Rear Shock Mount Failure - BMW Forum

redd90 · 07-01-2005, 10:04 PM

I bought a 98 M3 recently. Last night as I was pulling out of a parking lot I heard a rattle from my rear left speaker(I thought). After further inspection I saw the shaft of the shock sticking through the carpet and into the speaker.
So today I got a new mount at the BMW dealership and talked to a service tech about installation. I then went to Barnes & Noble and bought the Chilton Repair manual for the vehicle. I installed the new mount and within 30 miles of driving it, it has done the same thing again.
Could something else be wrong and causing this or did I not do something right?
Any help is appreciated!
Chuck

97alpineM3 · 07-02-2005, 06:23 AM

Well if your shock is stuck or hard to move in and out then it would be putting more than the right amount of pressure on the mount thus pushing through the mount... sounds like you need some new shocks...

Good Luck,

Les

bad man working · 07-03-2005, 09:18 AM

Are they standard shocks, some of the aftermarket one have long threads at the top as they’re designed fit lots of different cars

Furious · 07-03-2005, 03:06 PM

now was there any structure damage around where the shock mount? can you take a pic of what were looking at? im curious to see if maybe you installed it wrong or if the shock mount completely blew throught its mounting position etc etc...

also have you looked into aftermarket RSM's? for M3's or cars that are suspension modified i highly suggest them because they last a lot longer and perform way above the stock ones.

97alpineM3 · 07-04-2005, 02:23 AM

I use a very very strong set up on my car... www.rogueengineering.com has made some awesome parts for this replacement... check them out... never had a problem....

Les

dutchbmw · 07-04-2005, 04:37 PM

Make sure you installed the little dish fitted on the top of the shock right away. It should be in place with the circle edge up, just the other way you're expecting.

98three28i · 07-05-2005, 12:35 PM

definitely be careful when installing the new mounts and make sure the cupped washers are positioned correctly...I replaced one of mine and forgot to put the top washer on the assembly and the strut just popped out

93 325i · 07-05-2005, 01:59 PM

30 miles is all you got tho?? Either it was installed totally incorrectly or the part was faulty. There is another possibility but it is more extreme- on E36 M3's it is known that the entire rear shock mounting sheetmetal can tear from inside the trunk. To fix it requires rewelding and I could imagine that the angle of which the rear shock sits would be compromised, thus causing the RSM to pop.. Again this is not too common and the RSM is faulty to begin with, but to check for torn sheetmetal obviously look around the base of the shock tower and look for the tell tale rough weld spots. I would buy alumimun RSM's next and buy a bently manual instead of that chilton's you got there.