Got the new shock tower mounting plates welded on last week. Now I would like to finsh installing all the other parts. Lost the instructions for the torque spec. for the reinforcing plates. I tend to over tighten everything. Would be thankful for any help here. Looking forward to getting the car on the ground.

Regards,

Carter

I am a little confused here. The torque on the 2 nuts that retain the rear top strut mount in position is 25Nm. This remains the same when fitting the rear strut re-inforcing plates and these are just drop on and bolt-up. 10 min job.

I do not understand what you have welded! Have you fitted the BMW repair plates?

I am a little confused here. The torque on the 2 nuts that retain the rear top strut mount in position is 25Nm. This remains the same when fitting the rear strut re-inforcing plates and these are just drop on and bolt-up. 10 min job.

I do not understand what you have welded! Have you fitted the BMW repair plates?


I did not realize that the torque stayed the same. Thought it might have went up. To answer your question. I did replace both sides with the BMW Repair plates. I removed and replaced both. There is a 1 mm difference in thickness. The new ones are way better. Thanks for anwering my question. Regards, Carter

Here is some pictures.

Nice repair work...very sano.

Nice repair work...very sano.


Thanks Pinned. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end. Will no longer have to worry about it failing that is for sure. Take care, Carter

Nice repair work...very sano.

+1.... I'm curious, did you add the plates because the original metal had fatigued and split? I had always thought to add both these and the PMS plates for the ultimate in stress relief but was shot down as being big overkill.

I did not realize that the torque stayed the same. Thought it might have went up. To answer your question. I did replace both sides with the BMW Repair plates. I removed and replaced both. There is a 1 mm difference in thickness. The new ones are way better. Thanks for anwering my question. Regards, Carter

Here is some pictures.

Very nice job. Will never fail again thats forsure.

Great upgrade, Nice job!

+1.... I'm curious, did you add the plates because the original metal had fatigued and split? I had always thought to add both these and the PMS plates for the ultimate in stress relief but was shot down as being big overkill.

What I did is I removed both plates. I located all of the spot welds (20 or so per side). Drill a small pilot hole (not all the way through) and used a spot weld cutter. Got mine on the bay made by Blair part number 13224. 3/8 was the size. After I used the spot weld cutter. Just used a knife to cut around the edge of the shock mount plate and pryed it off. Ground down the spot welds untill they were flat with the surrounding metal. Nexted I removed the paint from the new plates and put the old plate on top and marked where the old welds were located. Then I marked locations on the new plate. (use a different color marker) where I wanted to drill 5/16 holes in the new plate. I off set the new holes from the old holes so I could weld to new metal. Used sheet metal screws to hold the new plate in place and also to suck the new plate to the old metal in the wheel well. Then just weld them up. Removed the sheet metal screws and finished the job. What is great about doing it if way is the position is already set for you. Just use the out line of the old plate as your guide. I then ground down any high spot on the new welds and caulked the edge with a body seam filler, so the plates would be sealed. Next prep, prime and paint. Got the OEM color paint and the undercoating at the body shop paint place here in town called Jerrys. (Sacramento)

I pulled the old plates off for two reasons. First one of the plates had been fixed poorly (damage from metal fatigue and had spilt) if I just welded a new mounting plate over the top of the old plate, the reinforcement plates would not be fit. Second, tend to be real anal about stuff like this and wanted to start from scratch. I believe in MOP that it is not going over board to have both the new shock mounting plate and the reinforcement plates. Better to be safe then sorry. With the upgraded suspension being installed in the car I felt it was a good choice. I will have no more issue's with this area of the car again.


Take a peek at the pictures and you will see a badly fixed shock mounting plate. If your plate has not been damaged then the reinforcement plates will help this from happening. One more thing. This failed shock mounting plate failed before any suspension upgrades were added to the car. I have stated this before and will state if again. Even if you have a stock suspension, GET THE REINFORCEMENT PLATES. They are a cheap insurance against this happening. It cost me $300 for the plates and welding and a ton of my time to do all the prep work. At least 10 man hours. Have a great day. Regards, Carter

Here is some more pictures. Regards, Carter