Shock tactics

PART FOUR: Our 118d handled quite well, but one damper was leaking and the ride was ‘crashy’. Andrew Everett finds out how worn the dampers were after 206,000 miles.

When the BMW E87 1-Series was launched in 2004, the public found that, despite the odd looks, the car possessed the usual BMW handling attributes. Even today, the E87 is a class act, although it’s thought the current generation with electric power steering isn’t as sharp to drive.

Our project car still drove pretty well after 206,000 miles and we were more concerned with other aspects to pay too much attention to the suspension at this stage. The MOT picked up a slightly leaking rear damper, but the fronts were dry, albeit a bit rusty, and probably OK.

However, the ride was very ‘crashy’ over Sheffield’s potholed roads and, when pulling away from a junction, you could sometimes feel axle hop, where a wheel is bouncing up and down as it tries to gain traction.

On closer inspection, we found that the rear dampers were weak and the front ones were completely demolished, despite not leaking. On a good damper you must encounter resistance as you push the chrome damper rod downwards and it must also push itself back. None of our dampers did this – push the rod into the damper and it stayed there, meaning there was no gas pressure left and it was essentially useless. Still, they’d done well after 206,000 miles and credit to Boge for making dampers that lasted this long.

Damper replacement

Changing the rear dampers on a 1-Series or E90 3-Series – the suspension set-up is identical in design – is fairly easy. The damper comes out first, followed by the rear mount, and vice versa on reassembly. However, the fronts are an absolute pig. Getting out the strut involves cracking balljoints and unbolting suspension arms to allow the hub to drop down – unlike the E46 3-Series, the E87 followed the design of the E39 5-Series with a long damper for maximum suspension travel and struts that are too long to be removed without a lot more dismantling. Also, getting the coil springs on and off the struts is very hard work. They are barrelshaped, so attaching the compressors and clamping the springs is pretty difficult. With the struts off, you may find yourself asking your local garage to swap the springs over for you.

One last thing: if you don’t have an airgun, make sure you slacken the front top damper nut before you remove the strut, otherwise you may find it impossible to undo it with the strut off the car.