My O2 Zen Life

• May. 9, 2003 - Suspension and linkage rebuild

Only a few months after I purchased the car, I realized what a sad state of affairs I had underneath the car.  All of the linkage and suspension components were pretty much history.  LOTS of rotted rubber, all with a thick, guey covering of smelly oil.  Here are some shots of the ugliness. gross!! ugly stuff So, I had two problems.  First, the rubber was all shot.  Second, there was a serious long-term oil leak which was coating the entire underside of the car. This was being caused by a leaking rear main seal.  This was eventually fixed when I replaced the transmission (another story). Fortunately, its easy to find the suspension and linkage replacement parts.  Step 1 was to replace the complete front suspension and linkage (and the rear shocks too while I was at it).  I got in touch with 2002 Haus and ordered all the goodies. got out my trusty BMW Workshop Repair manual (still on loan from D.Baker) and went to work....err at least started to.... I managed to get many of the old parts off, but soon realized I had neither the proper tools or the right space to do this job correctly So I called up my friend Matt Groner who owns and runs Matthews Auto Sales.  Matt agreed to take the car in and install all the parts.     Matt is a great local resource for us O2-heads in the Houston area.  He's been rebuilding them and other fine BMW's for more than 20 years. So, by the end of 2003, a mere 10 months after I bought the car, the linkage and front suspension work had been completed.  I thought she was just a few pieces away from being a ready-to-roll daily driver.  Boy, was I ever in for a surprise!

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