a-talk

Just a general update on my progress on the T43 5KTD over the past month or two.

<u><B>Front struts, mounts and boots:</B></u> Wow, what a difference! The old struts were literally useless, they provided NO damping whatsoever. I installed Boge OEM struts <I>(matching what I installed the rear)</I>. In addition to the previous owner's bushing replacement in the front end about 40k miles ago, the car drives like it's fresh off the factory floor!

<u><B>Front end groan:</B></u> While I had the car up in the air doing the struts, I did an inspection of the front suspension. I'd been noticing a groan on sharper turns for awhile now, and hoped to find where it was coming from.

So I'm checking all the important spots (subframe, control arms, etc.), and I see a gap between the L inner sway bar mount and the subframe. Not sure how that bolt backed off!! The bolt and nut were there, but it was just backed off about five turns! I pulled the bolt, cleaned it up, gave it a light thread lock coat, and torque-wrenched it to spec. And of course I checked torque on all the other pertinent bolts down there. No more groan, and the car drives even better now - the front end feels perfect!

<u><B>Window switches:</B></u> - They're easier to rebuild than the Type44 switches I'm used to. And while browsing the local 'pick and pull', I noticed that many Merc and BMW switches of the same vintage are nearly identical. Not exactly, but enough to help rebuild a Type43 switch.

<B>Trick:</B> The trim ring that clips on top holding it all together likes to break, rendering the switch useless. The BMW trim rings are thicker and stronger, and nearly the same color. So a quick cleaning of the contacts, then reassembly using a BMW ring makes a great new window switch! Look, the windows move faster!

PIC: BMW Window Switch
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/76987/bmw_switch_1.jpg">

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/76987/bmw_switch_2.jpg">

serf2k

Gotta love interchangable bits on other cars in the wrecking yard! Glad to hear the front end groan was something trivial!
Cheers!

a-talk

If I'd gone for the stiffer Turbo Gas I would not have been happy. The Boge OEMs are just right - just proving how bad/useless the old ones were .

Oh, and on the BMW window switches, I could only find two in the junkyard. But I found four on eBay for $10 shipped!