Strut question

[av8r4aa]

Needing new front struts on the 2003 525it.
How do I know if I have sport suspension?
I know it doesn’t have SLS in the back.

[BlackV8]

If you don't have air suspension in the back, that means you don't have sport package.

[av8r4aa]

Ok, thank you.
I’m having trouble finding OEM struts for this version.
Any tips on where to shop?

[chuckesteeze]

The front struts are the same on any 6cyl E39, regardless of sedan vs. wagon. FCP Euro or ECS Tuning are good places to start looking for parts. You can use RealOEM.com diagrams to get the exact part number for this and many other things.

[av8r4aa]

Thank you. I was getting tripped up not finding "wagon" parts

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Yeah, but the wagon rear shocks are specific for the wagon. So just look up Sachs struts, which is what oem was, sport struts and shocks have the red labels, and the regular suspension used the blue labels. Run you vin number on a decoder and see exactly what you got.

[av8r4aa]

I looked about a year ago and the subframe rubbers are looking great.
I didn’t look at the shocks.
My other wagon had yellow Koni shocks.
And air. That was nice.

[chuckesteeze]

As you get into replacing rear shocks you'll find very few choices available anymore (see recent thread on this). You've basically got OEM Sachs and Bilstein to choose from. And yes, it can be tricky figuring out what's right with air vs coil spring and sport vs regular right height. The silver lining is that any rear suspension work you do on these is dead simple with easy access to everything. If you ever get around to subframe bushings then renting the right tools will be invaluable.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Also order all the top shock mounts for the rear

[chuckesteeze]

Also order all the top shock mounts for the rear

And bump stops! Unless they're integrated in the shock like in Bilsteins.

But on the note of top shock mounts, when I pulled mine to do the rear shocks at ~140k they looked brand new. The rubber showed no signs of fatigue or stress. I had already bought them so it was whatever, but I found that interesting.

[KeysCoupe]

I looked about a year ago and the subframe rubbers are looking great.
I didn’t look at the shocks.
My other wagon had yellow Koni shocks.
And air. That was nice.

If you dig deep, there are still some old-stock Koni yellows out there for the front (6 cyl cars). I was looking a month or so back and came up with some. I like these way better than the Sachs, and wouldn’t consider the Billies. As mentioned, any of the 6 cyl fronts will work.
-Donny

[Twistytee]

Just out of curiosity, how many miles are people getting out of a set of shocks/struts? Based on the records I got with the car, looks like I have ~60k on the current set of Billies and 30k on the replacement rear air springs. I’ve had struts on other cars go well over 100k and obviously roads/driving conditions play a major role.

[StephenVA]

Most 6 bangers will go 95-127 miles. V8 application lot less due to heavy driver feet on acceleration and deacceleration.

Many post a lot higher mileage but the shocks were just along for the ride as expansion resistance is long gone at 125. Hit pot hole and see if your tires drop all the way to the bottom and the bang on compression. Other trick is roll forward at 2 miles and hr and hit the brakes. Hood dip more than 1 inch? They are toast.

[KeysCoupe]

A lot lighter car, but I’ve got around 125K on the Koni Yellows on my ‘03 Mini Cooper S and they’re still as tight as when I put them on. I need to dial them a touch softer as I’ve aged to where I don’t need to feel every pebble.
-Donny

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Shoot, the stock suspension on both my 2003, and 2006 Cooper S’s are super stiff. I was gonna swap them for Konis, but then thought, why bother??? The suspensions is tight, just leave it alone. I did get polyurethane bushings for the 2006 since the bushings on those were done.