E46 Shock mounts suck!

[MikesJo]

Yea so today I was driving, hit a sewer like normal and the stupid rubber bushing in the shock mount goes right through the shock mount along with the whole top...

So right now the car is sitting in the drive way with no shock in the rear driver side... Time to find some upgraded shock mounts. I wonder if BMA will cover the broken shock mount under a warranty. It's only been a week riding on it.

[erik325i]

Yea so today I was driving, hit a sewer like normal and the stupid rubber bushing in the shock mount goes right through the shock mount along with the whole top...

So right now the car is sitting in the drive way with no shock in the rear driver side... Time to find some upgraded shock mounts. I wonder if BMA will cover the broken shock mount under a warranty. It's only been a week riding on it.

They probably will warranty it for you. (ask me how I know)
Did you install the large washer things under and over the shock mounts when you installed them? Without those washers, the shocks will blow out in a couple miles. (ask me how I know)

#6 and #12 in this pic:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...27&hg=33&fg=45

-Erik

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

They probably will warranty it for you. (ask me how I know)
Did you install the large washer things under and over the shock mounts when you installed them? Without those washers, the shocks will blow out in a couple miles. (ask me how I know)

#6 and #12 in this pic:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...27&hg=33&fg=45

-Erik

I will be double checking my shock mounts tomorrow morning lol

[eighteight325is]

They probably will warranty it for you. (ask me how I know)
Did you install the large washer things under and over the shock mounts when you installed them? Without those washers, the shocks will blow out in a couple miles. (ask me how I know)

#6 and #12 in this pic:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...27&hg=33&fg=45

-Erik

This happened to me recently as well. Took off KYB Gas Adjusts that were on the car when I bought it and they apparently use a different mount so I never had the bottom washer or the protective boot. Blew one of the mounts in less than a month.

Those rears are deceptively simple, and they lulled me into a false sense of confidence and didn't consult my Bentley. I couldn't really expect anyone to warranty the mounts though since I installed them wrong.

[JRowe]

I use the JTD style. Mounted properly, you never have to worry about a blow out.

[MikesJo]

Oh I don't have part #6 :S. Wth does that thing do? How waffleswaffleswaffles sit stay in place if you don't have a boot? How would you use part #6 if you're using IE or GC RSMs? I just ordered IE ones.

[nando]

I've had the E46 mounts for 4 years now, and I've hit some really nasty bumps.. never had a problem with them. you sure you put them in correctly?

[MikesJo]

Seems like I was missing the bottom part but how would that piece have helped? Plus I don't see how the washer on the bottom would stay in place as there is only the shaft.

[NC325iC]

damnit and i just bought them

[Bill 84 318i]

The lower (opening down) washer is crucial. It should be a part of your dust boot thing, but I've seen a good amount of cars without them. You need the upper washer to open up, and the lower washer to open downwards. If you don't, it's basically only a matter of time before they blow. I guess it has something to do with distributing the force of the impact.

I've had those mounts for YEARS and the car was fine.

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

so my rear shock mounts were installed properly. Right Rear blew tonight, hit a pretty bad pothole, it was so big, I dodged the pothole with the front, but the rear still tracked through it.

dammit.

[erik325i]

Seems like I was missing the bottom part but how would that piece have helped? Plus I don't see how the washer on the bottom would stay in place as there is only the shaft.

That bottom washer is crutial to preventing blown out shocks.

It stays in place because the diameter of the shaft is larger than the diameter of the threaded portion. It drops over the threads and sits above the shaft underneath the shock mount.

-Erik

[fretburnr]

just saw this tonight... i replaced my shock mounts a year and a half ago (when i installed the cupkit) with the TaperCore ones.

just recently i've noticed some clunking and finally opened it up today - the rubber between the taper core and mount had ripped, but because the core was tapered it wasn't pushing all the way thru.

i do have the top cup-washer, but i didn't have one on the bottom - ever. the stock hard protective boot is there, along with the soft rubber bump stop and the upper cup washer, but no bottom. i assume i'll need to get a pair so i can re-do these right?

i'll probably go with IE mounts for less chance of failing, unless anyone has a better option

[BM5W]

They probably will warranty it for you. (ask me how I know)
Did you install the large washer things under and over the shock mounts when you installed them? Without those washers, the shocks will blow out in a couple miles. (ask me how I know)

#6 and #12 in this pic:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...27&hg=33&fg=45

-Erik

+1 I blew out the RSM within one mile... mine pulled through. There wasn't one there before. Shitty thing is that I couldn't put the rubber part back into the housing, so i wasted 50 bucks on a set of RSMs. I ended up buying the 30 dollar ones from bimmerworld.

[browntown]

Rogue engineering has quite the marketing campaign against e46 rsm's: the nicest ones on the market(JTD, RE, IE) with z3 reinforcement plates are 100 dolla, not that much more than using e46 stuff.