My 93 M5 has a knocking sound coming from one of the front shocks at low speed, the cars handling does not seem to have deteriorated.
My service provider has told me:
This is a result of wear and tear (hence not claimable under the BMW Approved USer Car Warranty)
With 120,000 kms on the car the shocks will have worn out anyway.
I can't replace one shock, I need to do both front ones and
The genuine shocks will cost US$850 EACH!
I would really appreciate any feedback on:
What happens to shock when they wear, mine is not leaking and is performing fine ?
Can I replace just one?
What should I expect to pay?
Is it possible to buy direct from BMW in Germany and arrange shipment myself?
I assume that the dealer has actually examined the car, and is not just going on what you have said. He has checked all the joints on the steering, with that mileage I would have expected the tie rod joints to be worn. Mine were on the 91 M5 at 82000 miles (100000? kms) and the 535i too at similar distance.
I assume he has then said, yes the problem is the shock.
The handling you would not have noticed, as you have been getting used to the gradual deterioration. The M5 will handle well with pretty worn shocks on the road anyway. New will feel a whole lot different.
"This is a result of wear and tear (hence not claimable under the BMW Approved USer Car Warranty)"
Correct.
With 120,000 kms on the car the shocks will have worn out anyway.
Correct.
"I can't replace one shock, I need to do both front ones together."
Correct - when did you last buy one new shoe? To balance everthing out, you need to do both. Some people recommend replacing all four together, but if the backs have already been done, then leave it, or get a "jounce" test done or at least a professional to look at the rears.
"The genuine shocks will cost $850 EACH! "
I assumed you were in the USA, but I`ve just seen your profile, you`re in New Zealand.
errr... assuming you are using the New Zealand dollars and not the US dollar, then the $850 NZ you quote is £243.70 UK and $352.07 US Dollars. If this is fitted, then that is not impossibel to believe.
If you really have quoted $850 US, which is $2051 dollars each US = $4051 dollars US for both, then make sure you get free dealer coffee and biscuits while you wait. :
I do not have the exact price, but will check with my mail dealer today and post the price later for the UK. A quick scan of big mail-order suppliers says that Bilsteins (good) go from £35 to £55 for the 520 to 535i respectively. Now the M5 fronts are 0.8" lower, but even so I would not have thought more than £80 for mail-order and I remember the 535i being quoted £127 a while back at a main dealer. Again I may be wrong, so will post an accurate price later.
Please bear in mind this is not fitted. A UK main dealer charges anywhere from £50 to £90 per hour, and on a 120000 kms car, there may be a lot rusted or seized.
The rears are a different matter. If you have the self-levelling suspension that was on the UK spec cars then this is about £550 each, you obviously need two, and I think this is non-fitted. That is why so many people disable the self-levelling system and put a good set of conventional shocks like Bilstein.
The exact method of doing it I have not looked into, but I see this question has just been posted to the board, so keeps a lookout for the replies.
The "nurburgring" suspension was more complicated, but if I remember, it wasn`t an option on the non-europe cars, so you haven`t got it unless your car is an imported from Europe. Therefore you should have the standard self-levelling that we had on the 91` cars.
Yes you could buy them and import them, but wait til I get the exact price and post it later today for actual BMW parts, and then find another supplier.
The results of a worn shock consist of the following. This may not be an exhaustive list.
Excessive travel up and down, more specifically the shocks damping ability is less, resulting in the wheel/car bouncing up and down after a bump. See your US lowriders, or watch the original batmobile stop !!
The shock will also be not as good at keeping the tyre pressed to the ground, resulting in loss of grip (relative to a new one) over uneven surfaces, you may also notice more body roll. I vaguely remember something about braking being less efficient, especially when ABS kicks in, again over uneven surfaces.
The rubber dust cover over the shock will probably be perished, allowing all kinds of rubbish into the unit, resulting in noise possibly. The rubber keeps a metal washer held onto the shock, and this can now bounce up when you hit a bump, resulting in a metallic "chink", similar to a hi-hat on a drum kit over potholes ar sharp bumps. You can hear this when the windows are down. The rubber may also get caught in the shocks action, resulting in squeaks.
Hope this helps.
Ivan.
__________________
"Never enter Karussell when on the brakes! I have gone round there on the roof, I know what I'm talking about." ~ Sabine Schmitz
Last edited by IvanDias; 12th October 2001 at 13:21.
I had writers block, I knew I couldn`t think of something.
Of course, the tyre wear rate and pattern !!.
I checked with my local BMW main dealer and they quoted £100 + VAT (17.5% in the UK = Final Price £117.50 UK, $349.67 NZ Dollar or $144.56 US Dollars.
That is each one, and does not include fitting. The BMW parts list computer (I overlooked) says they are made by "BOGE".
And independent dealer (specialist BMW) says £75 UK, $262.26 NZ Dollar or $108.42 US Dollar, again each plus fitting for Bilstein or other "good ones". Fair enough, mail order was about £55 for 535i ones plus therefore logically a bit more for the M5 ones plus his profit. The specialist quoted me £30 fitting each.
So - in conclusion either ;
a) You mixed up NZ and US dollar.
b) Your dealer has mixed up front and rear (rears are huge money)
c) Your dealer is doing all four !!
d) Your dealer has seen addtional work and quoted for it.
e) Your dealer is living in a land of make believe Do you have a firearms licence?
Hope this helps.
Ivan.
PS. errr... I could post you some for US $800 each. Thats a saving of $100 on your local dealer :p :p :p :p :p :p
__________________
"Never enter Karussell when on the brakes! I have gone round there on the roof, I know what I'm talking about." ~ Sabine Schmitz
Last edited by IvanDias; 12th October 2001 at 21:24.
I have found the answer to this problem, and it is not good news guys.
Let me guess, you have the EDC-III suspension ?
This was on all Europe spec cars (but not US) after February 1992
Remember that the earlier E34 3.6 cars have expensive rear shocks, £550ish, because they are self levelling?
Well, you guys with the 3.8 and EDC-III have a even more sophisticated system, that controls all four shocks. Thats right, the fronts also have a hydraulic pipe that links to the other one, and a computer that controls all four.
Therefore, unfortunately, your dealer is right about the £650 cost per shock.
I checked again today with my main dealer, and he looked up again for me the 3.6 car I own, and bingo, £100 front shocks, and the picture on the computer looked just like a normal strut.
I then got him to check the 3.8 cars, (he was under the impression that they were the same, ie £100), and lo and behold, a nasty picture of pipes and additional parts that were not there on the 3.6.
He then called up the prices, and they showed a dealer cost price of £551 and some pennies, so add on their margin, and you get the £650 you have been quoted.
The EDC is present an all cars after Feb 1992, and it does not matter if you have the Nurburgring option.
The Nurburgring option was the EDC-III, but added a EDC-III computer override switch with three settings (sport, comfort and automatic), a 19mm swaybar (stabilizer, anti-roll bar, depending where you live the name changes), and 9J*17 rims with 255/40ZR17 tyres at the rear ('throwing stars')
Sorry, but the answer is pay the price, or see if anybody knows of a way to disable the system and fit standard units.
The disbaling of the system and fitting standard parts is common on the rear of the 3.6, because the car is old, and probably not worth £1100 of rear shocks.
But, to remove the system of the 3.8 would be sacrilage, the car is so much better handling than the old 3.6. If it was mine I would just accept what is what is, and buy the right units. Thankyou Barclaycard !!
Also, thinking aloud, there is no computer control on the rear of the 3.6, so the computer controlled 3.8 system may be horrendous to deactivate, if it is even possible.
No, just buy the £650 shocks, and write is down to having the best handling sedan in the world.
Ivan
__________________
"Never enter Karussell when on the brakes! I have gone round there on the roof, I know what I'm talking about." ~ Sabine Schmitz
Last edited by IvanDias; 13th October 2001 at 21:41.
1) The hydraulic system is only for the levelling purpose and therefore only fitted on the rear shocks! They are, as far as I know, not computer controlled!
2) The EDC-III computer controlls the three settings (soft, medium and hard) and are operated with two electrical valves on each shock absorber. I guess thats also why they are so expensive. When you buy new ones you get a complete unit with shock absorber, electrical valves, wheel shaft and the lower spring support
This front unit is only fitted on M5:s with EDC-III and from what I have heard BMW is not allowing BOGE to sell spare parts! That's another reason why it is so expensive.
By the way the local BMW dealer told me that any front shock absorber unit with EDC from a 3,8 litre car fits all those cars regardless of the year. It can be different numbers stamped into the unit but they fits the car. I have changed front shock absorbers on my M5 -95 to another ones, with different numbers stamped into the metal, with no problems!
I changed all my suspension on my 3.6 1991. I also changed every single rubber component and ball joint in the entire front and rear suspension system. The handling was transformed.
front springs £38+vat
front shocks £80+vat
rear springs £35+vat
rear shocks £225+vat
The fronts are ordinary shocks and the rears are conected into the rear self leveling sytem by means of high pressure hoses via the real axle leveling accumilators. The fronts are not self leveling.
That is for original equipment from a uk bmw dealer with a discount that they give me.
I do not see why all these people complain about the prices of parts. The car is a £50k car in the beginning so parts won`t come cheap. If you bought a Ferrari for £50k you would expect to pay high prices for parts. Why buy an M5 if you are goin to skimp on parts and use copy or inferior parts.In my opinion these people should own 535i`s because all the expensive parts on the M5 distance it from a normal 5 series car.
Also why ...plug,disconnect,alter,play about with....the self leveling system. Bmw must have spent millions of pounds developing the system to work as well as it does.. so why not but the correct parts and keep it proper and standard. Otherwise you might as well have an ordinary 5 series!
Lets say a person has a 1992 car, worth about £5000-7000 depending on condition.
To replace all four shocks is 4 x £550-650 plus fitting, probably plus VAT.
Yes, its a £50000 car, but not from the perspective of someone who has bought it as a 5-9 year old £10000 car.
Does a £650 shock give 10 times the overall quality of pleasure in a car that a £65 one from the previous model year doesn`t??
Note I didn`t use the word "perfomance", as I don`t think from the perspective of our hypothetical M5 owner, that there is 10 time the price worth of perfomance and handling increase.
Don`t be angry, everyone has their own opinion, but you must admit, if you are used to "normal" sports cars, a shock (geddit!) bill of £2200 for 4 struts is a bit steep.
Remember, I advised to keep the cars original, and spend the money.
Ivan
Ivan.
__________________
"Never enter Karussell when on the brakes! I have gone round there on the roof, I know what I'm talking about." ~ Sabine Schmitz
Do you have a firearms licence?
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