[papak]

I just replaced the original shocks and struts on my coupe yesterday with Bilstein HDs. When it came to spreading the clamp at the base of the steering knuckle that grips the bottom of the strut, I simply reversed the clamp bolt and inserted a 12mm thick washer (technically a "machined spacer") in the gap between the sides and tightened the bolt against it to spread the clamp. Works perfectly. I found that I also needed to detach the flexible brake line at the inboard end and remove the wheel speed sensor from the hub in order to have the range of motion necessary to insert the new strut into the knuckle.

A note of caution! Be sure to detach the actuator rod for the headlight sensor from the right control arm (10mm nut) before removing the drop link. The bottom end just pops off with the blade of a screwdriver.

All in all, a fairly easy job. It took me as long to clean all of the retained components (springs, mounting plates, etc.) as it did to install the new parts. Trust BMW to be non-standard. I think this was the first time I have used 16 and 18mm sockets on a German car!