BMW shocks vs spurious

CarLover

Guys,

Long story short - I failed my NCT due to bad shock front left. Got onto Murphy & Gunn and asked if they recommend BMW shocks. They said yes - ballpark 400 yoyos to fit.
Am I mad or should I be off to Kwik-Fit?

Is there a big diff between BMW shocks and spurious?

Please...no offence, but I'm not looking for generic sure you'd be mad to pay BMW for anything. I'm wondering if someone in the know could enlighten me?

Alternatively...if I buy the shocks from BMW can anyone fit them?

OldmanMondeo

How much are Kwik-fit charging? Some people are unaware that so called spurious parts are actually OE product, and I include people in the trade with that comment.

Wether you go wth BMW or whoever depend on the age fo the car and how long you intend on keeping it. Most sSpuriois shocks will last as long if not longer the the BMW ones.

Fey!

I got shocks for my 520 cheaper than that from AC Car Sales.

Incidentally, if both of your shocks were knackered, then you'd have passed your NCT! It goes on the difference in performance between the two sides.

JohnCleary

Word on the street is that BMW shocks/bushs arent their strongpoint.

Aparantly spurious BMW suspension components are BETTER than OE ones :eek: I was about to buy spurious shocks for my 02 320d but came across M-Tec suspension (shocks and springs) with 1000 miles on it so went for that instead, car looks nicer now

CarLover

Thanks for the replies guys. Shock on front passenger is the problem..but I'm not buying one shock as is a little like buying one tyre.

The €400 includes fitting as well. I'd imagine Kwik Fit would be half the price - haven't checked yet. I guess I was just wondering whether there'd be a big difference in quality and am not gonna ask that question of Kwik Fit.

In general I've found Murphy & Gunn to be very good but they didn't include the shocks in a pre-NCT check that I paid for and when I pointed this out I was asked...did I have a question...in other words they didn't want to hear it. Not impressed. Pre-NCT check should include all the relevant factors that go together for an NCT.

I might sus out AC Car Sales - thanks for the tip.

I take it anyone can fit them? I know a mechanic that would fit cheaply...

Oh...and it's a 01 325Ci so it's probably of an age where I shouldn't care about FBMWSH especially as I'm likely to keep it going for at least two more years...but I guess it's been my baby so I kinda wanted to keep it right

cantdecide

shocks are consumables really so i'd go spurious but i'd make sure they're a main brand. I paid €115 for a pair for the back of my 325 but i can't remember what brand they were. I never got to fit them before selling the car but the buyer was a friend and he was delighted with them.

rebel.ranter

AFAIK the shocks the BMW use are BOGE so if you buy these ones then you are effectively getting OE shocks.
I would go with an independent (I don't know AC but by the sounds of it on here they know what they are doing) over a main dealer or Kwik Fit. Main Dealer is to expensive & less likely to care about your "old" number plate. I wouldn't trust Kwik Fit or any such operation.

DublinDilbert

CarLover wrote:

Guys,

Got onto Murphy & Gunn and asked if they recommend BMW shocks. They said yes - ballpark 400 yoyos to fit.

In fairness the BMW dealer would hardly say that BMW shocks were a waste of money!

It all depends on how long your looking at keeping the car, i'd say the shocks are about €150, and about 1.5 hours labor to fit.. so I'd say from a good independent garage you'd be looking in the region of €250... quick-fit might do them a bit cheaper again..

bonham23

I replaced my front suspension a couple of years ago..As a previous poster said the shocks used in BMW's are manufacture by boge. You can get these from german swedish and french on the nangor rd at a far cheaper price than the main dealer. The strut is a little awkward to replace as you will need a clamp to compress the spring.If you are trying this at home a couple of hours will do it..you should really change both struts though.

bonham23

forgot to tell you to make sure the car is re-aligned after the work is complete as you could end up with worse readings on the second test:eek:

Seth Brundle

JohnCleary wrote:

Word on the street is that BMW shocks/bushs arent their strongpoint.

Never heard that. They wear but then again what doesn't?

rebel.ranter

kbannon wrote:

Never heard that. They wear but then again what doesn't?

Bushes & shocks are service items designed to take the stress & strain so the main body of the car stays intact. Sometimes people say that they are a weak point because they have worn out in a 10-15 year old car.

Seth Brundle

True but thats a long way off from implying that they are a weak point

rebel.ranter

Sorry that's what I meant, some people think they should last forever when in fact their very design purpose is to wear out. I would agree that it is a bit harsh to cal them a weak point.

JHMEG

rebel.ranter wrote:

Bushes & shocks are service items designed to take the stress & strain so the main body of the car stays intact. Sometimes people say that they are a weak point because they have worn out in a 10-15 year old car.

?? The OP's car is an '01. Is it normal/expected for them to wear out so quick?

Esel

FBMWSH? Wouldn't FSH be easier to type here?

MercMad

bonham23 wrote:

forgot to tell you to make sure the car is re-aligned after the work is complete as you could end up with worse readings on the second test:eek:

.........you should not need an alignment check if you are simply changing shocks !

I would buy a reputable brand, Boge,Koni etc and get an Indy to fit them !

bonham23

Having owned serveral 3 series i can verify that the the front suspension components do tend to wear quite quickly..In general you would expect to replace the outer ball joints on the control arms and the conrol arm bushes after about 50-60k. In my expierience this is not the case with the 5 series for example.

bonham23

MercMad wrote:

.........you should not need an alignment check if you are simply changing shocks !

I would buy a reputable brand, Boge,Koni etc and get an Indy to fit them !

It is always a good idea to check the cars geometry after completing work on the front end suspension components.

Eoin

esel wrote:

FBMWSH? Wouldn't FSH be easier to type here?

It's the difference between a full service history but in any garage, and a full service history in BMW only dealerships.

CarLover

Thanks guys...gonna try and source BOGE shocks.

Have been onto AC Car Sales twice now and no callback yet. Am beginning to wonder if they want my business or not!!

maidhc

CarLover wrote:

Thanks guys...gonna try and source BOGE shocks.

No reason to buy Boge ones. Monroe shocks are pretty reasonable and are no worse than anything else from what I can see.

CarLover

Guys - I'm wondering does it make a difference who fits the shocks?

I've ordered the BOGE shocks from AC Car Sales. I'm finding them fairly useless...they don't seem to want my custom at all. They just won't ring me back.
They're telling me fitting the shocks is 2 hour job and charging 160 for fitting.

I know a mechanic who I'm sure could fit them...before I go ahead with him should I be re-thinking this?

rebel.ranter

I doesn't really matter who fits them it's a straight forward enough job.
Anyone could have supplied them for you too.
As I said I don't know AC but I do know from my point of view that getting the job done correctly is more important than the customer service. But it's not unreasonable to expect a reasonable level of customer service too.

Just as a matter of interest, what time of the day were you ringining, lunchtime? 5pm?

CarLover

rebel.ranter wrote:

I doesn't really matter who fits them it's a straight forward enough job.
Anyone could have supplied them for you too.
As I said I don't know AC but I do know from my point of view that getting the job done correctly is more important than the customer service. But it's not unreasonable to expect a reasonable level of customer service too.

Just as a matter of interest, what time of the day were you ringining, lunchtime? 5pm?

All times over the past two days. I've rang them 5 times now and received one return call. Morning and mid-afternoon was when I was ringing. They're nice to deal with on the phone...tell you they're mad busy and will call you back with details etc...never do!

bonham23

i haven't used AC cars but from reading previous post they seem to know BMW's inside out. 2 hours labour does not seem unreasonable.It is a little trickier to replace the front struts than the back shocks as you need to compress the spring on them to remove the old shock and then put it back on the new one.. I'd say just get a day to drop the car off to them and go with it. i've done this job on one of my previos cars (an E36) ans its a bit of a pain!