Has anybody blown the rear shock mounting point?

[structured]

So, everybody's shock mounts fail, I just want to know if anybody has blown the sheet metal where the mount meets the car. I know that this happens on other cars sometimes when a really hard shock mount is used.

[structured]

Also, feel free to chime in on what mounts you use or have used.

[kronus]

I've heard of them rusting out and falling apart.

[iwillhunt]

Obviously, anything can potentially happen, but under most driving circumstances with even the stiffest of mounts i've yet to see the sheet metal rip out. I'm not saying it hasn't happened/doesn't happen, just that i haven't heard of this being a problem area with the E30.

If you're worried, there are rear shock tower braces that reinforce the towers as well.

[DCColegrove]

I've seen a lot of them...

Usually because of a bad (siezed) shock...

Or a car lowered with stock lenth shocks...bottoms out and it busts the tower out.

[iwillhunt]

Well definitely take ^ his ^ advice and not mine. I have far less experience with E30s.

[mikeedler]

never seen it in the 1000000000000000000 e30s I have seen here in germany.-- they do have the reinforcement plates from a Z3 roadster though (i have them in my M3) I believe.
have seen it in rusty e21s though.

[BMWLA]

there was an oe aproved repair kit available for just this havn't seen it in a long time but we dont see e30s here at the dealer anymore either

[gearheadE30]

I've seen 2 cases where the entire sheetmetal mount tore out, but I don't know what the cause was. There was no major rust on either car, and the shocks seemed fine, if a bit worn out on the first car. I didn't think the check the other one.

[DCColegrove]

I've seen 2 cases where the entire sheetmetal mount tore out, but I don't know what the cause was. There was no major rust on either car, and the shocks seemed fine, if a bit worn out on the first car. I didn't think the check the other one.

Usually bottomed out or siezed shock... The early chassis was more prone but a hell of a lot of later ones failed as well..

I've seen this probably upwards of 30 or 40 possibly even 50 times...

But the odds may be a little skewed because between 89 and 91 I worked on maybe 2000 e30s a year... Probably more...

[Gooch]

I was browsing craigslist a few days ago and ran across a cheap e30 for sale. All looked well until I scrolled down and saw the pictures...

[Hartge_H27]

damn that would suck. i have never seen that. and i have seen some wierd stuff fail on a e30.

[DCColegrove]

I was browsing craigslist a few days ago and ran across a cheap e30 for sale. All looked well until I scrolled down and saw the pictures...

That looks pretty corroded... Here in California we don't see too much of that... Although it may be secondary to the break.

[Lobstrosity]

Happened to me, it was a new suspension kit, and it was a little "sportier" than the previous setup... Although that wasn't so much the problem, the problem was the pothole I smacked. :( Used e46 cabrio mount/reinforcing plates to solidify both sides after welding the sheet metal back into place on the damaged side.

No rust on the car either. Although afterwards there were some doubts raised as to whether we had properly torqued that side, as it's a bitch to get to on the tourings and it was dinner time - the nuts may have backed off, giving the shock leverage to bust through the mounting points.

[sticksdaman]

never seen it in the 1000000000000000000 e30s I have seen here in germany.-- they do have the reinforcement plates from a Z3 roadster though (i have them in my M3) I believe.
have seen it in rusty e21s though.

do you have the part numbers for the z3 plates?