Removing bump stops from Bilstein HDs ... does it work?
Hi,
I own some nice fresh Bilstein HD's (they are in my parts car). I'd like to get lowering springs lower than an E30M3, e.g. IE stage 3, or H&Rs ... ergo I need to either buy Bilstein Sports for the front (I already have Sports in the rear) ... or....
in a thread around here, someone said they removed the external and INTERNAL bump stops in order to effectively go from HD's to Sports. I understand how to take off the external bump stop just take it off, but the internal is a little more complicated. I did some research (googled) and came up with this (at least for the e36):
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Subject: Re: [E36M3] bump stops on bilsteins
Date : Wed, 5 Dec 2001 04:52:26 EST
Dan,
My favorite subject! Bilstein bumpstops!! ;-) Four words of advice: Get rid of them!!
My slightly lowered M3 constantly bounced off of the front bumpstops. The ride about drove me crazy. It was like riding a pogo stick. I was about to junk the Bilsteins. After I removed the front internal bumpstops, the ride is still extremely firm (harsh even) but livable for me. I don't have the "bouncy" ride.
But yes, to remove the front bumpstops is not easy. Dang it! I intended to do a tech write up on it! I even took pictures. I thought I had scared everybody away from Bilstein by now. :-)
You have to unscrew the shaft from the bottom of the strut. Remember the front Bilsteins are upside down monotube shocks. You should have a 17 mm nut and a slotted screw in the bottom of the strut. I recommend buying a screwdriver bit for your rachet. It takes a lot of effort to screw the shaft out of the housing, especially if it has seen some weather.
First back the 17 mm nut off until it is flush with the end of the screw. Don't remove the nut. It will help hold your screwdriver bit in place. Now the hard part. If you have a vise - great. Clamp the strut in the vise. Or else have a friend hold the strut steady for you as you bear down as hard as you can with your screwdriver/rachet and turn the shaft. Remember to turn it CLOCKWISE. You are screwing it into the housing.
Hopefully it breaks loose and you can turn the slotted shaft without damaging the threads. You can try some WD-40 etc. to loosen it up. But what finally worked for me was to put the screwdriver bit on an air wrench and zapping it off. If you can put enough weight on the rachet, I think you can probably get it off. Good luck.
Eventually you will have to remove the nut entirely. Just carefully screw the shaft all the way into the housing.
Once you have this accomplished, it is simple. Just pull the top out. Don't worry about anything exploding in your face. The troublemaking bumpstop will be obvious. It is 2 7/8 inches long. I recommend just taking it off and throwing it away. Put the strut back together without any bumpstop. I promise you, any impact hard enough to fully compress a Bilstein strut will destroy the car. Bumpstops with Bilsteins are redundant. If you want to keep part of the bumpstop, use a hacksaw and cut 1 inch off. Use the 1 inch part and throw the other 1 7/8 inch away.
Lowell Seaton
'95 M3
Dallas, Texas
---------------------------------------
Thoughts/coments on if this would work in an E30 and/or should I just suck it up and sell my front HD's to get front Sports.
I own some nice fresh Bilstein HD's (they are in my parts car). I'd like to get lowering springs lower than an E30M3, e.g. IE stage 3, or H&Rs ... ergo I need to either buy Bilstein Sports for the front (I already have Sports in the rear) ... or....
in a thread around here, someone said they removed the external and INTERNAL bump stops in order to effectively go from HD's to Sports. I understand how to take off the external bump stop just take it off, but the internal is a little more complicated. I did some research (googled) and came up with this (at least for the e36):
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: [E36M3] bump stops on bilsteins
Date : Wed, 5 Dec 2001 04:52:26 EST
Dan,
My favorite subject! Bilstein bumpstops!! ;-) Four words of advice: Get rid of them!!
My slightly lowered M3 constantly bounced off of the front bumpstops. The ride about drove me crazy. It was like riding a pogo stick. I was about to junk the Bilsteins. After I removed the front internal bumpstops, the ride is still extremely firm (harsh even) but livable for me. I don't have the "bouncy" ride.
But yes, to remove the front bumpstops is not easy. Dang it! I intended to do a tech write up on it! I even took pictures. I thought I had scared everybody away from Bilstein by now. :-)
You have to unscrew the shaft from the bottom of the strut. Remember the front Bilsteins are upside down monotube shocks. You should have a 17 mm nut and a slotted screw in the bottom of the strut. I recommend buying a screwdriver bit for your rachet. It takes a lot of effort to screw the shaft out of the housing, especially if it has seen some weather.
First back the 17 mm nut off until it is flush with the end of the screw. Don't remove the nut. It will help hold your screwdriver bit in place. Now the hard part. If you have a vise - great. Clamp the strut in the vise. Or else have a friend hold the strut steady for you as you bear down as hard as you can with your screwdriver/rachet and turn the shaft. Remember to turn it CLOCKWISE. You are screwing it into the housing.
Hopefully it breaks loose and you can turn the slotted shaft without damaging the threads. You can try some WD-40 etc. to loosen it up. But what finally worked for me was to put the screwdriver bit on an air wrench and zapping it off. If you can put enough weight on the rachet, I think you can probably get it off. Good luck.
Eventually you will have to remove the nut entirely. Just carefully screw the shaft all the way into the housing.
Once you have this accomplished, it is simple. Just pull the top out. Don't worry about anything exploding in your face. The troublemaking bumpstop will be obvious. It is 2 7/8 inches long. I recommend just taking it off and throwing it away. Put the strut back together without any bumpstop. I promise you, any impact hard enough to fully compress a Bilstein strut will destroy the car. Bumpstops with Bilsteins are redundant. If you want to keep part of the bumpstop, use a hacksaw and cut 1 inch off. Use the 1 inch part and throw the other 1 7/8 inch away.
Lowell Seaton
'95 M3
Dallas, Texas
---------------------------------------
Thoughts/coments on if this would work in an E30 and/or should I just suck it up and sell my front HD's to get front Sports.
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