Bilstein Rear shock bushing/sleave too long?

[CraigBurton]

Hi All,

I put new shocks (Bilstein "regulars" not HD or Sport) on the back of the ix and the bushing that the bolt that connects to the wheel assembly goes through is too long to let the bolt torque down.

It looks like its 1/4 " too long on each end. The old shock (factory) bushing was tight to the eye of the end of the shock.

Can I:

1. Remove the old bushing/sleave from the OEM shocks and replace the long one?
2. Grind off the excess on the new shocks.
3. Who needs shocks, springs only provides a nice water bed ride.

I'll take pictures tomorrow if people are having a hard time visualizing it.

Craig,

[CraigBurton]

Hi All.

I removed the rear shock so you can see the difference between the stock one and the new Bilstein BNE-1981's bushing.

What do I do about this, it is not letting the bolt get all the way through (and looks strange)

Craig,

[fastbmw]

Is it possible that you have the wrong rear shocks? According to the Bilstein website the rear shocks are interchangeable for the 325i and 325ix but on the turner website the HD shocks are different for the ix vs the i.

Turner Motorsport | BMW*E30*Bilstein Shocks

I took a look on realoem.com and the rear shocks on the 325i and 325ix have different part numbers.