The Random E46/ZHP Question Thread

[onaquest]

Nope. You can buy the M dead pedal new from the dealer. The door sills were part of the M sport package in Europe but not here oddly. I've seen ton of door sills on eBay.co.uk for sale but shipping will be ugly.


Sent from iPad Mini

Thanks for confirming. My Canadian spec M sport II has these items. I've been compiling a list of the similarities and differences of S767A and S338A packages.

-Ryan

[stephenkirsh]

They're saying the way yours is mounted is correct?

Yes

The correct mounting of E46 springs has one end seated in the spring pocket and the other end is not seated in what looks like a spring pocket. Unfortunately, I don't remember which end of the spring (top or bottom) does sit in the pocket and which doesn't. And I no longer have OEM springs on the car (they're still in the garage somewhere). So I can't offer a reasonable opinion on Stephen's springs.

Ok thanks. My dad said he's going to try and look at his today.

Those detents are there for a reason. Not seating the end of the spring in them boggles my mind.

This is from the Bentley manual:

Attachment 17659

Makes sense. Thanks!

[stephenkirsh]

This is my dad's ZSP. Looks the same as mine.

[ELCID86]

Best I could do without starting the car. Looks similar though. False alarm?




Thumbs, iPhone, Tapatalk.

[stephenkirsh]

Hard to tell. You can jack your car up about 4" and get a better angle

[Hermes]

Your dad's is set wrong as well. BMW has been using this style spring seat for as long as I can think. There is no reason why the end of the spring would not seat in the notch. Those people online who say it's ok are stupid, the spring is supposed to sit in the notch.

edit: 1978/79 E21 struts, notice the notch



early 02 front suspension (my springs are too short, thats why its not seated in top. it's a bitch every time I raise and lower the car to make sure the springs are seated correctly)



non-stock e46, but you can see it's sitting in the notch

[Hornung418]

Before I installed the Lowering springs, the stock springs were seated the way Stephen's pictures show. They were never touched prior to me messing with them. The spring perch is oblong and the spring base is also shaped so that they will only fit on there one way. I tried to seat them that way as thats what made sense, however that's not how they ended up fitting on the strut.

[johnrando]

Wow. We need an expert judge for a verdict on the springs.

[derbo]

Wow. We need an expert judge for a verdict on the springs.

I'll have to agree with JP. All spring perches I've encounter has a perch notch where the uneven flat spring side sits in. The flat side is aimed at the top portion of the shock.


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[stephenkirsh]

It makes 100% sense that the end of the spring should fit into that notch.

So why are so many cars, including low mileage OEM cars (like my dad's) not up to spec? What causes them to pop out?