Article by: Johan
Applies to: all e32 and e34 models.
Problem:Working on your own car has its share of risks. One of them is having the hood slammed on your back when it’s rather windy outside. After getting a quote of 50 euro for two new shocks from the dealer I decided to use a piece of wood to hold the bonnet open while working.
Recently I bought a 1988 735iL as a parts car. The hood and trunk shocks from this car where marginally better than the ones on mine. So I decided not to bother. Then I remembered reading somewhere that a set of worn out trunk shocks could still hold the hood open. So I decided to use the trunk shocks from the parts car as hood shocks on my own car.
Replacement hood/bonnet shocks:
The upper shock is a boot shock and the lower is the original bonnet shock. As you can see the boot shock is a bit longer and thicker than the bonnet shock. This isn’t a problem.
Use a screwdriver to lever the clip past the locking point. Then pull the shock off. And replace it with the new one.
That’s all there is to it. The hood now opens itself for the last 30 to 40 cm! Image how great it would be to have a set of new ones :-).
Replacement trunk/boot shocks:
Walking around a scrapyard just over the border in Germany I saw an E32 with it’s trunk standing wide open!
I RAN to the car and removed the shocks from it. Being the cheap skate I am, this was the perfect opportunity to fix that annoying problem!!
Well first let’s get all that junk out of the trunk again 😉
Then remove the rear panel. It’s held in place with four twist screws.
Now lift the lower carpet up or ideally get it out of the car. I didn’t because I’m not only cheap I’m lazy as well.
Now remove the shock in the same way as the hood shocks.
Satisfaction level: Excellent! It didn’t cost me a thing as I got more parts from the scrapyard and the shocks where not that interesting to them. After removing the warning triangle from the toolbox the trunk opens by just pushing the button!!!