HOW TO BMW E34: Rear Suspension Replacement/Lowering

2016 ж. 2 Қыр.
60 524 Рет қаралды

Hey everyone!
In this video I show you how to fully replace the rear suspension on a BMW E34 540i (1994). Specifically, this video shows you how to:
- Remove the rear seats and speakers
- Remove the rear suspension
- Replace the springs and shocks on the rear suspension
- Replace the rear top mounts
- Re-install the suspension.
The suspension I'm installing is the Eibach and Bilstein B12 kit. This is a lowering spring kit, and I highly recommend it if you're looking for a firm upgrade without sacrificing the ride quality!
All of this can be done at home with hand tools, and I managed to complete and film all of this in an afternoon. I hope you find this helpful!

Пікірлер
  • Hey man, followed this guide yesterday to fit coilovers. Appreciated the depth you went into while trying to detach the rear seats! Will be following your front guide along with diff oil change for sure. Many thanks

    @ja2474@ja24743 жыл бұрын
  • Great tutorial Sam..... I had recently had to take one of my EDC lll rear struts off...I forgot to mark on the strut the position of the spring...so your tip to line up the top mount bolt with the non protruding end of the shock was invaluable. Thanks.

    @waynelangshaw7889@waynelangshaw7889 Жыл бұрын
  • Very helpful vid as I plan to tackle changing my own suspension for the first time...

    @omarsaleem3076@omarsaleem30765 жыл бұрын
  • You're a life saver man ! Thanks a lot ! Greets from Normandy (France)

    @daynaaziz1246@daynaaziz12466 жыл бұрын
  • Massive help mate,cheers for the help,diy no trouble but you saved me a lot of time with how seat and shelf comes out,nice job nice car too

    @StuartOliver83@StuartOliver836 жыл бұрын
    • +Stuart oliver Hey mate! Glad to hear I could help and cheers

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19956 жыл бұрын
  • Thanks to this video 😄 I was able to do step by step. and now my e34 rides better over small bumps👍🏼

    @unlucky3029@unlucky30292 жыл бұрын
  • Great looking car and couple of great videos..I appreciate people that take the time to do it right and give tool sizes!! lol Vids were a great help thanks again.

    @brandx4715@brandx47157 жыл бұрын
    • No problem mate! I love being able to help others out :) Thanks

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Did my 95 525i today following your lead and it turned out great. Looks great and drives so much better with the lower center of gravity. Thanks for making the video.. think I'm gonna do my brakes next !

    @clarkchiles7893@clarkchiles78936 жыл бұрын
    • +Clark Chiles Hell yeah, glad to hear it went well! What springs did you put in? My brake videos might be useful for you too

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19956 жыл бұрын
    • I used H&R Springs and Billstein Sport Shocks. Now I gotta save some $ and get those M Parallel wheels!

      @clarkchiles7893@clarkchiles78936 жыл бұрын
  • Love the e34 videos!!! good too see more e34 channels on youtube i hope you keep them coming. got a wagon myself :)

    @D0wnis@D0wnis7 жыл бұрын
    • +Downis Thanks mate! I love the wagons, they look mad. I'll be (slowly) making more as I go along!

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Great video..I feel much more comfortable, now, in approaching the rears on my E32. The back seat and package tray removal is not nearly as intimidating once I've watched you do it! ;)

    @brianaust8897@brianaust88975 жыл бұрын
  • Happened upon your videos by chance! This one showed up as a suggestion in my feed. I want to get an e34 in the future! liked and subbed!

    @Darthvolvo@Darthvolvo7 жыл бұрын
    • Thanks mate! Sorry it took so long to reply to this ;)

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Hi Samuel thank you for uploading E34 content in KZhead i myself have the same car hopefully shed some light on popular DIY fixes and also upgrades

    @chicomaxima1@chicomaxima17 жыл бұрын
    • +chicomaxima1 Hey chicomaxima1! Awesome, the more we can make the better. What year is your E34?

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Very helpful video for doing this same process on my E32. Keep it up!

    @thePGshore@thePGshore7 жыл бұрын
    • +Noah Thanos Glad I could help :)

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Nice car - Thanks for all the videos - Will change my e34 rear suspension this weekend - Appreciate

    @MrAlvinjesus@MrAlvinjesus7 жыл бұрын
    • +Alvin J. Gonzalez Siverio Good luck!

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Thank you SO very much for the How To! Much appreciated. I heard 'wack it off' and 'spread the load' hahaha. Cheers Mate!

    @chunner@chunner5 жыл бұрын
  • Awesome vids mate. Hopefully buying an E34 next month! Excited.

    @agen1man@agen1man7 жыл бұрын
    • +Artur Cheers mate! Yeah they're cool cars, enjoy

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Great information man. Just 2 observations that are crucial. You must tighten the big nut with the car in the ground, otherwise the bushings will last nothing. Also, that springs have a positioning in the strut with the stretched coil at the bottom end. This is because they are progressive, so that section is softer than the rest. Cheers!

    @irmasalla@irmasalla Жыл бұрын
    • Which big nut?

      @theojanssonbruce3060@theojanssonbruce3060 Жыл бұрын
  • I just bought a 1995 e34 540i. i will tackle this job. will install coil overs. thanks for the video. it will certainly help me.

    @twinturborotary_diecast@twinturborotary_diecast7 жыл бұрын
    • +Mazda Rx7 FD 1993 Have fun!

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Thanks for Wery good videos. Allot of help to work on old BMWs Mine is an short wheelbase 750i e32 but much is the same as the e34. Much of the chassie components are the same on mine. So thanks again from the North of Sweden and come with more nice videos👍

    @tikkarace@tikkarace5 жыл бұрын
  • Man thank you so much! Appreciate it big time!

    @MegaUnvailable@MegaUnvailable3 жыл бұрын
  • Great job i do to my e32 750il front and back thanks for view this video man.

    @picekbmwmb5846@picekbmwmb58464 жыл бұрын
  • Excelente video, muy organizado y fácil de comprender, gracias por el tutorial, felicidades.

    @m20b23@m20b235 жыл бұрын
  • Thanks for your video

    @ningishziddashar3480@ningishziddashar34807 жыл бұрын
  • What a Great car, love it!

    @TheOrdersixtysix@TheOrdersixtysix5 жыл бұрын
  • Hi, thank you for your videos. I did something after watching that. Jan e34 1990.

    @janpolacek2977@janpolacek29776 жыл бұрын
  • im buying an e34 in a couple days this helped so much thanks

    @Aspiired@Aspiired7 жыл бұрын
    • +Aspiired thanks! How did it go?

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
    • i never ended up getting the people selling it never said anything back

      @Aspiired@Aspiired7 жыл бұрын
  • He forget put washer back on the mounting bolt. Hit it off with chisel and hammer. Put it on the short side w/ over size socket by hitting hard. Remember how it goes on the old socket. Little thrush bearing, didn't need it on my 95' 525i BMW. Take pics each part you are taking off. Went back view my pics found out one thing wrong. Little thrush bearing slide on top don't know? This a good video.

    @MrThummonkey@MrThummonkey7 жыл бұрын
  • Thank you for this video! Protip: you can put the seatbelt for the backseat in the middle into this triangular thing up on the parcel/back shelf (i had to google that word) it makes it look pretty neat

    @muddersbach@muddersbach7 жыл бұрын
    • Wow you said "parcel shelf" later in the video haha

      @muddersbach@muddersbach7 жыл бұрын
    • +Muddersbach I was wondering what that triangular plastic thing was haha! Thanks ill try it next time. To be honest I only knew it was called a parcel shelf because I watched another video

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Excellent !!!

    @ahmethorosanli@ahmethorosanli3 жыл бұрын
  • I watched it just in case not to fk it up. Even tho I know how to do it plus I did a whole front suspension rebuild already. Plus a 540 brake upgrade for my 525 😀 I still couldn't make such an organized and clean video. Well done :)

    @pexmix3288@pexmix32883 жыл бұрын
  • thanks for the video

    @guidoextol@guidoextol5 жыл бұрын
  • Greetings from Michigan USA! Great videos my friend! I’m preparing to replace struts/shocks on my 1995 525i. Im the original owner. Im going with the Bilstein B6 kit. Question: On the rear shock does the small metal spacer just slip on the shaft before the rest of the assembly? Also on the front struts do I still use the metal washers then the top mounts? Thank you for your help and videos! Cheers from up over!!! George

    @georgekern6528@georgekern65285 жыл бұрын
  • Still enjoying the vids..Do you still have the E34? I have been wanting to do the Bilstein/Eibach combo on my 525i...but the shocks have been on back order for a year now,they are supposed to be available at the end of August,but they keep pushing the date up.I may end up going with the Sachs,but would really like the Bilsteins.I did the rear pitman arm change out and the vid you did was a big help (especially the washer part!) lol.Thank you for taking the time to make these,I hope you still have the car and will keep wrenching on it.

    @brandx4715@brandx47155 жыл бұрын
    • Brand X I also have a 525i, did you end up lowering yours?

      @timmcdonald958@timmcdonald9584 жыл бұрын
  • Nice video! I was wondering if the top mounts came with the Bilsteins or did you order them separately? I didn’t get how to align the top mount with the underside of the shock during the last step of reassembly.

    @bombakdik@bombakdik4 жыл бұрын
  • hey samuel...excellent, clear how to. thanks for this. how did the car drive after u made the switch? i have a 92 touring and the car drives terrible. feels floaty on the freeway. if I go over speed bumps the rear will bounce. hoping this solves it. cheers J

    @johnnyfmorgan@johnnyfmorgan2 жыл бұрын
  • Very nice how to but there is a thing I am struggling with. I am referring to 16:45-50. How do you prevent exactly the shaft from spinning while you are fastening the top nut? I see you use a sort of grip or vice grip to stop it spinning but aren’t you risking that way to damage the thread? Why didn’t you use an impact wrench for example? My question also goed for the front assembly. How did you tighten the top nut at the garage shop where you compressed the spring etc?

    @bombakdik@bombakdik4 жыл бұрын
  • Nice

    @Puffuser@Puffuser4 жыл бұрын
  • Just discovered your channel and your videos are great and help a lot. By the way, do you happen to know that did the e34 535i sedan come with self leveling suspension?

    @JsV95@JsV957 жыл бұрын
    • +JsV95 Cheers mate! As far as I know, I thought that only the touring wagon and the M5 had self leveling suspension - the rest are standard. Might want to double check that though.

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Круто! Очень хорошее видео

    @dimty8786@dimty87867 жыл бұрын
  • Under which part do you substitute the jack from behind when lifting the car?

    @user-Burgui@user-Burgui2 жыл бұрын
  • Great video. Thanks, I am about to do mine soon, just awaiting the parts.I had a question: I noticed the back lifted when you put the car in reverse before you started the job. My car does the same. What causes the car to go up and down when you change the gear shift, if it does not have leveling???Did it continue to do that with the new shocks? I did not see you moving the car after the installation.Again, thanks, great job.

    @pam2147@pam21476 жыл бұрын
    • +pam2147 Hey Pam! It's nothing to worry about. I'm pretty sure it's just the car and drive train flexing once reverse is engaged, with the brake still on. The torque from the automatic is going down the driveshaft, to the diff, and then to the rear wheels, but the brake keeps the wheels still. I think the diff probably rotates back a bit due to this, which in turn lifts the car slightly. I think it does the opposite when drive is engaged as well (hunkers down). My sub frame bushings were worn out as well which probably allowed the car to move more than it should too?

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19956 жыл бұрын
  • Are your Bilsteins’ the b12, b8 or b6?

    @Jawnwickk@Jawnwickk3 жыл бұрын
  • I have an E32. I am going to replace the rear suspension soon.

    @ningishziddashar3480@ningishziddashar34807 жыл бұрын
    • +Ningishzidda Shar Good luck!

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • Is that vaico or febi top mount?

    @sugengnofianto682@sugengnofianto6824 жыл бұрын
  • B12 better then coilovers???

    @Bigbodysquid250x@Bigbodysquid250x4 жыл бұрын
  • OMG my video about it is posed at the same date as yours :-O

    @XW0RKS@XW0RKS5 жыл бұрын
  • How you going with front camber alignment? I've got an E28 I want to lower the front 15-30mm. You reckon I need camber plates? Thanks

    @BahjatAlaadel@BahjatAlaadel6 жыл бұрын
    • +Bahjat Alaadel Hey mate, as far as I can tell I haven't had an issue since I did my suspension. But I'm no expert on that...

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19956 жыл бұрын
  • What suspension kit did you buy. I had bought a kit and the front shocks are smaller in diameter and have play inside the housing smh unfortunately I cant send them back and have to take a loss. And with me looking at the rear they are also the wrong size I have called the company and told them and they swear up and down that is the kit for the car. I wanna make sure when I order new ones that they are right and from the lols of your bmw we have the same set up. Can you give me part numbers and brand?

    @mwsmmidweststateofmind7223@mwsmmidweststateofmind72235 жыл бұрын
    • Looks*

      @mwsmmidweststateofmind7223@mwsmmidweststateofmind72235 жыл бұрын
  • красавчик, продолжай снимать е34

    @kad248@kad2487 жыл бұрын
    • +kad248 спасибо

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
    • +kad248 спасибо

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • أحسنت

    @user-nb7pv6ns2w@user-nb7pv6ns2w7 жыл бұрын
    • Thanks!

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • thanks big daddy

    @e34boat88@e34boat886 жыл бұрын
    • +e34Boat Haha no worries

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19956 жыл бұрын
  • I don't know what im doing wrong but my rear absorbers won't come off, i have been knocking with a hammer for 4 days, they seem to be welded stuck.. your came off just by pushing it with one hand

    @TheCragiez@TheCragiez7 жыл бұрын
    • I was pretty lucky with mine. Try out that gear puller trick I mentioned - put something in the bolt hole and put the center of the gear puller on it, then put the claws around the outside of the shock absorber and tighten it down. I've heard that works.

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
    • TheCragies put the bolt of the damper on loose and drive a few meters

      @muddersbach@muddersbach7 жыл бұрын
    • I had to use a 2 kg hammer and and long pry bar? Don't know if it is called this way correctly. A lot of wd40 and a lot of hammering. Good luck mate. Greetings from northern Germany

      @alexs8710@alexs87105 жыл бұрын
  • Is it absultly neccsary to change the springs

    @raqeeblewis5216@raqeeblewis52165 жыл бұрын
    • Dont know if im to late but you really dont need to replace them unless they are broken or like rusting or if they bust dont look in a proper state

      @rxmcord2392@rxmcord23924 жыл бұрын
    • Carsspottedontheroad thanks I already did the job but yeah I didn’t replace the springs

      @raqeeblewis5216@raqeeblewis52164 жыл бұрын
  • it is pain in the ass with those rear ones. I luckily removed all the interior so when ever I want to replace them bolts are already uncovered and free to be unbolted :-)

    @XW0RKS@XW0RKS5 жыл бұрын
  • 4:07 such a hottie!

    @lambyiii@lambyiii7 жыл бұрын
    • Cheers ;)

      @SamuelVella1995@SamuelVella19957 жыл бұрын
  • What a pain

    @TheAly78@TheAly78 Жыл бұрын
  • Why Change the Suspension on an e34 ? Just Replace worn Parts With NEW OEM & the car will be PERFECT. Lowering ? What is LOWERING all About ? Making a Perfect Car Look & Drive SHITE ? I Take it you are a BMW Suspension Design Engineer ? Factory Trained. & Correcting Design Mistakes ? My E34 Handles Perfectly Well on it's Factory Original Suspension. Or are you Drifting the Car Prior to Scrapping it ? if so Let me Know, I will Buy Some Remaining ORIGINAL Parts. Where are the Design Faults with the Original Suspension ? Return the Car to BMW in Germany to have it's Faults Corrected.

    @A1DJPaul@A1DJPaul3 жыл бұрын
    • hahah :)

      @lachezarvalentinov8751@lachezarvalentinov87512 жыл бұрын
  • I Disagree, Change Nothing on an e34. Just Fit OEM Standard Replacement Parts. Original Cars are worth more than DOUBLE a Modified Car. in the UK. You Just HALVED its Value.

    @A1DJPaul@A1DJPaul3 жыл бұрын
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