RE: E28 Bumpers & Lipo surgery...

[GRobWorkII@xxxxxxx]

Ron, 

I did a writeup of the procedure 4-5 years ago on Chris Graff's M535i list.  
No idea if it was archived or not.

Basically, you get yourself some goggles (the fluid in the bumper shocks 
tastes OK, but you do not want it in your eyes) and a drill.  Then you slide 
under the car...

Drill a hole (1/8th to 1/4 inch will do just fine) in the male slider shaft 
of each bumper shock - but back away from the female sleeve (as the sleeve 
sliding over your hole will block the escape of compression agents...)

As soon as you get through the shock chamber, a foulness will spray out from 
the fronts.  (The foulness in my rear shocks had completely gelled by 1998, 
and emerged as more of a particulate, white & opaque maggot-looking slop.  I 
cannot be certain, but I assume that the rear & front shocks are pressurized 
with some different means of foulness...  The rears were more like drilling a 
hole in a golf ball.  (Yes, I must have been very bored to know this.)  
Regardless,  the stuff in the rears tastes just as bad as in the fronts, so 
do not succumb to any temptation to remove your goggles.

That is about it.  I GENTLY used an elderly TRX Michellin (draped over the 
front bumper) to compress the front bumper shocks before taking the photos 
displayed on Graff's website.  (Alpine white '85 535i w/Borbet wheels.)  The 
rear bumper slid in with a few impacts and stayed perfectly solid.  You could 
tap & bolt the shocks to lock them, should there be enough play to let them 
slide about, but mine were rusty enough to stay put, for good.  

You should also realize that you are tossing out any Federal "5 MPH safety 
zone" compliance to any future owners of your vehicle.  I suppose that I 
should now deny any responsibility, yada yada yada, and state for the record 
that I do not recommend the procedure I have just described.  But, being as 
you are in Canada, I suppose I'm safe.  Right? I AM safe now, RIGHT???


Workman
'88 M3   

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