Re: New List Member with question about E36 (325IS)

[alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Carl Scholz <scholz@domain.elided> wrote:
>
> I just resolved this exact problem in my '93 325is (great car). The
> short answer is I needed to replace the rear shocks.  When I
> accelerated and turned to the right hard (like pulling out from one
> street on to another), the right rear tire would get light. If there
> was any kind of bump in the road, the tire wouldn't stay planted and
> would bounce due to the worn shock.  It didn't happen on the other
> side as the shock wasn't as worn there.

Carl,
This is pretty weird. A dead shock will indeed fail to dampen wheel
isolation induced by a bump. But that should not be related to turning. Nor
should a blown shock result in what Chris is describing as 'violent shudder
though the frame'.
The last time I replaced dying rear shocks (once on E30, twice on E36), the
car would bounce too much. On one car only one of the rear shocks was dead
(POS OEM E36 Boges) and the car would isolate sideways rebounding from the
dips. Very disconcerting.

If Chris's E36 has much over 100K miles he should start shopping for
replacement shocks.
For anyone considering E36 M3s, OEM Boges fail between 30-50K miles. Sadly
guaranteed.

> Also, while I was in there
> doing the shocks, I replaced the upper shock mounts which are known
> to wear and are pretty easy to replace.  The whole repair took me
> about 2 hours (taking my time and working in my gravel driveway).

Carl has a very good point about rear shock mounts (RSMs). If you haven't
replaced yours in the last 30-50K miles, chances are they are shot. One
typical sign of failure are crunching/clunking sounds from the rear wheels
when driving over bumps or fast road dips.

alex f

> "gbconnolly" <gbconnolly@domain.elided> wrote:
> >
> > Greg Connolly here in Ottawa, Canada. I've been a member of the
> > Alfa Digest for years and have found its list members to be very
> > knowledgeable and helpful with any questions or problems that I have
> > had. I'm hoping that this will be the case on this digest as well,
> > as I've just helped my son pick up a nice '92 325is
> >
> > We had the car pre- inspected before the purchase and  everything in
> > the drivetrain and all the mounts and bushings checked out as rock
> > solid, which is what we expected as the car has always been dealer
> > serviced and maintained. But we've noticed a violent shudder from the
> > rear end that can be felt right through the whole chassis when
> > accelerating hard in a right hand turn (haven't tried it turning left
> > yet) Feels like you'd expect it to feel if you were tramping it on a
> > washboard dirt road. Very disconcerting. We had it re-checked by the
> > original mechanic and he couldn't fine a thing wrong. Any ideas?

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