Jingle All The Way Equals Bad Shock Bushing
by Ray Spitzer
the Milepost, Nov/Dec '97
Kansas City BMW Club newsletter
Finally, after 66.000 miles I had something go wrong with my '93 325i. A shock bushing and one of the shocks failed. Diagnosing the problem took some time since I needed a second person to drive while I literally hung out of the car (not recommended) to locate the strange noise. From the driver's seat with the window down on a quiet road, driving 20 to 30 miles per hour, I heard a jingling noise when going over bumps. I could not hear it with the windows closed or with too much traffic. After taking the wheel off a few times, I found nothing loose. Finally I read an article on the Internet about another 325i with a similar problem. This person's local dealership also had a hard time diagnosing the problem, until they discovered the defective bushing. I then checked the bushing on my car and sure enough, the bushing rubber assembly had started to tear away from the metal bracket. This caused excessive travel of the shock and the ring washer began to jingle freely making the noise. When the car was at rest the bushing was compressed and looked fine.
The bushings were secured to the chassis with only two bolts and the shock. Easy to replace yourself, you say? Then why do dealers want $230 dollars to replace them? Maybe because it requires removing the interior of the trunk compartment to access the two bolts. Still a relatively easy job, but it does take some time.
Here are a few tips when replacing the bushings. First, remove the rear speakers. Take off the speaker grill by sliding it to the rear of the car slightly and carefully pulling up on the front lip. Next, remove the two small, self-tapping screws that secure the speaker to the rear deck. Finally, there is a small metal clip next to the larger speaker that must be pressed towards the center of the speaker to unlock the speaker assembly.
Before removing the trunk paneling, first take out the interior deck of the trunk. Remove four screws and four nuts and all the deck paneling easily lifts out. Next, remove the side paneling starting from the rear of the car. Don't attempt to remove the paneling against the rear seats, you don't need to go that far. Just arch the panel enough to gain access to the two brackets. The paneling on the passenger side requires some special attention. Slide your hand around behind the panel to unlock the plastic cable that unlocks the gasoline filler. The plastic cable links in the same fashion as a pull chain link.
After removing the shock bushing, working under the car (ensuring the car is properly supported), take out the single bolt that secures the shock. The entire assembly can then be removed and exchanged off the car. Make sure you securely fasten the shock to the new bushing. (Thank you Uli for pointing out that problem!) Installation is just the reverse process.
As for parts, you can purchase them from Roundel vendors for about $25 to $30. They do get a lot of abuse, and will eventually fail. Doing the work is safe, relatively easy, and can save you a bundle of money.
With the money I saved, I installed new Bilstein Sport Shocks and still came out ahead!