E30 Front Struts

[mel horn]

I'm preparing a '87 325. I'm going to install front coilovers, and have removed the spring perches. I've ground down the part where the perch was welded to the strut tube and a very small ridge remains. The threaded tube fits up against this and extends approx 1" above the top of the tube (The threaded tube approx 6" long is extra from another car , not a BMW. )This ridge is weld metal and very hard, Should it be ground away and the stop be located approx 1" below where this bottom of the spring perch was or will this be all right. My gut instinct is to grind this away, but is that right ?
Thanks all.

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mel horn

[mel horn]

...Actually I went over to the Ground Control site and looked at their setup, it seems that their tube is a lot shorter than the tube I have. Any feedback will still be appreciated. Thanks.

[chuck baader]

mell, I'm in the process of doing my third set of front struts...e-mail me off the conference at [email protected].

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Chuck Baader
E30 ITA under construction
Alabama Region Divisional Registrar

[zracer22]

Mel
The ideal set up for the E30 requires shorter threaded collars. You welded the perch in the correct place. My coil overs are from Ground Control. They required cutting 1" out of the length of the strut housing. The inserts are 1" shorter than staock inserts as well. I welded the perch exactly as you described, and then I cut the top of the strut tube off flush with the top of the perch. Then I cut 1" from the bottom of the piece I removed and welded it back onto the strut. Resulting in a strut housing that is 1" shorter than stock with the retaining nut threads still intact. Most coil-over kits don't require shortening the strut, but if you want to get the most out of your suspension, get the correct parts and do it right. You be glad that you did. One other thing, lowering the car to IT minimum height with stock length struts doesn't work well. The struts are forced to work outside of their "sweet spot"