rear droplinks

[Brian4]

I changed the rear drop links a week ago and on the drive to and from Sussex at the weekend I noticed that the rear is a lot more stable especially on the bumpy local roads.
The drop links didn't look bad but when I compared them to the new ones the hole for the rollbar was much smaller and there were some cracks in the rubber and they had started to come unbonded from the metal.

So for the sake of £15 worth doing anyway

[pedro20001]

That's the next job on my list, any tips or problems?

[Brian4]

No rear problems but easier if the springs are removed. This is to get the drop links off the end of the roll bar. If you want any help give me a call as I am not far from you.

[pedro20001]

cheers mate, did you have any probs removing the old ones; and did you have to soak the new ones?

[Del]

Probably several ways to approach the job. The way that worked for me was to reverse the car onto a pair of ramps (there is no height issue at the rear end). I unbolted the two 13mm locking nuts holding the droplinks to tabs on the trailing arms - these nuts can get quite degraded with rust and you may decide to get new BMW ones (pence each). After dropping the rear exhaust box a bit (un-hooking the two rubber mounts) you have access to both ARB clamps (13mm nuts) holding the ARB to the underside of the car. It’s then much easier doing the job with the whole ARB off the car and you can renew the ARB rubber mounts at the same time (under £10 each from BMW). As my car is 16-years old I treated it as a mini-ARB renovation - renewed the lot + new nuts + re-paint the ARB

If you just want to replace the droplinks you simply need to undo the horizontal shaft bolt that holds the droplink to the trailing arm connector bracket and pull the top off the ARB – as Brian suggest you probably won’t have such good working access when it comes to getting the new ones back on.

You are not supposed to apply grease type lubricants to the new rubber - I soaked in hot water for a while and applied a small amount of diluted washing-up liquid - then pressed them by hand onto the ends of the ARB. The old, soft perished ones should come off easily.

[Mike Fishwick]

Pressing the new links ontopthe ARB by hand? You must have very strong fingers, and no feeling of pain!

See the description of how I did it - in the Z3 Knowledgebase:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=17598

[Del]

Pressing the new links ontopthe ARB by hand? You must have very strong fingers, and no feeling of pain!

Too much "wimpy" French food - with my diet of Scottish porridge oats and Northern (UK) meat pies - no problem!

[Brian4]

I probably extended the job but I was quiet and not disturbing anybody so this is what I did.

I did the links at the same time as cleaning up the springs and rear arms so I took all apart one day and reassembled next day.
Jacked up and supported on axle stands under rear jacking points.
Remove both wheels.
Removed the bolts from base of shock absorber (18mm).
Removed the nuts from the drop-link brackets to rear arm. (13mm)
Lowered the rear arms and removed each spring and pads. The passenger side wasn’t so easy as I didn’t release the exhaust rubber support I now realise.
Removed the spare wheel and carrier, and then the cage that fits to the body. The wire that is used to lift the cage up/down is screwed into the cage I think it is a 6mm spanner or adjustable!!. The rear is held up with a long bolts and a 10mm nut.
(This makes removing the roll bar easier as the drop links are still fitted.
Removed the nuts from the two roll bar bush brackets onto the car body. (13mm). These have a tab that fits in a slot in the body and stud/nut to secure them in place.
Once this is done the whole roll bar can be wriggled out not forgetting which way round it goes, cos I did.
Remove the bolt holding the link into the bracket these were pretty corroded nuts.
Note which way the links are relative to the roll bar easy to get them 180 deg out’
I then put the drop link in the vice and pulled wriggled the roll bar until it came off.

Cleaned every thing up and painted the parts

Fitted the links by lubricating the rubber with soapy water and pushing the link on the end of the roll bar, not easy but once it had started it went on ok.
Line drop links up 75 deg as when they were taken off.
Refitting is the reverse of dismantling. Replace all the nuts with new nylocs.

Whilst it was all apart I cleaned and painted the springs and top of the rear arms. The underside is coated in a rubbery material I guess to stop stone chips etc.

[pedro20001]

thanks guys for all the tips and advice. Am looking forward to the challenge- makes the front ones look like a walk in the park