M635csi SGS bonnet gas struts

[guido]

Couple of links for anyone looking for good quality replacement bonnet gas struts for the M635csi, good saving had over BMW OEM ones:

ONLY APPLIES TO CO-DRIVERS SIDE
Gas pressurized spring part no. 51231869147
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1164- ... nnet-strut

ONLY APPLIES TO DRIVER'S SIDE
Gas pressurized spring part no. 51231930717
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1165- ... nnet-strut

[Soperman]

SGS is the company that re-gassed the original mini struts in my manual sports seats about 18 months ago. If I recall, the cost of doing so was about a quarter of the figure requested from my local BMW dealer for new ones and the seat mechanisms are still working perfectly.

[guido]

I've had some on another car since 2007, still working well as expected, hence using them again.
They're happy to tailor the struts to your requirements with more or less pressure, depending on how slow/fast you want them to extend.

Rybrook BMW quote £51.97 per OEM strut.
SGS are £16.14 per strut.

[wattsmonkey]

Thank you Guido,

That is extremely good to know,

Rob

[Brucey]

good spot that.

BTW if your struts are just a bit sleepy, you could try the 'brucey stopper' which comprises a length of plastic waste pipe that sits over one gas strut body. Once the bonnet is opened, the tube then cocks to one side over the shaft and this stops the gas strut from compressing. This stops the bonnet from falling on your head when the gas struts are a bit weak. This can happen (even with 'quite good' gas struts) because

1) the wind blows the bonnet down
2) in cold weather the gas struts seem strong when the bonnet is first opened (because everything is hot) but after a few minutes the struts cool off and lose force enough that a slight gust of wind is enough to blow it down.

I had several sharp blows on the back of the head whilst working on my car before I fitted a 'stopper', even though my gas struts don't seem too bad. When you want to close the bonnet, just move the tube so that the strut body will go through it and lower the bonnet normally.

This mod costs peanuts and works pretty well.

cheers

[wildrider56]

Used these in 2010 on my E24, wow are they powerful!

[guido]

Couple of links for anyone looking for good quality replacement bonnet gas struts for the M635csi, good saving had over BMW OEM ones:

ONLY APPLIES TO CO-DRIVERS SIDE
Gas pressurized spring part no. 51231869147
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1164- ... nnet-strut

ONLY APPLIES TO DRIVER'S SIDE
Gas pressurized spring part no. 51231930717
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1165- ... nnet-strut

So to update on this.
Both struts arrived, went to fit and well, one strut was too long by approx 5.5cm.
It appears that the bonnet struts on my car are the same length, the shorter of the two supplied.
Back onto SGS and they're sending out a replacement and hopefully re-gassing the old ones as spares.
Moral of the story, measure before ordering... Easier said than done though when the car isn't to hand.

[guido]

SGS is the company that re-gassed the original mini struts in my manual sports seats about 18 months ago. If I recall, the cost of doing so was about a quarter of the figure requested from my local BMW dealer for new ones and the seat mechanisms are still working perfectly.

Soperman, interested to know how you knew that the mini seat struts were kaputt? Is it the case that the front seats should be weighted with some resistance, rather than moving quickly, when unlocking and leaning them forwards for access to the rear?

[Soperman]

I knew when the gas struts on needed replacing or re-gassing when....

1) Pulling up the lever to adjust the back rest angle, the back just flops backwards in an embarrassing fashion, forcing you to reach behind with your other hand to hold it upwards.

2) Pulling up the lever to adjust the seat base height, the base just collapses downwards. You use your other hand to pull it back upwards to get to your desired height. It is possible to catch your fingers in the seat base mechanism whilst doing this, as the weight of not only the seat but also your body weight, does its best to sever the digits from your hand. Ask me how I know....

Basically, it is the pressure in the struts that keeps everything upright, and if they're in good order, you'll feel the resistance behind/underneath you when you go to make an adjustment, and push against that resistance to move the seat part to the desired position.

[guido]

Ok i see, but is that mainly aimed at manual seats?

On electric BMW sport seats, like mine, should the return to normal resting position be under the support of the strut with slight resistance or does the strut that I see in my seats not regulate this forward/backward movement, and is normal to just fall back without strut support?

Hopefully what I've written make sense

[Soperman]

You are quite right to assume that I am talking about manual (sports) seats. And having never owned an E24 with electric seats, I am certainly in no position to advise on the purpose of the mini strut found in them.
Sorry.

[guido]

No problem, thanks all the same.
Anyone else know?

Cheers

[sharkfan]

Couple of links for anyone looking for good quality replacement bonnet gas struts for the M635csi, good saving had over BMW OEM ones:

ONLY APPLIES TO CO-DRIVERS SIDE
Gas pressurized spring part no. 51231869147
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1164- ... nnet-strut

ONLY APPLIES TO DRIVER'S SIDE
Gas pressurized spring part no. 51231930717
http://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc1165- ... nnet-strut

So to update on this.
Both struts arrived, went to fit and well, one strut was too long by approx 5.5cm.
It appears that the bonnet struts on my car are the same length, the shorter of the two supplied.
Back onto SGS and they're sending out a replacement and hopefully re-gassing the old ones as spares.
Moral of the story, measure before ordering... Easier said than done though when the car isn't to hand.

Another update on this. I ordered one of each - my lhs (non-driver on rhd car) is the shorter fitment, but on my car (where the rhs (drivers rhd) outer wing has been replaced) I have two strut points (one upper one on the inside of the outer wing, and one lower one on the inner wing) so I used the longer one. I could have bought two shorter types but I hadn't eyeballed it correctly.

The link to the SGS website still works and the prices are still good, and this thread and website saved me hours of searching once again.

[sideshowbob]

I replaced the worn out struts on my bonnet, thinking that when you release the bonnet lock lever in the passenger footwell (RHD) that the bonnet would 'pop' up. I would then be able to use the gap between bonnet and wing to then lift bonnet.

In reality releasing the lock only allows the bonnet to raise a small amount, still can't get fingers in gap to lift bonnet, have to use a bit of cloth under the corner of the bonnet to start lifting procedure.

When bonnet is fully open new struts are strong enough to keep bonnet safely open when working or whatever on engine.

Are these struts strong enough to give that initial lift after releasing bonnet lever ??

[GRNSHRK]

sideshowbob, I had a similar situation wherein the bonnet would not pop up after releasing the hold down lever, even with new gas struts

I found that cleaning and lubricating the latch mechanisms on both sides that hold the bonnet down did the trick and it pops up as expected now