# Strut and Shock Advice



## PapaRoe (Jul 10, 2021)

Ok fellow members, here is my story. This is my 1st BMW that I bought. It's a 04 Z4, and the former owner kept excellent care of it, real a garage queen. It has 97k soft miles on it, and I want to replace the front struts, and rear shocks. 

I am very mechanical, and I have watched several YouTube videos on this topic. It really looks pretty straight forward. I am going to replace the bump stops and shock cover tubes, as well as the shock mounts. 

Is there anything else that I should replace while I have it apart? One of the YouTube videos talks about reinforcement plates. Any opinions? This is just going to be a cruiser for me, no hard driving.


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## PapaRoe (Jul 10, 2021)

Over 180 members viewed my original post, and not 1 response! I scanned other post and noticed the same type of responses. What a same!


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## localboi (Nov 8, 2010)

PapaRoe said:


> Ok fellow members, here is my story. This is my 1st BMW that I bought. It's a 04 Z4, and the former owner kept excellent care of it, real a garage queen. It has 97k soft miles on it, and I want to replace the front struts, and rear shocks.
> 
> I am very mechanical, and I have watched several YouTube videos on this topic. It really looks pretty straight forward. I am going to replace the bump stops and shock cover tubes, as well as the shock mounts.
> 
> Is there anything else that I should replace while I have it apart? One of the YouTube videos talks about reinforcement plates. Any opinions? This is just going to be a cruiser for me, no hard driving.


Hello, I just refreshed my suspension last year on my 08 3.0i roadster. I decided to go Monroe OES Spectrum for struts and shocks, they are really good OEM replacements.. not the cheapest but will give you OEM ride quality and they will last for a long time. I also decided to reinforce the rear shocks and you should do this as well while you will be replacing the shocks anyway. The part is cheap so just do it. As for the front, you can buy the reinforcement plates below or get a strut tower bar which also acts as a reinforcement.

Installing the rear shocks can be a pain because of all the stuff you have to remove or set aside to get to the shock towers. The fron struts are easy as they are identical to E46 setup. Good luck!


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## localboi (Nov 8, 2010)

PapaRoe said:


> Ok fellow members, here is my story. This is my 1st BMW that I bought. It's a 04 Z4, and the former owner kept excellent care of it, real a garage queen. It has 97k soft miles on it, and I want to replace the front struts, and rear shocks.
> 
> I am very mechanical, and I have watched several YouTube videos on this topic. It really looks pretty straight forward. I am going to replace the bump stops and shock cover tubes, as well as the shock mounts.
> 
> Is there anything else that I should replace while I have it apart? One of the YouTube videos talks about reinforcement plates. Any opinions? This is just going to be a cruiser for me, no hard driving.


Any pics you would like to share of your new baby? If you don't have service history from previous owner, you should replace radiator, belts, pulleys, water pump, thermostat, expansion tank ASAP. Those items fail 100% of the time..


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## PapaRoe (Jul 10, 2021)

localboi said:


> Any pics you would like to share of your new baby? If you don't have service history from previous owner, you should replace radiator, belts, pulleys, water pump, thermostat, expansion tank ASAP. Those items fail 100% of the time..


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## PapaRoe (Jul 10, 2021)

localboi said:


> Hello, I just refreshed my suspension last year on my 08 3.0i roadster. I decided to go Monroe OES Spectrum for struts and shocks, they are really good OEM replacements.. not the cheapest but will give you OEM ride quality and they will last for a long time. I also decided to reinforce the rear shocks and you should do this as well while you will be replacing the shocks anyway. The part is cheap so just do it. As for the front, you can buy the reinforcement plates below or get a strut tower bar which also acts as a reinforcement.
> 
> Installing the rear shocks can be a pain because of all the stuff you have to remove or set aside to get to the shock towers. The fron struts are easy as they are identical to E46 setup. Good luck!


Thanks for the info. I’m replacing the rear next week, waiting for them to arrive. I did order the reinforcement rings too. I plan on doing the front in about a month, or so. I have to wait until I fully recover from getting a pacemaker. I can’t drive for 2-weeks after the surgery, so it’s really no big deal to wait.


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