Installing Ohlins RT. Rear shock mounting minor issues.

[bavarian3]

Appreciate ya all, and Portlandgrey for catching that. heinzboehmer good idea, will take measurements.

BTW idk if tnord got his question answered, lol. Are you just asking for the top nut size?

[tnord]

Appreciate ya all, and Portlandgrey for catching that. heinzboehmer good idea, will take measurements.

BTW idk if tnord got his question answered, lol. Are you just asking for the top nut size?

I'm looking for someone that's done this to check my work. I think I finally have everything apart, cleaned, and ready to go back in the car. There are a lot of components here, and as we've seen it's pretty easy to mess it up. I've got it laid out in the order I think it goes together according the the instructions.

Particularly on the rear there's a lot going on. The control wire is a little odd, does it protrude through the carpet for easy adjustment? Also, in order to get that lock nut on top of the washer I have to take the rebound adjuster off. I think for washer sandwich between the top mount the rubber side faces the rubber part of the mount?

There's a bumpstop for the rears, which apparently have plenty of travel so it's less likely to be used, but no bumpstop for the fronts with less travel? Before I do it, the instructions also suggest trimming down the dust boots?

[bavarian3]

I'm looking for someone that's done this to check my work. I think I finally have everything apart, cleaned, and ready to go back in the car. There are a lot of components here, and as we've seen it's pretty easy to mess it up. I've got it laid out in the order I think it goes together according the the instructions.

Particularly on the rear there's a lot going on. The control wire is a little odd, does it protrude through the carpet for easy adjustment? Also, in order to get that lock nut on top of the washer I have to take the rebound adjuster off. I think for washer sandwich between the top mount the rubber side faces the rubber part of the mount?

There's a bumpstop for the rears, which apparently have plenty of travel so it's less likely to be used, but no bumpstop for the fronts with less travel? Before I do it, the instructions also suggest trimming down the dust boots?

These diagrams should help clarify the stock assemblies since you're using stock struts(and rsm it looks like?) :

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BL93-USA-01-2001-E46-BMW-M3&diagId=33_1025

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=BL93-USA-01-2001-E46-BMW-M3&diagId=31_0577

There is no external bump stop on these types of struts: https://motoiq.com/what-is-an-inverted-shaft-strut/2/

For the cable, I didn't use this, but you would drill a hole if you wish to make adjustments without pulling the carpet. And for the dust boots yes trim them a bit, but mine were overly cut than necessary as you can see in the pics. It's hard to imagine this thin material really causing any interference regardless.

Hope this helps and others can chime in. I wouldn't sweat assembly outside of my doozie.

[digger]

i like to use ZN3 (zinc flake) coated fasteners they are much better than the normal yellow zinc or regular zinc and look nicer IMO. i also like threads sticking through a smidge with some antiseize to help keep corrosion of the tapped hole at bay as much as practical. Adjusting torque to suit

[Bebop]

If static ride height changes when you flip the mount (unlikely to happen unless you were bottoming out on the bump stop or similar), static alignment will definitely change. The camber/toe curves will not (you'll just be in another part of them).

Measure ride height, flip mount, measure again, adjust if necessary and your static alignment will be back to where it was.

To be super technical and the most precise, if you raise your car (with a jack or lift) during the shock install, when you drop it back on the ground the suspension will be constrained.
You'd want to push the car a few feet forward/back before measuring ride height to make sure that the suspension settles.
Same thing happens when you make any kind of alignment adjustments if you don't have turn plates under your wheels.

[tnord]

These diagrams should help clarify the stock assemblies since you're using stock struts(and rsm it looks like?) :

There is no external bump stop on these types of struts: https://motoiq.com/what-is-an-inverted-shaft-strut/2/

For the cable, I didn't use this, but you would drill a hole if you wish to make adjustments without pulling the carpet. And for the dust boots yes trim them a bit, but mine were overly cut than necessary as you can see in the pics. It's hard to imagine this thin material really causing any interference regardless.

Hope this helps and others can chime in. I wouldn't sweat assembly outside of my doozie.

yes, the top mounts are both OE for now (RSMs are Meyle HD).

some differences between the assembly I've laid out and the realoem diagram, from top to bottom;

rears - I do not have item 11 or 19. 11 doesn't feel important, but 19 kinda does. however neither are shown in the Ohlins provided diagrams, and a part number is not listed on realoem. I also don't have item 6, but rather another of item 12 in its place. They look to be basically the same, though item 6 may not have the rubber coating on one side.

fronts - I have the assembly as shown on real oem outside of the bumpstop. but also, no spring pad for the perch or anything?

[tnord]

I'm turning this into my personal ohlins troubleshooting live posting thread.

- left side lock not isn't seated down against the RSM, at this point it just spins the shaft. the right side is fine, I don't think I did anything different.
- right side collar nuts on the front top mount aren't threaded down as far as the ones on the left. I didn't torque anything down besides the pinch bolt until the car was on the ground.
- front of the car is riding pretty high (14.5'' and I'm running out of adjustment). stock top mounts.

[Big Nodge]

So I haven’t installed mine yet, but as I understand it the rear shock shafts do not have a female hex fitting on top to let you counter hold (I’ve torqued the top nut on other rear shocks with a crows foot while counter holding with an allen). So I’ve heard you give it one brap with an impact. It’s on my list to research further. Not sure how much that helps

[tnord]

I haven't seen a way to hold the shaft in place while you torque the top nut. I thought maybe it would help to put it in the car and under load, but that didn't work either.

Hoping to get back to it later tonight.

[Big Nodge]

The torque spec on those top nuts is usually pretty light. I’d hit it with an electric impact on the lowest setting and take it from there.

[bavarian3]

I haven't seen a way to hold the shaft in place while you torque the top nut. I thought maybe it would help to put it in the car and under load, but that didn't work either.

Hoping to get back to it later tonight.

On the front you use an open socket like these(I forget the nut size): , but you could carefully use an impact like Big Nodge said. Be mindful the shaft doesn't spin(bad). For the rear check out this video. https://youtu.be/HAyx9m60Dx0?si=O7fdVxd4nOI1hGrF&t=99

[tnord]

The front ones I got torqued using a spark plug socket that has a 22mm head built into it so I could stick the 6mm allen key through the 3/8'' ratchet opening, then turn the top nut using an open 22mm wrench.

the back one is the one that's just spinning the shaft. I was debating taking off the provided nylock nut and using a regular one with blue loctite instead. The nylock portion is adding just enough extra resistence that the shaft spins.

EDIT; hitting it with my 3/8 impact on lowest setting did the trick. Now if I can get the ride heights figured out before the rain shows up for the next week that would be lovely. Mine are all over the place, it seems like I can't get the rear high enough and can't get the front low enough. I lowered the fronts 3 turns and I only got .25'' lower on the left side, nothing on the right. I even went and drove it for ~5miles to hopefully get things to settle.

also, I can't get the wrenches on the rear spring mounts, making it a real pain to adjust heights. Did I install something incorrectly here?

LF 14.25
RF 14.5
RR 13
LR 13.5

[bavarian3]

The front ones I got torqued using a spark plug socket that has a 22mm head built into it so I could stick the 6mm allen key through the 3/8'' ratchet opening, then turn the top nut using an open 22mm wrench.

the back one is the one that's just spinning the shaft. I was debating taking off the provided nylock nut and using a regular one with blue loctite instead. The nylock portion is adding just enough extra resistence that the shaft spins.

EDIT; hitting it with my 3/8 impact on lowest setting did the trick. Now if I can get the ride heights figured out before the rain shows up for the next week that would be lovely. Mine are all over the place, it seems like I can't get the rear high enough and can't get the front low enough. I lowered the fronts 3 turns and I only got .25'' lower on the left side, nothing on the right. I even went and drove it for ~5miles to hopefully get things to settle.

also, I can't get the wrenches on the rear spring mounts, making it a real pain to adjust heights. Did I install something incorrectly here?

LF 14.25
RF 14.5
RR 13
LR 13.5

No they just suck like that. https://youtu.be/2Yk6q6ZhQ7Y?si=CulOT6rDKpXt0nHB&t=233

[tnord]

I don't really plan on messing with it once it's set, but it's quite the process to find the right setting. Getting the lower shock bolt aligned is it's own special kind of annoying also.

from your video it looks like you were riding pretty close to the top of the adjustment range on the rear perches? I think when I installed everything the first time I set it at like 4-6 turns from the bottom, and it's obviously too low. I only have like 2 threads left showing on the front. as I raise the rear it should jack more weight to the front and theoretically lower it a little more so I'll probably leave it alone until I get the rear closer to ideal. targeting 14'' front and 13.5'' rear for no particular reason, for some reason that's the number I have in my head from other threads.

[bavarian3]

I don't really plan on messing with it once it's set, but it's quite the process to find the right setting. Getting the lower shock bolt aligned is it's own special kind of annoying also.

from your video it looks like you were riding pretty close to the top of the adjustment range on the rear perches? I think when I installed everything the first time I set it at like 4-6 turns from the bottom, and it's obviously too low. I only have like 2 threads left showing on the front. as I raise the rear it should jack more weight to the front and theoretically lower it a little more so I'll probably leave it alone until I get the rear closer to ideal. targeting 14'' front and 13.5'' rear for no particular reason, for some reason that's the number I have in my head from other threads.

Not my videos, Idk if mrgizmo04 still logs in here. I do have some of my own content here in my build journal that may help. Happy to provide more pictures of anything as I'll be swapping the RSM tonight or tomorrow.