PROBLEM - OIL FROM FRONT SHOCKS HAS GONE EVERYWHERE!!

E

Exactmax

Active member
Just checking the front lights this evening and noticed a huge amount of oil sprayed up and around the wheel arch. I thought it might of been water but on closer inspection it is oil and has gone everywhere!!!

The oil appears to have leaked from the top of the shock - any idea what might be the problem here? I'm taking it to the garage tomorrow morning for a costing. I have attached the parts below... I've got my insurance this month so this is such bad timing!!!! Typical

163.png

156.png


Thanks :x
 
May just be that the shock has blown a seal, If you need one side doing it'll be best to do both sides to keep the ride even, shocks do wear over time, parts wise I would guess at £40ish a side and about 1h30 a side to fit at most garages
 
I hope it's just a seal - any idea how much a new shock will cost? Just a OEM version?

There is oil leaking on both sides (at the front) which is odd that both would go at the same time :(
 
Best bet is to google Z4 front shocks for idea of price and fitment cost, not sure why they'd go at the same time but they may have been weeping a little for a while and just given up due to bad road, potholes, speed bumps etc etc
 
I've had a google and found a brand called Bilstein for around £110. Is OEM ones going to be more than that?
 
As my car is lowered with Eibachs is it worth getting the shocks replaced with different ones rather than OEM ones?
 
Exactmax said:
As my car is lowered with Eibachs is it worth getting the shocks replaced with different ones rather than OEM ones?
Click to expand...

Only if you plan on doing all 4. Keep the car balanced and well behaved.
IMHO unless you really know what you're doing and have a lot of time to research it stick with OEM. Changing to aftermarket can have some horrible effects on ride quality, all in the name of tuning.
 
I've just spoken to the garage and the front shocks have blown the top and need replacing! They have advised that if I went down the route of aftermarket ones then all four would need doing. They said that as the car has been lowered that the standard shocks from BMW will still be too long and the problem will happen again.

I don't really want to go down the route of aftermarket shocks as they are more money and I will need to do all four. What do you think people? Has anyone had different shocks fitted since having the Eibach Pro Kit fitted?
 
Confirms what I said and is just the sort of problem that happens when suspension parts are changed ad hoc.

How long did they last on the lowered springs?
 
I've found these that will match the Ebiach Pro Kit Already fitted http://performance-suspension.eibach.de/cms/products_products_shock_absorbers_pro_damper

???
 
Exactmax said:
Well I had the car lowered back in March this year and I have been driving it everyday back and forth to work...
Click to expand...

That sort of confirms the life expectancy then as 5 months. If you'd said 3 years you could live with it.
I assume the shock is acting as the bumpstop and thus everytime you hit a pothole or load the car on cornering it's banging the top end of the shock with the piston.

Def needs either raising or proper matching shocks fitted.
 
Yeh sounds like it and I'm guessing I'm going to have to make the plunge and buy the Pro-Dampers to match the springs. Do you think that as the car has done around the 55K miles that they might of just been on their way out and lowering it has just done it in?

You don't recon a new set of OEM shocks will surfice?
 
Shocks do wear out but they take their time and 55k isn't big miles.....but then if they are getting hammered its possible.

But this spring lowering thing worries me a bit..........it would seem its putting extra pressure on the shock by compressing it more than usual can cause things to pop instead of a slow leak as you'd usually find.

Probably worth anyone with lowered springs checking their shocks in case.....
 
The rear ones are fine so I'm guessing its a combination of wear and tear and the fact that the car is lowered on standard shocks. At least with the Eibach Shocks they will of been designed to work with the springs installed and will have less give I suppose to (stopping the shock popping the top off)....

Either way I'm looking at about £1000 for 4 new shocks and labour to install - :thumbsdown:
 
It's not about 'give' If you lower (or raise) a car then the shock starts to work outside of it's designed range. In the instance of lowering you're likely now hitting the top on bottoming out or running the shock on an old rusted part of the bore and thus trashing it.
 
I ran a 2.5lt E46 convertible on standard shocks with Eibachs pro springs with no issues BUT I did replace the front shocks at the same time as fitting the springs with OEM shocks - the pro kit runs at about the same height as the standard M sport set up give or take a few mm (well it does on the E46 not 100% on the Z but you can research that if needed). As CJ said fitting new lowering springs to old shocks will mean they are more compressed so it's more likely that the old exposed/corroded part of the shaft will travel into the cylinder past the seal and cause damaged, new oem shocks will be ok as the shock will level with the height of the aftermarket spring as they would with OEM springs fitted so they should be fine for a good few years as long as they aren't bottoming out over speed bumps etc but will be under extra stress so won't last as long as with the OEM set up.

I'm not a mechanic by the way, just speaking from my own experience, some may agree with my views and others may not.
 
What do you think will be better? the B6 or the B8? http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/products/search_car/product_sub.mhtml?car=bmwz4;category=shockabsorbers
 
After speaking to numerous dealers and Eibach themselves; they recommended going for the B6 Blistein Shock Absorbers - got all 4 for £630 including delivery and VAT which I think is a good price - I will take some pictures once fitted and do a write up on how they perform.

It was interesting to note that Eibach don't produce shocks to match the Pro Lowering Kit for our cars - funny really!!! I'll keep you posted
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom