Front shock change

[vilant]

Finished the rest of making my car 100% by replacing my front shocks. And I did it the right way, which means it got done quickly, lol. Just jacked up one side of the car at a time. After was tire is removed I placed a second jack under the control arm to support it. Just don't put it under the grease fitting, and make sure you have access to the nuts underneath, they need to come out.

Removed the actuator retaining clip, and gently pulled, up to remove the shock actuator and put it aside.

Removed the 17mm mounting nut, cup assembly, upper insulator retainer, and upper insulator. Then removed the 2 lower mounting nuts and bolts, they're 13mm. It says to compress the shock to get it out, but there was no compressing mine, it was shot. Took off the lower insulator off the and removed the metal bushing that was stuck inside it (the new shocks come w/ a new one). Worked backwards w/ the steps and tightened all bolts to 19 ft/lbs per FSM. Actually had to jack the control arm alot more to actually compress the new shock (that's how bad the old ones were). Make sure the adjustment screw is 5mm above the cup (I didn't really measure this, looked the same distance as the old). And you need to gently work the shock actuator back onto the cup assembly. The gear inside the actuator is plastic and breaks easily. Here's the old and new side by side,

and here's the new shock in place.

What a huge difference in the ride, I couldn't believe the difference the new front shocks had (I replaced the rears a few months earlier). And the Selective Ride Control light is finally out. My car finally has no indicator lights lit, other than Full Engine Power, lol. Took it out for spin and it was awesome. I love my car.
P.S. Bilstein also recommends retightening bolts after 50km.