rear shock question

[RP808]

Hello all, I have an 1988 325is that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. The owner before me replaced a bunch of bits and such and one thing he did was to replace the rear shocks. I notice a slight bump as I am going down my drive way and think it may be because the new shocks seem to have a gap where they contacts the trailing arm. I took a pic but from this angle the gap doesn't appear so drastic, but it is a good 1/16".
My solution would be to put a washer, shim or similar to make it snug. My question is: In order to do so could I get away with just putting the car on jack stands and removing the tire and just jacking up the TA to take pressure off the suspension enough to just loosen the bolt, or do I have to contend with removing all the suspension? Any help would be great, and I thank you in advance.

[AndrewBird]

The proper method would be to put the rear of the car on jack stands (block the front wheels) then use a jack to lift up on the rear trailing arm enough to release tension on the shock. Then just remove the bolt on the bottom.

FYI, the bottom of the shock has a loop of metal with a rubber bushing inside it which then has a metal tub in that. The bolt goes through this tube. The tube is slightly wider than the metal loop so the metal loop doesn't touch anything. Are you sure this isn't what you are seeing? Should look similar to this:

[RP808]

I'll have to take a better pic. I realized that I forgot to u/l one. But it is an aftermarket shock and it the bottom with the bushing and tube appears to me more narrow.

[ArtClassShank]

Is it loose? Could torque it to spec if that'll make you feel better. It looks fine, the clunk could be rear shock mounts, those been replaced?

[RP808]

I dont know if the top mounts have been replaced, will look into them. Thanks for the input. I was just concerned because when I jacked the car up and the rear tire and suspension was unsupported, the gap was considerable about or slightly greater than 1/16" so much that I could see a good amount of the bolt.

[CorvallisBMW]

Verify that the bolt if fully tight; if it is, and you still see a gap, use a washer to close the gap. It won't hurt anything :)

And yes you can remove the bottom shock bolt without having to unfasten any other parts of the suspension, just remove the wheel and jack up the trailing arm to release tension.

[RP808]

Thanks! I will do that! :)