E46 Rear Shock Replacement Michigan Car

So I had the pleasure of helping my buddy replace his blown out rear shocks on his e46 323ci. Having come out from Michigan I knew we were in for a couple surprises, luckily nothing that couldn't be remedied.

The lower shock bolt was slightly rusty but nothing too terrible that I hadn't already been through with my own experience on Michigan cars. It came free with a blast from the impact wrench. The area I was more worried about where the shock towers and they were clean as a whistle. The same could not be said about the factory shocks.

This is what a happy Indian man looks like knowing his car will soon handle again.

Ohhh yeah, how I don't miss that. Here's a nice side by side of the replacement Bilstein Sports.

We ran into a little snafu with the shock plates that hold everything together. They had take a beating as well. We figured it would be pretty stupid to put the old rusty plates on the new shocks so we headed off to the only BMW dealership that was open which had the plates in stock. After a $38 ass rape later for some little metal washers, essentially, we were back to finish the install.

If you're reading this wondering how to install your shocks, it's simple. Pull back the carpet in the trunk. Release the lower bolt but put something under the tire so the suspension doesn't completely fly around. Take the two lock collar bolts off the top that mount to the body and you're done. Put the new shock mounts on shock by holding the shock with some pliers and tightening the nut down to 10ftlbs. Which is just slightly tight.

Don't forget the reinforcement plates which can be ordered from just about anywhere including BMA Parts where Mathew bought these. We had to put the rear shock mounts in first then the shock, but however way works for you just use a new locking nut on the top. Torque the body mount nuts down to 17 ftlbs and the bottom bolt to 57 ftlbs. 

We went with the Meyle HD shock mounts which I'm running on my e36 and have been happy so far. The JT Design or after market rubber bushing styles clunk from what I've seen. Here's a picture of the factory shock about the shear off at the top.

Not only were they rusty blown out and destroyed but they were leaking too.

Phew, just happy to see those out of there, as well as help another fellow enthusiast out. I guess it's on to the fronts next!