I seriously recommend an E39 more than E46 for nearly all applications. You should test drive both and decide for yourself though!

Ryan, Why would you suggest it over an e46? And I agree with neil, would be nice to see a comparison vid since you have both. It's a little apples to oranges but it still would be great to see for guys who are in between.

ahastar1141 I will always suggest an E39 over an E46. It's a much more refined and quality built cars. Materials, construction, size, options, electronics, it's all an upgrade in the E39. I could do a 330xi vs 525i if Kennan would participate, but there's still a difference of 3.0 vs 2.5 engine and 60,000 miles.

***** Kennan's 525i is base, but it has retrofitted xenons now. My 330 is actually loaded except for tech package... but the idea would be the same. We'll try something out in the spring though!

I tried twice this winter. But any time we had snow, it was between -35F and 15F. The two times I tried I was either so miserable from cold that I couldn't finish or the camera mounts kept freezing and falling off. :( I'll talk about it in an update though.

***** Great. I sure it performed well! Our family friend has an identical car with Nokian Hakkapeliitta's and the car was literally glued to the snowy country road.

denvernn It's unreal how good it is. I have the Continental Extreme Winter Contacts and I couldn't be more impressed.

Thank you! I am not a parts vendor, I offer BMW service and support out of Southern California.

Should probably be done. How much work is that hough? Never looked into it.

***** If your RTABs are original, they will probably be crumbly enough to get out easily. Look at these: tiny.cc/dwwavx

garytanaka I gave it a visual, nothing is crumbling. I'll probably save it for the next owner. Thanks for the info though!

***** Is it possible to make a video on a front license plate delete?

George Patton Check out my intro on the car, I included that. Check Real OEM for your specific part number.

+derek cook There is no need for a spring compressor on the E46. It's much easier just to pull down the rear suspension and pull the spring out!

I would cross-reference the part number to see if it becomes clear which side is which, or if it even matters. With BMW part numbers, evens are on the right (pass) side of the car.

+marquis hargraves Have somebody with experience look under the car and see what's going on. Could be any one of the many suspension components.

I didn't check the specific torque specs, I don't believe. Tighten until tight!

Kennan recently solved his problem on his 2001 525i. All of us have suffered from broken adjusters, and we've all taken the same steps to resolve: buy new OEM Hella euro-spec lights from Umnitza. It's expensive, but yields a perfect headlight. With his old lights, Kennan may be doing a DIY on baking the lights open and replacing the adjusters though. Stay tuned!

If I had $2000 laying around I would definitely buy the oem hellas but I dont. And I honestly don't know if I should buy aluminum adjusters for $160+ or just buy plastic adjusters, and redo then when they need to get replaced again. So keenan should be coming out with a diy soon?

Karim nassef They're about $1100 new with shipping I believe. The stock plastic adjusters seem to last maybe 10 years, so I'd probably just go with those. Unless your roads are really bad there and they might break sooner. I asked him about the video, but I think he may have one this spring once it warms up a little more.

Ok, I guess I'll just wait for his video.

I recommend getting parts from ECS Tuning: bit.ly/2MPZSB3

I would pull them out and re check the mount installation. It should go shim, washer, mount, upper washer, nut. Ensure that parts 5 and 6 are present from this diagram: www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=EV53-USA-09-2002-E46-BMW-330i&diagId=33_0841 Also, the torque specs are as follows: two outer bolts on shock mount: 10-15 ft lbs (snug) middle bolt on shock absorber itself: not sure of exact spec, but I made mine tight. bottom bolt, shock to wheel carrier: ~75 ft lbs If you did not replace the mounts when you did the shocks, I would highly recommend it.

***** I bought Rogue Engineering shock mounts and installed those as per their instructions here: www.rogueengineering.com/Rogue-Engineering-Rear-Shock-Mounts-RSM-E30E36E46-Pair_p_122.html Not sure if I am missing anything else outside of what they recommend

this same thing happened to me when i did the shocks on the E36. Once you drop the car down on the ground, check the two nuts on the shock mount for tightness. What happens is that once the car is on the ground, the shock compresses even more due to the weight of the car and creates additional play in the shock mount

+Hansi “FIX” W Every kit is different. I don't recommend lowering. The car will drive like a covered wagon, and you'll rip off bumpers on road debris.

+E39Source Aiight, Thanks for answering! Lowering the car has been my thoughts since i started looking for an e46 so i feel i need to do that. Atleast when i need to replace a shock anyways. Great vid btw, liked and subscribed!

With the whole strut assembly having to be removed, and the new springs likely changing the right height, I would advise that you do have the alignment checked and adjusted if necessary.

darkoSTBEA The process should be very similar.

Bobby O'Hearn What about the parts, the same as well?

Most likely.

Parts are listed in the video description.

@@E39Source thanks, I ask because I have a 330xi and I have in the past orders coil springs for my car but they are most likely springs for a 330ci. I am pretty sure the 330 rwd and AWd have different coil springs, wouldn’t they? The AWD definitely sits higher.

@@btraf4575 The xi does sit higher. Xi cars equipped with the sport package did NOT receive the lowering springs that ci or I cars did. So they may be the same as non-sport RWD E46s.

@@E39Source thanks, will look into it. Many websites selling these coil springs claim 330ci and 330xi can use the same springs.

I would expect so, yes

That is a good question... and I do not know the answer. But I bet somebody on E46Fanatics would!

I don't know if the 318i se used the same rear suspension components. Check RealOEM.com to confirm part numbers.

+Simas/Mc To a small extent, yes. You can't lower the car a ton on these struts though, they're designed to be used at the stock ride height.

+E39Source ok. thanks ☺

You should be fine as long as those old washers aren't warped/cracked or anything weird.