The Support Bearing Flange has a steel “bearing” attached to the aluminum “flange” via a flexible “support”. The little orange upper and lower orange Guide Supports fit around the steel “bearing” and cushion the flexible “support”.
Support Bearing Flange top/outside
Support Bearing Flange bottom/inside
This is the Support Bearing Flange on the driver’s side strut, with the orange upper Guide Support,…
… before disassembly.
… after the rebuild but before installation.
… after installation with the full weight of the X5, the washer is parallel to the flange.
These little orange donuts don’t just stop the clunking. They protect the Support Bearing Flange. They are visible anytime the hood is open. So I’ve added a visual inspection of them to my regular maintenance.
Funf Dreisig