Quick replacement of spring E46

 

2002 E46 320i -towed

Speedbump snapped the spring, had the car towed home.

 

Driving to the garage

2x PVC or PP tube

 

I cut two pices of about 10cm of 40mm PP tube, made a slit and placed them
overlapping and taped them so they would not separate.
around the shock absorber piston, this allowed me to drive the car (slowly)
to the garage.

 

Spring replacement

Tilted spindle

First I removed the stabilizer bar links, unbolted the caliper and secured ot in order
to protect the hose.
Loosened the top nuts for the strut bearing, pushed the piston down and while supporting the kingpin from below I could now tilt the complete asembly.

 

Compressed spring

Instead of removing the entire assembly I was able to compress the ring while the shockabsorber was still attached to the spindle. careful not to strain the ABS cable.

Afterward, when spring was compressed I could tilt it back in and lift it into place
with the garage jack

Assembly was in reverse order. and of course I replaced both left and right spring for the front suspension.