My e39 Koni FSD install and thoughts

[Earthman03]

How hard can you push teh FSDs? Does anyone have anecdotes (besides long sweeping curves)? I'm considering the purchase of these seriously...

[fmzip]

^^^I tried three sets of wheels......

[Steve530]

My steering wheel is wobbling.....could that really be drivetrain related? Is the centerlink the piece that attaches to the outer tie rod ends? This is the only piece I haven't replaced along with the sway bar end links.

If you're asking about your 530, I don't think it has a "center link". The tire rods attach directly to the rack and pinion steering box.

[cdb3113]

If you're asking about your 530, I don't think it has a "center link". The tire rods attach directly to the rack and pinion steering box.

My bad, I just assume everyone has a 540!

The 530 has a rack and pinion, yeah... so I think it does connect directly to that steering box.

I guess I would recommend getting your wheels balanced first... unless you have tried that a few times already. Could be a bent wheel, too.

[fmzip]

Down to the last rear shock......made a big mistake on the passenger rear, took the top bolt off which let the spring go.

It appears that you took your rear wheel well liners out for the shock removal, correct?

[pbonsalb]

Anyone have a set of OEM 525/528/530 sport springs to trade for my Eibach Pro Kit 525/528/530 springs or to sell outright? I love the FSDs and Eibachs and my wife does not complain about the ride, but we park in a barn and the car scrapes a little when going up the ramp and into the barn with more than 2 people in it and my wife does complain about the scraping. PM or e-mail me.

[Steve530]

Anyone have a set of OEM 525/528/530 sport springs to trade for my Eibach Pro Kit 525/528/530 springs or to sell outright? I love the FSDs and Eibachs and my wife does not complain about the ride, but we park in a barn and the car scrapes a little when going up the ramp and into the barn with more than 2 people in it and my wife does complain about the scraping. PM or e-mail me.

Wouldn't it just be easier to fix the ramp?

[pbonsalb]

I was in favor of lowering the barn, but my wife says that is not an option and we do not have the space to extend the ramp to lessen the incline.

[cdb3113]

Down to the last rear shock......made a big mistake on the passenger rear, took the top bolt off which let the spring go.

It appears that you took your rear wheel well liners out for the shock removal, correct?

definetly have to remove the wheel liners to get stuff out of the way. I am pretty sure you can't do it with teh wheel liners in, unless you remove all the lower arms...

please read through the process decribed here carefully, as well as the other threads. good luck, be careful!

[wquiles]

definetly have to remove the wheel liners to get stuff out of the way. I am pretty sure you can't do it with teh wheel liners in, unless you remove all the lower arms...

Yep, same experience here. Although I am happy to have the FSD's in my car, changing the rear shocks was a adventure!

[paz9x]

the rears are something else. if anybody is doing them on their own i highly reccomend having someone there to help with the actual removal of the strut bodies from the wheel well. makes it a lot easier with the extra hands/feet there.

[BlackSapphire]

After a little practice, you can take the rear liners off in a few minutes. They aren't that big of a deal. The front ones suck though. Luckily you don't have to remove them for anything normal. I did recently to run some wiring and those plastic rivets on the rear end of them are teh suck. They aren't like the stuff you find on the rest of the car. Mine were pretty much perma-stuck.

[toez540]

i have the fsd with eibach and im very impressed with the ride... car rides better than stock

[fmzip]

definetly have to remove the wheel liners to get stuff out of the way. I am pretty sure you can't do it with teh wheel liners in, unless you remove all the lower arms...

please read through the process decribed here carefully, as well as the other threads. good luck, be careful!

Sorry man.....missed the short note in your post with "liner removed", I always think "wheel well", glossed right over that.

What a PITA doing the FSD's on the 530i. Installing the FSD's on my 330cic, piece of cake. The rear strut bolts were easily accessible, right under the cab lid, no liners to remove either. Had them out in 1/2 hour! The springs in the cabrio are independent and not one piece like the 530i. Only need to use the spring compressor on the fronts on the cabrio.

Also the fronts on my cabrio came right out. On the 530i, I had to drop the lower control arm in order to get the right one out.

Well my rears are back in and all together, looks like it sitting real high though with the stock sport springs. Maybe it's because the front of the car is still on jack stands. Hope it settles......

Did H&R sport springs on the 330cic but I want to avoid doing that with the 530i. Need the comfy ride of at least one car!

[fmzip]

OK, I got my FSDs today. I immediately took them out and something puzzles me. Maybe you guys can shed some light. I'm sure it will become apparent as soon as I tear back into the front suspension but I thought maybe Putter could check his first (to see if this is normal).

So, the first thing I notice is this pic that came with the 'wordless instructions'.



Notice the positioning of the spring perches above.

So, knowing that the front strut pinch collar seams face to the inside (facing each other), I lined up the struts on the ground accordingly. The left (L) mark on the left strut facing the right strut and the right (R) mark on the right strut facing the left strut. This should be correct with respect to their installed position.





OK, now lets take a look at the orientation of the spring perches now that the marks are lined up properly:





What gives? Before you tell me to swap the struts left to right, that's irrelevant. The perches still have the same offset. It's relevant during the install but not for the purposes of this discussion.

So.... Putter McGavin or anyone else that has them but hasn't installed them yet, can you please check them out for me? Let me know if they look the same or not - that's my biggest concern. I can't for the life of me why they would be intentionally designed this way.

What's really interesting is that I have the exact same issue with the perch orientation but my box did not come with that drawing, nor did it make any mention of the L and the R.

I am on the last strut, the drivers side. If I line it up per the "L", the perch is 180 degrees off. I would think that the orientation of the perch would be more important than a marking of "L" or "R".

I decided to sleep on it to decide if I am going to just rotate the entire strut assembly to orientate the perch per this drawing or just line up the "L" and not concern myself with the orientation of the perch.

I surely am not going to take it out and remove the spring to orientate the perch other than where Koni put it. My guess id that since I didn't get that drawing or any reference to L or R, maybe Koni just wants you to put it back in the way it looked when you removed it???

Need suggestions from you guys and fast! Need to get this car back on the road!

[BlackSapphire]

I wouldn't install it 180 degrees off. If you want to leave the perch where it is, rotate the body to orient it correctly. I'd rather just move the perch - it's really not a big deal. That way if your car ever gets work done on it again (you, others, etc.), there is nothing to do but orient it as per normal (the markings). Apparently Koni misaligned a lot of these. Luckily, it's just pushed onto the end of the strut tube - no welding, no fasteners, etc.

[fmzip]

I wouldn't install it 180 degrees off. If you want to leave the perch where it is, rotate the body to orient it correctly. I'd rather just move the perch - it's really not a big deal. That way if your car ever gets work done on it again (you, others, etc.), there is nothing to do but orient it as per normal (the markings). Apparently Koni misaligned a lot of these. Luckily, it's just pushed onto the end of the strut tube - no welding, no fasteners, etc.

Problem is, I don't have a spring compressor and honestly, I would never use one like shown in the pics again. The safe, proper tool is the wall mounted ones the shops use.

I wish I could spin the perch without having to dissamble the entire strut assembly.....

Looks like i am going to just eyeball per the drawing to make sure both assemblies are about the same orientation.

This is a very big oversight on Koni's behalf. I am not sure why they didn't just put a dimple on the strut to slide in the groove/gap as they did on the E46 struts. That would have been the appropriate thing to do if alignment is critical.

[BlackSapphire]

Problem is, I don't have a spring compressor and honestly, I would never use one like shown in the pics again. The safe, proper tool is the wall mounted ones the shops use.

I wish I could spin the perch without having to dissamble the entire strut assembly.....

Looks like i am going to just eyeball per the drawing to make sure both assemblies are about the same orientation.

This is a very big oversight on Koni's behalf. I am not sure why they didn't just put a dimple on the strut to slide in the groove/gap as they did on the E46 struts. That would have been the appropriate thing to do if alignment is critical.

The ride height is the same regardless of the spring perch orientation. And, since only toe is adjustable on the front, you're making it a bigger deal than it is. Tire clearance should be observed however.

As for needing a spring compressor, who did them to begin with? I was under the impression that you were DIYing this.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with the spring compressors that people are using. If you own a shop and are doing suspensions all day long, sure, you can invest in a more 'permanent' setup. However, you'll notice that even the ones used in the Bentley manual are only 'vice' mounted.

Your argument is like saying "the only way to remove a bolt is with a snap on wrench like the shops use - no way am I using a craftsman". Your generalizations and assumptions are largely unfounded. There is nothing 'un -proper' about the tools being used here as long as they are safe (and they are safe - in a pair of knowledgeable hands of course).

Regardless, I wish you the very best of luck.

[fmzip]

The ride height is the same regardless of the spring perch orientation. And, since only toe is adjustable on the front, you're making it a bigger deal than it is. Tire clearance should be observed however.

As for needing a spring compressor, who did them to begin with? I was under the impression that you were DIYing this.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with the spring compressors that people are using. If you own a shop and are doing suspensions all day long, sure, you can invest in a more 'permanent' setup. However, you'll notice that even the ones used in the Bentley manual are only 'vice' mounted.

Your argument is like saying "the only way to remove a bolt is with a snap on wrench like the shops use - no way am I using a craftsman". Your generalizations and assumptions are largely unfounded. There is nothing 'un -proper' about the tools being used here as long as they are safe (and they are safe - in a pair of knowledgeable hands of course).

Regardless, I wish you the very best of luck.

I took the struts off my car myself. Then I took them to a shop with the proper tools for the job.

I've done countless spring removals with those spring compressors. Once you see one let go, trust me, you'll never use one again.

Safety first in my book, I just don't feel safe regardless of experience with them. The only way to gain experience is by using the tool...For the few times that you will use this tool, it's better off paying someone the few bucks to put the risk on them instead. For the $50, it's a piece of mind thing, at least for me.

BTW, all my tools are Craftsman, even have a Crafstman spring compressor.... I don't believe I am the one looking for an arguement. I stated what works for me. Everyone can freely choose whatever route they are comfortable with.

For some reason, I sense a bit of hostility.............did I say something "improper"??

[BlackSapphire]

Nothing improper - just misinformation. I am merely offering a counterpoint to your statements. The 'Craftsman' comment was in reference to your statement that there is only one 'right' tool for the job. That's simply not true. Just because one is made for continuous use and one is safe for occasional use doesn't make the latter 'not right' for the job. That's all.

Cheers.

[Steve530]

The ride height is the same regardless of the spring perch orientation. And, since only toe is adjustable on the front, you're making it a bigger deal than it is. Tire clearance should be observed however.,,,

I've been reading this thread since I may replace the struts sometime next Spring.

I am a bit confused by the spring perch orientation and the markings on the strut tube. Does it really not matter which direction the spring perch sits or the L and R indexing marks align? It appears to me that the strut is a straight tube, the rod is concentric, and the rod inserts into the cent of the strut bearing assembly. I've assume that the index marks align the spring perch in the correct direction and that alignment is important. If that is not the situation, why eve bother with the index marks?

[BlackSapphire]

It is important. You should follow the diagram included with your struts/shocks. The lower spring perches should be oriented correctly to keep them from interfering with anything during travel (hence my comment about tire clearances). The L & R marks are intended to assist you with lining each one up easily (and opposing each other). The perch is made in the shape it is in order to retain the lower end of the spring and keep it from rotating. As long as you mate them together properly, you're in good shape. Again, just follow the orientation that's included with them (even if you have to move the perch on the tube due to Koni's error) and make sure each end of the spring is properly seated in the upper pocket/bearing assembly and the lower spring perch.

[fmzip]

The safe, proper tool is the wall mounted ones the shops use.

^^^
This is accurate information....There is nothing "mis" about it. Maybe I should have put "st" after safe to make you feel that my advice to the average joe is the best advice, no reason to counter or argue....

[fmzip]

I've been reading this thread since I may replace the struts sometime next Spring.

I am a bit confused by the spring perch orientation and the markings on the strut tube. Does it really not matter which direction the spring perch sits or the L and R indexing marks align? It appears to me that the strut is a straight tube, the rod is concentric, and the rod inserts into the cent of the strut bearing assembly. I've assume that the index marks align the spring perch in the correct direction and that alignment is important. If that is not the situation, why eve bother with the index marks?

If by the time you order them and "if" the issue still exists, the best thing to do would be to call Koni and ask them why their drawing doesn't coincide with the L and the R.

It's a guessing game on where "exactly" the perch should be oriented and that should not be the case. They should have better tooling in their assembly process to eliminate this issue. This IS a big oversight on Koni's part. If you follow the instructions, they are wrong....

Once again, the average joe would just follow the directions and slap them in and be done with it....Koni obviously hasn't addressed this issue from the way it looks since the issue goes back to October. My struts shipped directly from Koni. Obviously their lot control is questionable. There should have been an addendum to the instructions by now...or shall I even go to say instructions with pictures and "words"...

[BlackSapphire]

^^^
This is accurate information....There is nothing "mis" about it. Maybe I should have put "st" after safe to make you feel that my advice to the average joe is the best advice, no reason to counter or argue....

Yes, safest would certainly be more accurate. However, saying the non 'wall mounted ones' are unsafe is an incorrect statement and thereby clearly throwing it into the misinformation bucket. This is a DIY site and you're telling everyone that the only safe way to do it is to get a shop or spend many hundreds of dollars on a professional setup for a one-time job. Not everyone is uncomfortable with tools and you shouldn't try to scare them off.

I'll assume you meant to say 'safest' and we'll leave it at that.