 | Home > Maintenance & Mods (L322) > 2012 L322 Front Strut Replacement |
 
|
|
|
| JMC Member Since: 01 Feb 2009 Location: Aberdeen-Angus Posts: 779   
|
The car is just ten-and-a-half years old and still has under 59k miles on these struts. The rubber airbags on the front struts are obviously affected by age rather than mileage, as I've found a pinhole leak on my front drivers side.
Very hard to see, but it's some white filament (presumably some kind of textile weave in the rubber) protruding from the blackness. Have ordered a couple of new (BWI) struts today, as there seems little point in just doing the one side, so they ought to be here before the end of the week (hopefully). Also ordered the new (22mm) strut bolts and top gaskets to replace the old stuff. Noticed a few folks here saying that the old bolts were a nightmare to get off, so today I jacked the car up, took the wheels off and got the WD40 in early. Seems like I was concerned about nothing, as I had a go at them with my favourite DeWalt socket gun and they came undone with relative ease.
Gratuitous shot of the underbody protection showing how easy it is to jack up the whole front of the car when you're wearing a proper sump guard. And before all the questions come at me again - No, you can't buy this particular (LR) guard from anywhere. I've had it for the best part of ten years. It came to me as a prototype from Solihull. No, I'm not selling it!!! 
There doesn't seem to be a write-up in the Wiki for doing the struts on a 2010-2012 TDV8 with the VCD on the top, so when I get round to doing it, I'll get some pictures and do an attempt at a Haynes Manual explanation! The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom 
|
||||||||||
18th Apr 2023 7:58pm |
|
| AJGalaxy2012 Member Since: 11 Jun 2018 Location: Gainsborough Posts: 1464  
|
WD40 is useless for this, use plusgas and give the bolts and the threaded sections a good soaking for a day or two before doing the job. BMW i3 Electric Car
|
||
|
19th Apr 2023 7:22am |
|
| Nylands Member Since: 08 Sep 2019 Location: Somerset Posts: 200 
|
Thanks for starting this posting and I look forward to your coverage on doing this. I have the same model and similar mileage on her, and therefore may need to do the same before long. Good luck with it.
|
||
|
19th Apr 2023 8:41am |
|
| TDV8 Paul Member Since: 30 Nov 2020 Location: Tadworth Posts: 224 
|
If it’s any comfort, once I did the first side, the second side took me half an hour from wheel off to wheel back on, it’s a nice simple job once the bolts are free 2009 (2010 MY) 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography
|
||
|
19th Apr 2023 4:37pm |
|
| AJGalaxy2012 Member Since: 11 Jun 2018 Location: Gainsborough Posts: 1464
|
I'll second that, I did the extra step of replacing the airbags onto my struts, even then an hour was sufficient the second time. Its an amazingly simple system and easy to sort the struts out. BMW i3 Electric Car
|
||
|
19th Apr 2023 5:34pm |
|
|
|
| All times are GMT + 1 Hour |
< Previous Topic | Next Topic > |
Posting Rules
|
Site Copyright © 2006-2025 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
