How to Replace a Front Strut on a BMW 330Ci


1. Loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels. Raise the BMW up with the floor jack and place the front end securely on jack stands. Remove the wheels and set them aside.
2. Disconnect the level sensor for the Xenon headlights if your car is equipped with Xenon headlights. This is located behind where the swaybar drop long attaches about halfway up the strut housing.
3. Unbolt the swaybar drop link where it bolts to the strut housing with a 16-mm socket on one side and a wrench on the other side.
4. Remove the bolt at the bottom of the strut housing that fastens the strut to the collar located on the control arm. Once the bolt is removed, the control arm will be unsupported, so to prevent damaging the brake and ABS lines from the weight of the control arm support it with a block of wood or something similar.
5. Unbolt the three nuts that hold the top of the strut housing to the body. These are removed from the top of the fender inside the engine bay.
6. Carefully pull the strut and spring assembly out of the wheel well. Place the assembly on the work bench or a flat surface.
7. Slip the hooks for the two spring compressors onto the spring directly opposite of each other. Tighten both spring compressors at the same rate to compress the spring, ensuring that the compressors do not slide towards each other.
8. Compress the spring until the tension is released from the bottom and the top spring perches. Use a socket or a wrench to remove the nut at the top of the assembly that holds the top spring perch to the strut. When the nut is removed, there will be a bearing, a cover for the bearing and a washer. Note how these are assembled.
9. Separate the spring from the strut by pulling the spring up over the strut. Do not decompress the spring.
10. Transfer the bottom spring pad to the new strut. Slide the spring over the new strut. Assemble the strut hat and spring pad on top of the strut and spring. Line all of the components up in the same way they were disassembled and install the bearing, washer and nut and tighten the nut with a socket. Slowly and carefully decompress the spring, ensuring that everything lines up properly, particularly where the springs line up with the indentations in the lower spring pad.
11. Place the strut and spring assembly back into the wheel well. Hand tighten the lower bolt that fastens the strut to the control arm and then the three nuts at the top of the strut assembly. Reinstall the swaybar drop link and tighten all of the bolts to the proper torque settings.
12. Replace the wheels and slowly lower the car to the ground. Roll or drive the vehicle a few feet to get the suspension to settle back to its proper ride height.