01 325 Ci Rear Shocks

[Adam]

Next up: creaky clicky suspension noises in this car. When I got this thing I didn't replace the shocks/struts in the first run through as even though they were (very) rusty, they weren't leaking. Now they are. Also some not great sounds happen when you go over bumps.

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Here's a close up on the lower shock body. You can see the spring in the upper corner. The coating is starting to peel away a bit. I'll replace those later. You can also see the foam bump stop and the deterioration in place.

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Shock attachment is straight forward. There's a 2-bolt flange on the top of shock accessed in the trunk and a single bolt to the spindle. The top is a little of a pain as you need to remove all the inside trunk lining to access it.
I went with OEM-ish Bilstein B4 shocks as a replacement. FCP Euro had a kit which included the shocks, mounts, bump stop, dust sleeve and all the H/W. In hindsight, I could have saved a few $$ by going with Rock Auto for the shocks and the mounts. I did that for the front stuff that I'll install later.
Old stuff:

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New stuff:

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Also notice the thing that looks like an exhaust flange. That's an aftermarket version of an OEM piece that BMW added to the later cards to reinforce the upper shock mount as the too-thin metal was known to warp/tear after years of bumps.
Upper mounts in the trunk after assembly:

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I also found this floating around behind the inner trunk lining:

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I fixed it with zip ties.

[Adam]

Other fun facts:

• These cars had an optional 'sport' package, which this card didn't have

• The B4 rear shocks and were the same PN between standard and sport suspension

• The bumps stops were different for some reason. The aftermarket supplier uses two different colors, whatever that means.

• The 'sport' package came with a larger rear sway bar. Somewhere between 17mm (this car) and 21.5mm (M3). Maybe I'll get a bigger one later.

• The front stuff is all different between sport and non-sport

Here's a closeup of one of the rear subframe bushings. Needs some new rubber, but that's a job for future me.

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[Adam]

I just noticed one of the shocks has a sticker on with the previous owners name, making me think at least one of these had been replaced previously. I'll check the records. That means this is at least the 3rd set of rear shocks in 107K, 'cause Ultimate Driving Machine?

[kevm14]

What is that audio thing? Is that factory?

[Adam]

What is that audio thing? Is that factory?

Not sure. It didn't look very factory, especially how it was mounted (thrown in there). Maybe a dealer-added accessory? Trunk mounted CD changers were all the rage back in the late 90's and early 2000's. I think I have the dealer invoice somewhere...

[kevm14]

It would be most useful if it used the changer interface to add aux in.

[Adam]

It would be most useful if it used the changer interface to add aux in.

The factory in-dash CD player already had aux-in, so I upgraded from the tape player to the CD player. It's the only thing I use. I should remove the changer to save weight.

[kevm14]

Wow that's pretty early for aux-in. I believe my 04 was "pre-wired" for aux-in and some previous owner actually added the jack. I think older than this you have to swap out the actual head unit first.

[Adam]

There's a special cable you need because of course there is, but the other end is an 1/8" jack.