Ebay springs to raise hatch

[ArmyX5]

I received mine yesterday and I already had aftermarket shocks so, it was easy for me to install them. They are working perfect for me, no issues so far.

[romeokc10]

Originally Posted by ArmyX5

I received mine yesterday and I already had aftermarket shocks so, it was easy for me to install them. They are working perfect for me, no issues so far.

I received mine last week, didn't realize until after I got them that you have to have aftermarket struts to install them because the you can't remove the ball from the OEM struts.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

I'm tihnking its not $30 sadly.
the buyers will have to buy new rear hatch gas shocks too for these, as the Bimmer parts do not have unscrewable heads, which are needed for this set-up.
I wanted them till I figured this out

Originally Posted by romeokc10

I received mine last week, didn't realize until after I got them that you have to have aftermarket struts to install them because the you can't remove the ball from the OEM struts.

Sure you can. Well, at least *I* could. Of course, I went from the advice within this thread and bought new struts anyway. My old ones were holding the trunk just fine, but they took a bit of encouragement to lift.

Anyway, I bought the aftermarket struts that were suggested here and I found the ends difficult to remove/unscrew. In fact. I had to use channel locks to grip the strut rod and then unscrew the end to install the springs- more on them later.

That experience made me curious. The OE struts removed from the hatch, I figured I had nothing to lose. So, I gripped the OE's with channels and twisted the other end.. and guess what? They twisted right off.

Here is my original strut with 'E53 HK' in blue.


and here is the end removed of the OE strut (note 11 years of dirt and grime). Easy peasy: