BMW M5 Forum and M6 Forums banner

EDC rebuild update

117K views 558 replies 85 participants last post by  AseanAero 
#1 · (Edited)
A few people have been asking me what's going on with this so I thought I'd update everyone

I was sick to death of this on-going EDC drama so a couple of months ago I started to seriously research a solution. After much searching I found a specialist suspension company who had the ability, but more to the point had the will to help us. These guys have many many years of experience with all manner of road and race suspension, they specialise in rebuilding old Ferrari and Lamborghini shocks amongst other things, and the boss is a good guy which is so important in these situations

Bottom line is that he's willing to help us. He currently has 2 front and 2 rear units in pieces and he's sourcing all of the necessary seals and gas sacs. They have the ability to manufacture their own seals if necessary so he's not anticipating any problems. There's nothing complex in the units and he's quite confident he can turn these around for us. Rebuild units would come totally refurbed, repainted and would be tested on their suspension dyno before being released. This is not just a hydraulics company, this is a bona fide suspension specialist who has all of these facilities in house, blast cabinets, dyno etc etc

The plan is the same as it always was, he'll hold a set of refurbed units in stock, people will buy them from him and pay a deposit which they will get back when they return their own units which will be refurbed for the next person

Target price is £100 per rear leg and £150 per front leg inc. VAT :cool:

I should be able to update you again next week. We will need to get him all of the blown units we have as there will be occasions where a solenoid or hardened shaft is too damaged to re-use so he has to salvage parts from another leg. Having said that, they can source the solenoids direct and manufacture their own rods if necessary but it would put the price up dramatically so while there are so many blown units available they might as well be recycled

More info soon :)
 
See less See more
#346 ·
The price is ridiculous I agree - hence London Mike's efforts to get them rebuilt.

If you also mean that how often they pop is ridiculous, then, I might disagree slightly.

They are well known for going between 60,000 and 90,000 miles.

I replaced one front last year and now I need to do a rear - would hope to get MANY years motoring before they need doing again!!!!
 
#347 ·
Getting my car back tommorrow!

The dampers have been on Jon's dyno pretty much all day and they have survived that.

He inspected my rear dampers aswell - bone dry :)

Jon has kindly done the wheel alignment on my car aswell.

Looking forward to the drive now!

I do have to point out that my other rebuilt dampers didn't fail at all, there was a difference in the damping rates but this might be explained by the fact that one damper was really old and one was a much newer unit.

Anyway..... I have to applaud Jon for his massive commitment to all of this.

The amount of time and effort he has put in is simply stunning. He is well aware that he never going to become a millionaire out of this and it's unlikely he'll make much more than his development costs.

Just goes to show - there are still people out there who don't just do everything for money.

I have to say it's been a pleasure dealing with him aswell so far, he has a fantastic sense of humour.

Update coming soon boys!
 
#350 ·
Update - got car, all is well with the dampers.

Car feels very good and behaves much better - I think that's down to the new Bump stops!

I spoke with Jon at length, he tested these dampers on a dyno for quite some hours at very high speeds and there was no failure.

He clearly explained how the old dampers were damaged too and it's totally feasible.
London Mike was right - it was something to do with my car but I thought he was aiming it at my EDC electronics.

He also rebuilt my rears and also changed the bump stops on those.

I've got a good feeling about these ones. I'll be driving the car daily now as I've no worries about limited mileage insurance anymore.

Just got to change my ARB drop links tommorrow and then we are in full test mode again!

I will be very surprised if these ones fail.....something tells me they won't, I have a gut feeling Jon has cracked this now.

I'm sure Mike will be along soon enough to explain in more detail but this rebuilt is far more comprehensive than we all intially thought it would be. It's far more than just seal replacement - it's bearing, rods, seals and whole load of other things I don't really know about.

now....for those that have some sort of god or spirit belief, can you all go pray this works!

Thanks
Sal
 
#351 ·
Update - got car, all is well with the dampers.

Car feels very good and behaves much better - I think that's down to the new Bump stops!

I spoke with Jon at length, he tested these dampers on a dyno for quite some hours at very high speeds and there was no failure.

He clearly explained how the old dampers were damaged too and it's totally feasible.
London Mike was right - it was something to do with my car but I thought he was aiming it at my EDC electronics.

He also rebuilt my rears and also changed the bump stops on those.

I've got a good feeling about these ones. I'll be driving the car daily now as I've no worries about limited mileage insurance anymore.

Just got to change my ARB drop links tommorrow and then we are in full test mode again!

I will be very surprised if these ones fail.....something tells me they won't, I have a gut feeling Jon has cracked this now.

I'm sure Mike will be along soon enough to explain in more detail but this rebuilt is far more comprehensive than we all intially thought it would be. It's far more than just seal replacement - it's bearing, rods, seals and whole load of other things I don't really know about.

now....for those that have some sort of god or spirit belief, can you all go pray this works!

Thanks
Sal

Sal I think you, Mike and Jon should start getting ready to become living legends :applause:.

I have a good feeling about this too ( not to mention the fact that new front EDC was on my shopping list ! )......my contribution, being Catholic, will be 3 Hail Mary's and 3 Our Father's :M5thumbs:.

I can visualize the coming wave !

:cheers:

Erik
 
#352 ·
Update - given everything a thorough check today on the ramp.

No leaks, everything is as it should be.

I got a proper chance to drive the car down some country lanes which were quite challenging.

The car is has handling and balance better than it ever has. The suspension truly has that brand new feel.

I've only driven in P mode so far. I need to fix my EDC switch.

Sal
 
#353 ·
Update - given everything a thorough check today on the ramp.

No leaks, everything is as it should be.

I got a proper chance to drive the car down some country lanes which were quite challenging.

The car is has handling and balance better than it ever has. The suspension truly has that brand new feel.

I've only driven in P mode so far. I need to fix my EDC switch.

Sal
Thank you Cyrus!
 
#354 ·
It is P mode that will provide a true test of how the shocks are working - as it is only in this mode that the electronic switching of damping settings will occur. So P mode testing will give the best results anyway.

Good work Sal. I only hope that the end cost plus two way freight: Britain to Aus won't be too expensive!

Cheers
 
#356 ·
I've done 500 miles already!

Visual inspection was done today. I had to get under the car anyway as the rear SLS sensor was playing up and I found some perished wiring.

No problems.

Stupid EDC keeps getting stuck on hard now though but I know what's causing that after visual inspection.

Oh, interesting thing I forgot to point out. Front springs are only 250lb....that's well soft! I got Jon to test them on his machine whilst they were out.

The dampers are basically doing pretty much everything.

Anyway, it's all good.
 
#357 ·
Keep up the good work Sal and the regular updates are great . I know for a fact that a lot of people within the scene are watching this thread with interest and we all know that the tougher the job , the greater the reward !

D
 
#365 ·
Living legends

If this is finally cracked, then all 3 of you are living legends.....

In fact you all are allready regardless, having taken this farther than anyone had dared hope before.

Please continue to provide as much encouragement as possible to this Jon fellow - the significance of this is HUGE!!! If the EDC replacement cost issue can finally be cracked for good, then he will have a steady stream of business for the forseeable future, and will hopefully find the venture to be profitable as well.

We all know that used prices on E34 M5's are just about as low as they could possible go, with many a fairly decent car changing hands for less than it's worth in parts.

If this is now cracked, then Jon should go public ASAP with as many BMW mags as possible and we should all boycott them if they don't print it!!! This is brilliant work by all concerned, can only improve the longevity of these great cars, and can only (finally) help push used prices up to where they really should be.......170mph plus, handles like it's on rails and 4 doors for the kids and granny.....for £4/5K!!!!!!! FFS!!!

Mike, Sal and most importantly Jon, should never (and will never hopefully) want for a pint at any meets or get-togethers........EVER!!

Serious respect to all concerned and everything is crossed that the test car continues to hold firm!!! :cheers:

cheers,

David.
 
#368 ·
So, has there been an estimate on what it'll cost to get these rebuilt now that the rebuild is much more thorough than it was initially thought to be?

Unfortunately the prices on new EDC units has gone up a considerable amount recently ($180 each for fronts, and nearly doubled in price on the rears!) making the rebuild option even more desireable even though I'm on the other side of the world.
 
#369 ·
So, has there been an estimate on what it'll cost to get these rebuilt now that the rebuild is much more thorough than it was initially thought to be?

Unfortunately the prices on new EDC units has gone up a considerable amount recently ($180 each for fronts, and nearly doubled in price on the rears!) making the rebuild option even more desireable even though I'm on the other side of the world.
I think you forgot to add one more zero :)
 
#374 ·
The specification that the rebuilt units will be supplied to will be far higher then was originally planned. New rods and multi-lip seals with scraper ring will hopefully mean that the rebuilt units will at least match the lifespan of new units from BMW. As some of you may know, the 1995 EDC legs have a different part number to earlier units and cost quite a bit more. That's because the earlier legs use a very basic single lip seal and the 1995 units use a twin lip seal. But this is all 15+ year old technology, the seal assemblies that Jon is using for the rebuilt units are of a far more advanced design. That, coupled with new rods should make for reliable units with a long life span

I am still waiting for details of the final revised cost, inevitably it will be more than was originally estimated but it will still be a fraction of the cost of new legs which will hopefully make this a viable option for people outside of the UK too
 
#375 ·
Waiting anxiously for details

Cyrus,

I am the proud owner of a 95 M5 touring..one of the few in California...less than 100k miles. Anyway my left front EDC III shock has sprung a leak and needs either replacing or a rebuild.... so Im anxious to get any specifics on if there is a good rebuild solution and a contact for it.


Cheers Don
 
#376 · (Edited)
Once London Mike does his write up and gets the prices back you will know what it costs.

Just for info, I have now done 1000 miles.

These are not just straight forward motorway I can assure you!

Over the last few 100 miles the dampers have been on the hardest setting (beyond sport) and they are incredibly stiff.

The kind of punishment I'm giving the suspension is more than I'm sued to giving

Let's put it this way......I need new door card pins now!.....and tyres

This has been cracked in my opinion.

These have also been tested to destruction on the dyno aswell and i think Jon was more than pleased with the limits.

I have already been keeping traders in on the loop about all of this and making sure they try to supply as many of these as possible over the BMW items.

BMWcar Magazine is most probably going to have theirs rebuilt and hopefully that will turn into a full feature will go around the globe.

I heard recently that BMW rears failed only after a few thousand miles....how crap is that!

Sal
 
#378 ·
I'm just adding my thanks and respect to all three of you for sticking this out until it's sorted. I've been watching with interest since i joined, and i'm so glad it's nearing a successful result.
I was contemplating offering to pay for and run a set of test dampers for my trip to the 'Ring/Europe in May if things didn't work out with these ones, but looks like it won't be necessary now.

I think all owners with EDC equipped cars owe all three of you a cherrsagaiat persevering with the rebuild. Good job guys :thumbsup:
 
#379 ·
Just bought e34 3.8 m5 -92 and 'dyno-test for dampers' unfortunately showed that there was something badly wrong with left front damper so I'm really looking forward to these rebuild dampers as i'm trying to maintain the car as original as possible!:)

the process must have required much dedication and effort so all the respect for you guys for that:applause:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top