Ohlins R/T kit leaking after 5K miles? Is this normal? Pics inside

[Wally1552]

So yeah. I installed new ohlins kit on my e90. Was changing out spacers in the front and saw this on BOTH front struts. Is this normal or not normal? Considering it's happening on both front coils, I thought chance of both going bad at sametime is low. Maybe this is weeping that is normal?

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[Bimmer Barney]

These were brand new? Those seem excessively dirty but before you get concerned I would wipe them down really well with a microfiber and then check back in a few hundred miles. If that is truly all shock oil I'd say it's too much. I just installed my Ohlins R&T this past weekend. I'll check mine and report back after a few tanks of gas, too.

[Redd]

It is absolutely not normal. There should not be any oil leaking from the damper. Mine are almost 60k km old and dry as a bone. I would send it back to the seller.

[Z K]

Without knowing how it was installed, it could be installer error.

Using an air impact wrench on install can very much over torque the shock and damage the seals.

[amrazM]

did you hit something hard recently?

[tdott]

Reach out and see if it's covered under warranty if it's only been a short while.

Clean them up and check again after a few days. hard to tell from the pics if its an actual leak or not.

[Wally1552]

Thanks for input guys. Never hit anything too hard in the 6K miles I had them on. It's also a weekend car. No impact gun was used and I made sure to torque everything correctly. I'll clean them up and monitor. Good thing I got these from FCP

[AzRiz]

Originally Posted by Wally1552

Thanks for input guys. Never hit anything too hard in the 6K miles I had them on. It's also a weekend car. No impact gun was used and I made sure to torque everything correctly. I'll clean them up and monitor. Good thing I got these from FCP

Hey bud, any update on this? Do you still have a leak?

I believe I have one too on one of the front shocks, also started monitoring it.

Purchased in November 2020 - I wonder if it's a batch thing? Did you buy yours at around the same time?

I've only done 4k miles since they were fitted in December 2020 so this is very disappointing stuff if they are indeed leaking. I hope Ohlins can sell a replacement for a seriously good price if it needs replacing...

[Redd]

Ohlins comes with 2 yrs factory warranty. Just send it in for a rebuild.

[IamFODI]

3 years and 40k miles on mine. Far too many hard hits on COVID roads. Bone dry all around.

Something's weird here. Def. could be a coincidence but it's well worth being extra careful during the next install.

When I checked recently, replacement front dampers were $500 apiece from 3DM Motorsport (the go-to resource for Öhlins on this platform). However, if this set was purchased from FCP Euro, it's a no-brainer to just replace the whole kit.

[HuckM3]

I have similar mileage on mine and they are dry.

[Redd]

Has this issue been resolved?

[AzRiz]

Originally Posted by Redd

Has this issue been resolved?

I'm still trying to communicate with Ohlins.

Went through the company that supplied the kit to me, Ohlins came back and said to remove it and sent it to a rebuild shop.

I asked my supplier to ask them to just sell me a replacement at a discount as I don't want to have my car stuck at a garage for 1-2 weeks.

Didn't hear back, so I emailed Ohlins myself to ask if they can help me out.

They then told my supplier that "the customer has contacted us directly, we are dealing with it internally now".

However they haven't said a single word to me and I sent a chaser email which also got no reply.

No idea what's going on, will chase again next week.

[IamFODI]

Originally Posted by AzRiz

I'm still trying to communicate with Ohlins.

Went through the company that supplied the kit to me, Ohlins came back and said to remove it and sent it to a rebuild shop.

I asked my supplier to ask them to just sell me a replacement at a discount as I don't want to have my car stuck at a garage for 1-2 weeks.

Didn't hear back, so I emailed Ohlins myself to ask if they can help me out.

They then told my supplier that "the customer has contacted us directly, we are dealing with it internally now".

However they haven't said a single word to me and I sent a chaser email which also got no reply.

No idea what's going on, will chase again next week.

That sucks. Sorry to hear it’s this difficult. Please keep us posted.

[Redd]

Originally Posted by AzRiz

I'm still trying to communicate with Ohlins.

Went through the company that supplied the kit to me, Ohlins came back and said to remove it and sent it to a rebuild shop.

I asked my supplier to ask them to just sell me a replacement at a discount as I don't want to have my car stuck at a garage for 1-2 weeks.

Didn't hear back, so I emailed Ohlins myself to ask if they can help me out.

They then told my supplier that "the customer has contacted us directly, we are dealing with it internally now".

However they haven't said a single word to me and I sent a chaser email which also got no reply.

No idea what's going on, will chase again next week.

Damn that sucks. Keep us posted.

[Bimmer Barney]

I'm confused, if you bought them from FCP, send them back for a brand new kit under lifetime warranty.

Something is missing from the story here.

[AzRiz]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Barney

I'm confused, if you bought them from FCP, send them back for a brand new kit under lifetime warranty.

Something is missing from the story here.

I'm not the OP, he bought them from FCP.

I live in the UK and did not.

[IamFODI]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Barney

I'm confused, if you bought them from FCP, send them back for a brand new kit under lifetime warranty.

Something is missing from the story here.

There are two stories here: one from Wally1552 (OP) and one from AzRiz. Wally is the one who bought from FCP Euro and hasn't posted back in a while. AzRiz is in the UK so presumably has to go a different route.

[TrackSpecM3]

Definitely not normal. Did you or a shop install them?

[AzRiz]

An update to my situation:

I engaged in direct conversation with the UK distributor who chased Ohlins up for me.

They quickly came back and told me that it is still being dealt with, and that they would get back to me as soon as there is an update.

A couple of weeks later they did just that, and confirmed that Ohlins will be sending me two brand new front shocks.

The shocks arrived last week and I am booked in with my garage to have them fitted next month.

This has been an excellent outcome and a very generous solution provided by Ohlins, which I applaud them for.

I was started to lose my faith in them due to what happened, but they have regained it with this outcome, and have hugely increased my respect for them as a company.

Hopefully I'll be getting these fitted and can enjoy them for a long time.

[Redd]

Good news indeed! Did they say why it's leaking so early? QC issue?

[AzRiz]

Originally Posted by Redd

Good news indeed! Did they say why it's leaking so early? QC issue?

No comments from them at all, it may be that they had a few issues with shocks, possibly a batch issue or something.

Who knows.

I'm just glad they have the decency to put things right with minimal inconvenience to the customer - I was really not happy about having to take the car in to a shop and have it stuck there for however long it would have taken for the shock to be rebuilt.