Rear Shock mounts

[slamtry]

My rear shock mounts need replacing in my 1995 E36 'vert and I have a few questions. I heard a banging from the drivers side rear over bumps yesterday and when I took a look I could see the mount had separated. The right side seems okay but I will do both. I rarely drive the car and never track it so I am looking for a simple, cheap replacement. I have read that the E46 mounts are a direct bolt-up replacement that are better designed but it is not clear whether I need the regular E46 part or whether it is the E46 M3 part that is the simple upgrade.

I could not find a write-up specifically for a convertible. So my questions are:

1. Which do I get, the replacement for an E36 or for an E46 or for an E46 M3? Or is there an option I have not considered? Part numbers would be a help.

2. Do I need to get gaskets given that I live in SoCal and rust is not a prime threat here?

3. I have heard that I can add into the mix something called a "reinforcement plate" from a Z3? Is this a good idea and is it a simple addition to the regular shock mount replacement?

4. Do I need to jack the car up to do this? And do I have to remove the shocks?

5. Can I do this just from the top or do I have to get under the car?

[myblackcar]

1.) The E36 mount is interchangeable with the E46 mount. The only variation that will not work with the vert is the Turner Motorsport RSM that attaches with nuts in the wheel well.

2.) Get gaskets. If you don't want to spend the $0.75, cut a rough pattern out of a cereal box.

3.) Get the genuine Z3 reinforcement plates for the convertible. The plates help to diffuse stress on the shock mount tower to prevent tearing. For the convertible in particular, the genuine Z3 plates have countersunk stud holes. This is vital as the convertible shock mount towers have indentations that fit exactly on the OEM plates. Aftermarket plates such as Uro are not countersunk and will not fit perfectly unless you want to drill your own countersinks.

4 / 5.) You need to jack up the car. It is much easier to simply jack up one side at a time and do the work right.

You need to access the top of the shock via the top storage compartment and bottom of the shock under the car. You can replace just the shock mount without removing the shock, but clearance is tight. It is just a lot easier to do this work with the shock off the car. Chances are if the mount is bad, so is the shock. You might as well replace both at the same time.

[slamtry]

Thanks for your reply. I am not sure that I will get the Z3 reinforcement plates as I drive the car rarely and gently. Also, I am not quite sure what they do. Are they an addition or do they replace something that is already there? If you have a part number for them, I will check them out though. I am going to order tomorrow morning.

[myblackcar]

Here is the part number. 51-71-8-413-359

The reinforcement plates don't go bad. It is perfectly acceptable to buy used in this case.

[verobeach97]

Search reinforced ground control shock mounts for convertible. They are $100


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[slamtry]

I ended up using the E46 M3 RSMs and new gaskets. Didn't do the Z3 reinforcement plates. I did both sides although the passenger side looked perfect - no cracks and the rubber un-perished and flexible. I suspect last time I must just have done the passenger side and this time it was the original stock one from the driver's side that came apart. Anyway all banging noises are gone. Also for anyone who is doing this themselves, it was perfectly easy to do without removing either the lower end of the shock or removing the wheel. Just chocked the wheels, jacked the car up, put two large planks under the car to support it in case the jack failed and started undoing nuts. Getting the nut that screws to the top of the shock itself off was a bit slow as it is hard to hold both an adjustable wrench on the top of the shock and a 16mm open wrench on the nut itself. A 16 mm crows foot wrench helped at the beginning. And it's worth pointing out that on my car it was a 16mm nut, not 17mm as many posts have stated. Anyway, thanks to all for your help. Now I just have to figure out how to get it past the smog test.

[URO Parts]

3.) Get the genuine Z3 reinforcement plates for the convertible. The plates help to diffuse stress on the shock mount tower to prevent tearing. For the convertible in particular, the genuine Z3 plates have countersunk stud holes. This is vital as the convertible shock mount towers have indentations that fit exactly on the OEM plates. Aftermarket plates such as Uro are not countersunk and will not fit perfectly unless you want to drill your own countersinks.

Hi Myblackcar, would you happen to have any photos of these OEM Z3 shock mount plates with countersunk stud holes? Our OEM samples aren't countersunk, and we've tried searching Google Images and can't find any photos of OEM plates with countersunk stud holes. It should be easy enough to make a running change to our plates, but our engineers will need something to go from. Since part number 51 71 8 413 359 isn't countersunk, is there a different part number for the countersunk plates?

Thanks!