Suspension Total Replacement - What and how much?

[JRL]

Because they're sagging a bit, they're now weak(er) and many V70 springs have broken with less miles than you have.
Springs are like any other wear part, they WEAR and RUST.
They're unpainted steel!

[jborchel]

OP,
I have freshend my front suspension as well at 175K miles. New struts, top mount, top bearing, lower control arm & ball joint, stabilizer bar end links, outer & inner tie rods + alignment. All told around $670 in parts + $80 for alignment.
This goes against general consensus of using only OEM parts for suspension. But I used Sach struts and used Meyle, Moog and house brand for the rest. Time will tell whether this is good enough. FYI for another data point.

I recommend to at least include the rear shocks at the same time. Improvement made to front end will be somewhat masked by worn out rear shocks and you may be disappointed initially.

This looks like a very good list to go by. Thank you.

[Polarice70]

If you really want to improve stability, put some heavy sway bars and a strut tower brace on it. I did (IPD) and it really improved handling on curves.

[Tonyx]

I wanted to update forum members with my recent lesson learned.
I freshend my front suspension with replacement parts(see few posts above) two monts ago. I just redid the front strut top mount with heavy duty one sold by IPD. Originally I used house brand and upon inspection this had already broken visibly from underside in two months. I also replaced both front springs because bottom 6 inches length of the coil broke on one of them.

In short:
1. use either IPD HD strut top mount or OEM XC90 version
2. seriously consider replacing springs if you are in rust belt and have high mileage
3. when using strut spring tool, wrap the gripping claws with electrical tape to prevent cuts/nicks on the springs

[jborchel]

Thanks everyone for informative replies. However, I had a couple who owned a 96 v70 with 300,000 miles on it buy my 177,000 mile v70 and they thought they were getting a new car. As a result I bought an 09 BMW 328i Sport Wagon w/25,000 miles on it. Drives like a sports car and seems like it's new.

Edit: I should say that the search lasted a long time and I almost pulled the trigger on an 04 V70R that was at a dealer in Kansas City. It had 60,000 miles on it and looked very clean but I had to commit to shipping it to an affiliated dealer her in CA. Although there was no formal requirement to buy the car I didn't want to go through the consequences of the dealer eating the $1,000 shipping charge if I didn't take it. Very tempting though!

[matthew1]

Howdy JB, don't forget to pop in here from time to time with your thoughts on your 328i wagon. I'm very interested in reading what you have to say, comparing it to your old Volvo wagon. I know there's 100 metric tons of differences given the large model year and technology gap, but cars are still cars at the end of the day, and it's fun to compare. Too bad they didn't make that 2.0 direct injection turbo 4-cyl in the 2009 model year. From what I've read, that is the sweetest 4 banger on the market today, and wildly underrated at 240 hp.

[jborchel]

Matt,

Be glad to keep you informed. So far a couple of major differences:

1. BMW tunes their rides for handling versus comfort so the 328i is a much firmer ride. If I had to say I would change one thing it would be to soften the BMW to be between the V70 soft ride and the 328i firm ride. The 528i probably has that in between ride but circumstances didn't allow for looking at one. However, the tightness of the newer car tends to soften the ride a little.
2. At freeway speed around 70 mph the 328i is dead silent. This is big advantage over V70.
3. The 3.0 6 cylinder engine on the BMW is very quiet and smooth. A nice improvement. I did look at a 2008 V70 with the 6 cylinder and found it to be likewise but the ride was quite floaty; more so than our old V70.
4. Gas mileage is about the same as the V70 with premium also required for optimum running.
5. V70 was much easier to deal with on various adjustments for radio, lights, trip computer, etc., because it was more mechanical. Learning curve on BMW has been steep.
6. The V70 had little mudflaps attached to the rear of the wheel openings, as I recall, that kept a lot of road smear from attacking the quarter panels. The BMW misses these and the panels get very dirty very fast. I'm going to look for some aftermarket devices that might work.

That's as much as I can think of for now, probably more than you wanted to hear. Over the long haul reliability will be the most important differential over time. We will probably own this one as long as we did the V70, ten years, and I hope the BMW costs less to maintain and repair. We'll see.

[matthew1]

Interesting, JB. And no, you will never ever bore me with too much car talk. Other members maybe, but not me .

Mudflaps it looks like they made factory up to 2005 on some BMWs. Can't find anything specific about your model/year. Try FCP 1-877-634-0063 [email protected] or http://www.fcpeuro.com/BMW-parts?utf8=% ... s=mud+flap. They'll know.

My 850 T5's ride I've always considered very hard. It has the HD factory option. On smooth pavement it's outstanding, but on every other street in the country it's pretty rough. iPD lowering springs did not make it worse.

Wind/wheel/suspension noise gets my goat too. Good for you on the BMW noise engineering success.

[jborchel]

I can lower the noise even more and make the ride a little better by changing the tires. These came with Bridgestone run flats that everyone reviewing them complained. Tire Rack says that Michelin Primacy MXV4s are much more comfortable and quieter. What do you think the Bridgestones might be worth as a % of new if I tried selling them on Craigslist? They have less than 300 miles on them.

[matthew1]

80%? Maybe less. CL I've found is more of a buyer's place than a seller's. eBay is where you get more for products, it's more for sellers in terms of final price. But it's not the best place for sellers in general because over the last decade they've been stripping sellers of all "rights". A buyer now can pretty much tell eBay the item wasn't as described and the seller is SOL. And in some cases scammers can say they didn't receive the item at all, and the seller has to refund the purchase and the buyer keeps the product. Anyway, ranting...