Air strut replacement checklist ( chime in all who know )

[4.8isX5]

So as most of you may know or maybe you dont. I am living in San Antonio now for a few weeks and in my other post the right bag blew.

Since i dont have the comfort of back home and a garage at my parents place i just want to know exactly what i need as now its even a hassle to jack the car up and take the wheel off to check lol..


Basically from what i remember when doing brakes the e53 had a simple strut design..

3 bolts at the top, 2 big ones for the knuckle at the bottom, stabilizer bar and then the air line. Let me know if im missing anything from the image in my head.

I have the cars scissor jack and 2 toolboxes with me one of which is ratchet/socket set etc. Im not new to work on cars as back home i did work every weekend on audi/bmw/ etc.

So since i also dont have another vehicle in case i also want to see if anyone knows the specific nut/bolt sizes as well.

And no access to my impact gun i had which takes me back to the old days of manual wrenching lol.


The air hose will come off with a normal open ended wrench?

Other then that i think it will be straight forward i just need to know specifics as i dont have the comfort of everything at home but will still mostly DIY my ride.

[X5SND]

The only bit you might have fun with is removing those large bolts on the bottom of the strut by hand. Other than that you should be ok!

[Ricky Bobby]

The bottom strut bolts are 7/8 or 21/22mm if I recall correctly. S is right, they are torqued to about 180 ft lbs as I had to take them off to do my wheel bearings last year.

You'll need a box wrench (big one) to hold the bolt and get the biggest breaker bar from Harbor Freight you can find (I think biggest is like 25" and 1/2" drive) and put a socket on that nut and crank 'er loose.

Drinking a bottle of Muscle Milk beforehand will help, and its up to you but the bottom strut bolts are stretch bolts supposedly so I bought 2 new ones and 2 nuts from the dealer when I reinstalled after I was done with the bearings. I torqued to 150 and then an 1/8 turn more as my torque wrench only goes up to 150.

[RajB]

Bottom strut bolts/nuts are 21/22mm and do tame a bit of strength to undo if torqued correctly. The droplink is a 16mm I think but you will need a thin spanner to hold the balljoint in place otherwise it'll just keep spinning.

The top three are just 13mm and no problem. Also a 10mm for the airline. I do the airline first if you can or just be careful not to let it get pulled too much.

My only concern would be using the OE scissor jack while doing this. It's not exactly the most stable for a job like this.

[4.8isX5]

RB - I never had an issue with replacing bolts. Most i do but those 2 big ones at the bottom will be fine.

Before the impact gun days im used to taking things apart with a normal 1/2 ratchet hahah , so i should be ok, im going to get a breaker bar from HF because its so much easier on you to loosen and tighten stuff..

[RajB]

With the breaker bar you'll be fine. And I agree I've reused my bolts and nuts no problem. No need to replace.

[4.8isX5]

RajB - Thanks for the sizing. The air line is just open end wrench? to be sure.

I agree that scissor jack is not my ideal thing to work on, but im someone who works with what i have to get the job done. Doesnt bother me.

I wouldnt be asking any of these questions just that here i need to know exact things i need vs at home didnt matter.

[RajB]

Originally Posted by 4.8isX5

RajB - Thanks for the sizing. The air line is just open end wrench? to be sure.

I agree that scissor jack is not my ideal thing to work on, but im someone who works with what i have to get the job done. Doesnt bother me.

I wouldnt be asking any of these questions just that here i need to know exact things i need vs at home didnt matter.

Yes open ended spanner for the airline.

Agree you have to work with what you have. I've done worse lol

[Ricky Bobby]

Harbor Freight you can prob get a good jack for 50 bucks with coupon it would be good to have.

Instead of using the widow-maker lol

[4.8isX5]

RB - im trying to keep costs as low as possible, my jacks back home i got from HF work great.

But the scissor we have is still decent sized, you had an MK4 you said, im assuming that had the half of a scissor jack, jack? LOL