w.jpg[/img]

[heifetz17]

When I did mine, I put the strut housing in a vice and used a chisel and hammer to loosen and remove the large gland nut. There are notches that you can place the chisel, and just be careful not to damage the housing. Both mine came out fairly easy. Be extra careful placing all the washers and hardware in the correct spots on the upper strut bearings. If you screw that up you can make the car harder to turn and the wheels may not return to center very easily after making a turn, causing the car to drift left or right after turning.

[chomowitz]

I was nervous about running into problems getting either the top nut of the gland nut off, so I decided to take it to a local shop. They are good people with reasonable costs.

They called me today, and they (so far) cannot get the gland nut out. I went and looked at it and the top flange of the gland nut indicates that they tried REALLY hard. They had tried heat, but not much because they were nervous about damaging the strut housing. They looked around to see if they could get a used replacement in case it got damaged. They could not. I told them I could find one on E-Bay. They asked me to confirm that I could get a compatible one and if I could, they would take more risk in trying to get the old gland nut out.

Does anyone have suggestions that I can give them?

[DRVN2WN]

Mine were very hard to get off, too. I ended up taking it to a shop - they were able to get the nuts off after clamping the housings into a vice, soaking nuts in penetrant, and then using heat and brute force.

[aaverhulst]

Used struts are in salvage yards near you. Looks like you are in Semiole Fl with zip code 3377x. Several yards in or near Tampa have struts. Here is the link to search; http://car-part.com/

[chomowitz]

Update - Sorry for the long delay with this update ... In my last update, I left off where I told the shop I could get replacement strut housings if mine were damaged. They then got more aggressive with using heat and were successful in getting the gland nuts out. They had to get new gland nuts for the install, but the install went okay. I'm glad I used the shop to do this as I'm not sure I could have gotten the old inserts out in my garage. After I got my car back, I replaced the control arm bushings (myself) and then took the car in and had the front end aligned. The car rides like it used to again.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

[richardodn]

I guess I'm a little late to the party, but here's my 2 cents.

Gland nuts - break them free while the struts are still on the car. Start by soaking them with penetrant as soon as possible. Apply heat to strut housing and use a pipe wrench to break it free.
Top nuts - again, break them free while still on the car. Ideally use an impact socket. If that's not available use a pass through socket set to turn the nut and an allen wrench to keep it from spinning.

[Jeffnhiscars]

I found it easier to remember cemthe strut so you have some room to work. I just bolt the hub to a wheel and have someone stand on the tire and keep the strut from rotating.