Bilstein B16/PSS-10 makes noises. Fails! Opinions?

[Franzino]

Just a thought: in the parts diagram below, have the two bolts (numbered 3), which attach the shock absorber to the wheel hub been replaced with new bolts when the suspension was fitted? If not then that would be my first point of suspicion. BMW uses self locking bolts which lose their grip if reused and these particular bolts are on TIGHT and take some shifting to undo. Unless these bolts are gripping as tight as they should be then this will give you some rattling - ask me how I know?

I don't know? My shop did the installation...but I can check this myself by replacing the bolts with new ones and do a test drive if anything improves. You say; "two bolts"... but I only see one bolt with number 3. Do you by any chance know the torque settings of these bolts when installing new ones, or where I could find this value?

First thing tomorrow I'm going to order these bolts with BMW.. Thanks for the tip! Any more....? Just shoot

[Mister T]

That sounds like the top nut on the damper is loose

[Franzino]

That sounds like the top nut on the damper is loose

How thight should it be? (I mean torque wrenche setting)

[Mister T]

I don't know what size the thread is on the B16, but the torque values are as follows:

M8 = 13Nm
M10 = 25Nm
M12 = 45Nm
M14 = 72Nm
M16 = 110Nm

[Franzino]

I don't know what size the thread is on the B16, but the torque values are as follows:

M8 = 13Nm
M10 = 25Nm
M12 = 45Nm
M14 = 72Nm
M16 = 110Nm

Great! I did not know that every bolt size was linked to a specific Nm value...

[PerryGunn]

I don't know what size the thread is on the B16, but the torque values are as follows:

M8 = 13Nm
M10 = 25Nm
M12 = 45Nm
M14 = 72Nm
M16 = 110Nm

Great! I did not know that every bolt size was linked to a specific Nm value...

General information document containing torque settings for BMWs

http://tedserbinski.com/files/bmw_torq.pdf

[exdos]

I don't know? My shop did the installation...but I can check this myself by replacing the bolts with new ones and do a test drive if anything improves. You say; "two bolts"... but I only see one bolt with number 3. Do you by any chance know the torque settings of these bolts when installing new ones, or where I could find this value?

First thing tomorrow I'm going to order these bolts with BMW.. Thanks for the tip! Any more....? Just shoot

Take another look at the parts diagram I posted, and you'll see that the bracket on the bottom of the damper has two holes where the 2 bolts (Part 3) go. When you inspect the location you'll soon see what I mean. I've posted a link to the parts lists and diagram for you. The bolts you'd need are PN 31 31 1 136 465

http://mfans2.com/parts/catalog/E86/Eur ... _absorber/

I see others have posted the torque specs. Because the bolts BMW use are self-locking undoing them can take a lot of force so be careful to ensure that you use a socket and a long bar and make sure that the socket is fully on and mind your knuckles! IIRC you can undo them with a wheel brace, which helps.

Sometimes the tops of the dampers don't tighten as well as they might in the top mount too, so that would be worth checking at the same time, before you refit new bottom bolts.

[ba3bas]

Guys sorry to go back to the start about the noise.

Notice your springs dont have any rubber around the coils and sounds like youve got some spring slap.

Look for tein spring silencers

You can get a variety of sizes from camskill

http://www.tein.co.uk/product/silencer_rubber.html

[Franzino]

Guys sorry to go back to the start about the noise.

Notice your springs dont have any rubber around the coils and sounds like youve got some spring slap.

Look for tein spring silencers

You can get a variety of sizes from camskill

http://www.tein.co.uk/product/silencer_rubber.html

The small rattling noise (from day 1 after the installation) was only hearable on small bumps… So I doubt that it was the sound of the springs touching each other in full compression. I presume that you mean that with spring slap? I also had some rear suspension noise after the installation… But this was only a bolt that was not 100% thight and this was an easy fix and resolved in 5 minutes. The rear never gave me any noise again, only the front.

The new (louder) noise and feeling in steering collum is only on 1 side of the front, so in my opinion it's certainly nothing like spring slap…

Still a good tip

[Franzino]

Take another look at the parts diagram I posted, and you'll see that the bracket on the bottom of the damper has two holes where the 2 bolts (Part 3) go. When you inspect the location you'll soon see what I mean. I've posted a link to the parts lists and diagram for you. The bolts you'd need are PN 31 31 1 136 465

http://mfans2.com/parts/catalog/E86/Eur ... _absorber/

I see others have posted the torque specs. Because the bolts BMW use are self-locking undoing them can take a lot of force so be careful to ensure that you use a socket and a long bar and make sure that the socket is fully on and mind your knuckles! IIRC you can undo them with a wheel brace, which helps.

Sometimes the tops of the dampers don't tighten as well as they might in the top mount too, so that would be worth checking at the same time, before you refit new bottom bolts.

Thanks! I see what you mean… In your opinion; should I also replace bolt number 5?

I will definitely order 4x bolt 31 31 1 136 465 tomorrow and replace them as a test. The bolt has dimension M12 X 20… So I was looking in the torque spec sheet dat was posted here. There in no separate chapter for suspension (as there is for engine, exhaust, gearbox, etc). So I went looking in the main torque setting, but there are different values for a M12 bolt. Which one should I take (little confusing that pdf file ). Also is the value in Nm or in ft. lbs? http://tedserbinski.com/files/bmw_torq.pdf

It stated in this topic that a M12 bolt is 45 Nm of torque, but the PDF file says other things… There is no specific value for a M12 x 20, but 45 Nm seems a little low for a suspension bolt that needs to handle some impact forces.

[Mister T]

The torque values I listed came from the Bilstein B16 installation instructions, so would only apply to hardware supplied by Bilstein.

[Franzino]

The torque values I listed came from the Bilstein B16 installation instructions, so would only apply to hardware supplied by Bilstein.

Good to know!

[Franzino]

I have checked the 24mm bolt at top of the left damper. I don't know how much Nm the 24mm should have, but everything feels thight..

[Mikey_Boy]

Any more progress with this?? Any feed back or comments from Bilstein?

[exdos]

Thanks! I see what you mean… In your opinion; should I also replace bolt number 5?

Sorry not responded earlier. Bolt number 5 is essentially part of a hinge and the nut is only a retainer and is not under tensile forces so should be reusable, just put a bit of loctite on it when reusing.

I will definitely order 4x bolt 31 31 1 136 465 tomorrow and replace them as a test. The bolt has dimension M12 X 20… So I was looking in the torque spec sheet dat was posted here. There in no separate chapter for suspension (as there is for engine, exhaust, gearbox, etc). So I went looking in the main torque setting, but there are different values for a M12 bolt. Which one should I take (little confusing that pdf file ). Also is the value in Nm or in ft. lbs? http://tedserbinski.com/files/bmw_torq.pdf

It stated in this topic that a M12 bolt is 45 Nm of torque, but the PDF file says other things… There is no specific value for a M12 x 20, but 45 Nm seems a little low for a suspension bolt that needs to handle some impact forces.

The relevant information for the tightening torques for the M12 bolts is the "8.8", "10.9" or "12.9" on the heads of the bolts: this is the tensile strength of the bolt. I would think that the bolts 31 31 1 136 465 are M12 thread (the wheel bolts are M12 x 1.5 thread) so you could compare the threads to check.