Crumbling rear shock bumpers

S

SteatoLegato

Member
Hi everyone, just got a relatively low mileage 2004 e85 and discovered that the rear shock bumpers are rotten and crumbling with the plastic pipe dislodged and floating free. Car drives fine but I've not pushed it yet. How important is this to fix and will I need to replace the dampers as well? Thanks! pic attached - hope it worked
 

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To replace those with Febi Bilstein, Lemforder top mounts and Sachs rear shocks is under £200 and easily DIY-able.
If the stops have crumbled there's a good chance the whole lot is original.
 
No, it’s not an important component, unless you are regularly hitting the bump stops. You can change the bumpers and you don’t need to change the shocks at the same time (although from an effort point of view, you might as well). But as enuff_zed said, the state of the bump stops is a good indicator that that mounts and shocks are original too and will be well overdue for replacement regardless of mileage. Quite a satisfying job to do yourself and not expensive in the scheme of things.
 
Thanks! Definitely something to consider, although not sure if I have the same options here in Australia. @enuff_zed can you please link to the parts I need?
 
SteatoLegato said:
Thanks! Definitely something to consider, although not sure if I have the same options here in Australia. @enuff_zed can you please link to the parts I need?
Click to expand...
I use Autodoc, a German company who ship to the UK.
Not sure if they do world-wide?
If they do, then download the app on your phone, put your car details in and search for the parts you need.
Do NOT get Meyle HD top mounts! Terrible design which allows metal to metal contact and knock like crazy!
 
It can also mean that the car has spent a fair bit of time in hot weather. Those things disintegrate out in the sun/with hot OAT. As said previously, they are not important unless you’re bottoming out. I ran the RE versions previously, no issues. Might still have em lying around if you want em?

Your shocks however, do look like OG, maybe have a good look at em and then have a look if it’s worth replacing the whole thing. :thumbsup:

You might also wanna have a Look at your front bump stops, prob in the same condition, or missing..
 
sirhodjibob said:
Definitely consider reinforced rear shock mounts while doing the bump stops. Out in the States a lot of us run the Rogue Engineering rear shock mounts. I ran them on both my Z4M and E36 M3- very handy upgrade as the nuts are accessible from the bottom, so you can remove the rear shock without taking any of the trunk liner out making future servicing a breeze.

https://www.rogueengineering.com/Rogue-Engineering-E30E36E46-Rear-Shock-Mount-Pair_p_270.html
Click to expand...
Another vote for the RE top mounts - I've been running them for ten years now without any problems :thumbsup:
 
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