E39 Touring Rear Shock replacement

[BlackBMWs]

I needed to replace the rear shocks as part of a suspension renewal for my 1999 540it. I am looking to renew the suspension with replacement of key wear items. For the Tour's case, this would be the 1) Front struts and CA Bushings, 2). Rear shocks and 3). The rear suspension Subframe Bushings.

This DIY will focus on the replacement of the rear shocks. Other DIYs will be documented for the other two DIY groupings in the next coming weeks.



This proved to be a relatively easy replacement. I opted to use Bilstien replacements for my strut shock combination. Bilstien recommended sports for my non-sport self leveling suspension. I will use Bilstien HDs up front. I was not looking to lower my suspension at this time.

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Tools I used for this replacement were:

Power screwdriver with a Philips tip and an allen tip
An angled pick tool
1/2" impact wrench
1/4", 1/2" ratchets
10, 13, 21, 22 sockets
21, 22mm box end wrenches
3mm, 7mm allen wrenches

Work gloves
Goggles
PB Blaster
Red Locktite
Simple green MAX
various coarse brushes
Paper shop towels

Replacement nuts for top shock tower

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Step 1: Removal of the rear shocks

I began by removing the rear floor cover in the Touring's cargo area. To remove the floor area, there are three hold down points for the floor area just behind the rear seats.


You can use a power driver here with the correct allen tip or just an allen wrench.



Once you have the floor cover out, remove the shock Upper Inspection Covers to access the mounting nuts for each shock.


The nuts are under a black plactic cover. The cover lifts straight up with a little wiggle action.



Next, I raised the rear of the Tour on stands. No need to remove the rear wheels. Chock both sides of the front wheels. I used the differencial as the jack up point. I used a urethane jack pad so as not to damage the differencial case. Place suitable jack stands under the jacking points in the rear.


Take a moment and spray the lower shock retention bolt/nut with PB blaster so it can soak for a few minutes.

Working from inside the Tour, unbolt all six upper shock mount point nuts.


Working from below the Tour, this is the position of the rear shock looking upwards.


I used a impact wrench to remove the 22m bolt/nut from the shock. A breaker bar would also work fine.


Extract the bolt and pull the shock bottom towards the rear of the Tour. At this point, you will be able to carefully lower the shock down and out of the rear suspension sub frame.


Repeat removing the shock from the opposite side.

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Step 2: Assembly of the replacement shocks

The next step is to transfer the upper shock mounts from the old shocks to the new ones.


To take them apart I used a 21mm socket on my impact wrench and vvrrmm off they came. You can also use a 21mm box end wrench and a 7mm allen wrench too.

Once you get the shock apart, here what it looks like compared to the new shock. You will reuse the pieces circled in red unless you have new mounts.


The new shocks have bump stops under the blue cover so, you do not transfer the old ones. ( I left one reassembly piece out in this photo. See above circled parts)


Reassemble the shock with the original pieces noted above, the new concave washer (facing up) and the new 22mm retaining nut. 22mm box end wrench and 7mm allen wrench to tighten up.

With both shocks reassembled, time to reinstall...

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Step 3: Reinstallation of the rear shocks

Insert the shocks into the upper shock mount. Have an assistant put the new retaining nuts on loose to hold the upper portion in place from the inside of the Tour.


You'll tighten all six after the next step.

Working from the bottom of the tour, I used my hydraulic jack to lift the wheel so that the shock was at the correct level to reinsert into the swing arm. When reinserted, put in the bolt and thread in the nut snugly, but don't tighten yet. (Floor jack not shown under wheel in this shot. )


Once I reattached both lower shocks, I tightened all six mounting nuts for the upper shock mounts after applying a few drops of red Locktite on the receiving threads. Put the plastic cover back on and replaced the inspection covers and cargo floor.

I then raised the tour and placed both rear wheels on ramps. Loaded my wife, 16 year old and two Rottweillers in the car to get some weight in to settle the suspension. The Tour already had a full tank of gas.

Once the suspension settled, I added red Locktite to the threads of the shock retaining bolt and tightened it up to spec.

Before I took the Tour off the ramps to run around for a test run, I cleaned the lower suspension for the rear suspension rear bushing replacement in a few weeks and to look for anything broken.


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Step 4: Test drive

Test drive went well (and fun). Job done. The Tour rides firmer and more secure now. The Bilstien Sports are just fine for my taste and comfort. An easy DIY, just take your time...

Thanks to Jared, Hasso, bfeng, Jason and manowar for your tips!

Enjoy!

[jase007]

Nice writeup.

When I did my Koni sports in front I went with OEM BMW sachs sport for self-leveling in back (original). My new ones were nearly as stiff as the ones that came out. I was surprised to say the least b/c had 150K + miles on them. I'll be curious to hear you impressions after you do the rear carrier bushings (with the new shocks, etc..).

Did you take a gander at the rear control arms? or the rear ball joint? link? Might also be on your list. The rubber on the ball joint ends of my rear control arms has deteriorated ... going with lemforders.

Cheers.

[BlackBMWs]

Nice writeup.

When I did my Koni sports in front I went with OEM BMW sachs sport for self-leveling in back (original). My new ones were nearly as stiff as the ones that came out. I was surprised to say the least b/c had 150K + miles on them. I'll be curious to hear you impressions after you do the rear carrier bushings (with the new shocks, etc..).

Did you take a gander at the rear control arms? or the rear ball joint? link? Might also be on your list. The rubber on the ball joint ends of my rear control arms has deteriorated ... going with lemforders.

Cheers.

Hi Jason! Driver side front control arm ball joint boot was busted on the rear drivers side wheel. The other three CAs were visually fine at this point. Made a note for future replacement of that pair of control arms. Next stage repair once the Subframe Bushings are in, is to check the rear sway bar link ends and control arms. How do you check the sway bar link ends?

Even with just the Bilstien shock replacement, there is a large noticible difference in the ride and handeling. Greater stablility comes to mind. and that's just the first phase of suspension replacement.

I know there will be a second round as I noticed I have a deteriorated passengerside tie rod end ball joint boot. Those repairs will be done after the three phases are done. After all the pieces are in and alignment is done, I'll look for a regional club driving school to take the Tour to the track. It won't be the fastest there, but I'll the one having the most fun...

[teedub21]

FWIW, with the self leveling suspension, you can just put the rear of your car on ramps and remove the shocks. Those Bilsteins don't have much travel on the rear, especially on my lowered wagon. After seeing the size of those bumpstops, I may have to remove mine and cut the bump stops in half.

[BlackBMWs]

FWIW, with the self leveling suspension, you can just put the rear of your car on ramps and remove the shocks. Those Bilsteins don't have much travel on the rear, especially on my lowered wagon. After seeing the size of those bumpstops, I may have to remove mine and cut the bump stops in half.

Yeah, I wasn't sure how much sprung rebound the Sach shocks might have, so I let them fully extend. No suprizes... I lifted the wheel 3" to match up the new shock with the arm.

So you thinking to shorten the Bilstien internal bump stop? You have sport springs... Are you bottoming out on the stop now?

[teedub21]

Well, my car "had" sport suspension when I installed the rear bilsteins. I remember I had to push up pretty hard to compress that shock enough to get the lower bolt to mount up. Now my car is dropped another inch in the rear and 1.5" in front! I think the airbags and the subframe bushings do most of the work on the rear of the wagon though.

[BlackBMWs]

Well, my car "had" sport suspension when I installed the rear bilsteins. I remember I had to push up pretty hard to compress that shock enough to get the lower bolt to mount up. Now my car is dropped another inch in the rear and 1.5" in front! I think the airbags and the subframe bushings do most of the work on the rear of the wagon though.

I see... I let the jack do the lifting for aligning the bolt and shock holes, figuring I was not strong enough to compress the shock very much while aligning the two.

I did notice what appears to be a slight drop in rear hights with the new shock. I did not put in new links or reprogram the airbags. I might mess with height when I get INPA Edibas installed on my laptop. Not a priority at this stage.

Thanks!

[big x]

Nice writeup.

When I did my Koni sports in front I went with OEM BMW sachs sport for self-leveling in back (original). My new ones were nearly as stiff as the ones that came out. I was surprised to say the least b/c had 150K + miles on them.

The rear shocks are probably the last suspension component that need replacing.
It's the air springs that take the pummelling and the hydraulic oil filled rear subframe bushes. Both will be on their last legs at 100k. The rear shocks are not attached to the cars body so lead an easy life.
My subframe bushes were completely shot at 135k and the rear ride harsh.
The rear shocks, on the other hand, still had serviceable rebound damping.
The air springs failed at 98-104k, they either work or collapse.

[M13]

Awesome DIY. Thanks for contributing.

[jase007]

Thx Big X.

You sectioning of the rear carrier bushings and writeup have been very helpful to the handful of us that have redone our bushings. See various threads here and b-fest. :-)

Cheers.

[bigMphan]

Great write-up This is definately on my short list.
So does this mean I should do the bushings at the same time as the shocks?

And is the bushing r&r a PITA??

Thanks in advance.

[bigMphan]

^saw the bushing DIY sticky- that's a battle for another weekend

In the middle of the removal of rear tour shocks right now- Easy Peasy!

^and now that they're done I can tell which of my subframe bushings need replacing
either way

FIN

[dogkiller]

Great write up! But I am confused about one thing maybe you can help shed some light?

I thought that if your touring is equipted with self leveling suspension that your only option for the rear shocks is stock unless you delete the self leveling?

My touring has 112K and I will be looking at going through this process in the next few months. I would like to put all new springs and shocks using bilsteins but I did not think that was an option unless I planned on deleting the self leveling.

I'm I missing something?

[Kevin Da Clean1]

Those are some really good pictures & I wish someone had taken pictures as clear as these for a M5 Bilstein DIY. I have them on my car & wouldn't trade them for anything. I bet this 540iT handles & rides better then it ever did with these new puppies on... !

[BlackBMWs]

Great write up! But I am confused about one thing maybe you can help shed some light?

I thought that if your touring is equipted with self leveling suspension that your only option for the rear shocks is stock unless you delete the self leveling?

My touring has 112K and I will be looking at going through this process in the next few months. I would like to put all new springs and shocks using bilsteins but I did not think that was an option unless I planned on deleting the self leveling.

I'm I missing something?

Nope, I spoke with Bilstien Tech support on the west coast and the Bilstien Sports are a direct swap. No delete required.

Since doing this shock replacement, I have also done the four subframe bushings and one of the air springs. I have a second air spring to do in the next few months.

[BlackBMWs]

Those are some really good pictures & I wish someone had taken pictures as clear as these for a M5 Bilstein DIY. I have them on my car & wouldn't trade them for anything. I bet this 540iT handles & rides better then it ever did with these new puppies on... !

Thanks for the nice comments!

The sport shocks did make a noticible difference, but, the big noticible difference, for this Tour and most I'd imagine is replacement of the rear Subframe bushings. That had the biggest handling, sound and ride experience difference.

I don't believe the Sedans have the same severity of a subframe issue as the Tours.

Cheers!

[pfoto]

I had my rear self leveling Sachs replaced about 30K ago and I have noticed only in cooler climate one of the Sacks drops a bit on one side over night but as soon as I open the drivers door the rear suspension automatically levels right back and holds to the proper hight. It doesn't seem like it's anything serious or damaged but I think it might be something I can adjust or tighten to cure this.

Any suggestions how to correct this issue would be most appreciated.
THX

[bigMphan]

I had my rear self leveling Sachs replaced about 30K ago and I have noticed only in cooler climate one of the Sacks drops a bit on one side over night but as soon as I open the drivers door the rear suspension automatically levels right back and holds to the proper hight. It doesn't seem like it's anything serious or damaged but I think it might be something I can adjust or tighten to cure this.

Any suggestions how to correct this issue would be most appreciated.
THX

It's the SPRINGS that do the leveling. The shocks are pretty much like normal shocks, the springs are air bags with a compressor. The springs are showing their age and have a slow leak. Nothing to worry about until the compressor can't quickly level the car out.

[MLue1]

Great write up but I ran into a snag. After unbolting everything I can't get the bottom of the shock to realease (come out of) the swing arm on either side. I have PB Blastered and pryed at it with a crow bar but the dang shock won't budge. The road salt that they use in the winter has prolly fused them to geather, anyone out there faced this before.... what did you do to seperate the shock from the swing arm. Will heating with a propane tourch weaken the aluminum arm?

[MLue1]

Follow-up: Got 'em both out, basically placed an old hardened bolt that I had from the balljoint R&R into the shock where the bolt was and wacked it side to side and up and down to loosen the shock from the arm.

[johngilesyoder]

I just used this DIY to do my shocks as well. 2000 BMW 528i. I installed the Bilstein Sports as well. Thank you so much for the write-up!

[bigMphan]

It's the SPRINGS that do the leveling. The shocks are pretty much like normal shocks, the springs are air bags with a compressor. The springs are showing their age and have a slow leak. Nothing to worry about until the compressor can't quickly level the car out.

AAAAAAnd exactly one year later I have replaced my airbag springs.
All correct.

[Dmascarin]

I have the factory Sport suspension setup on my touring and I have recently replaced the front struts and rear shocks with Monroe's (please don't stop reading now!). My question is this- does the rear appear to sit lower than the front if all is as should be? My airbags are newer, the dealer has supposedly set the ride height to factory specs, yet my rear wheels are about an inch closer to the fender than the front. If I follow the line of the side skirt, the car looks and measures perfectly level. Any thoughts?

[tinius]

Here's a PDF version of BlackBMW's procedure with photos. Someday the photos will disappear from Photobucket and they won't be visible.
E39 Touring Rear Shock replacement diy.pdf

Regards,

[CalCanuck]

Very nice photos and writeup, thank you. I'm preparing to replace my rear shocks now that the subframe bushings are done. Looking for improved damping on bumps, my OE Sachs are toast at 135000 miles.

In looking carefully at these pics I see the same white junk sprayed around the rear subframe that I had on my car! Anyone know what this stuff is? It's almost like an old baked-on grease that hardens over time. Comes off with a wire brush but a degreaser doesn't really cut it.

Thanks!