[mp-E46]

So I swapped the spring and associated parts over to the new Bilstein B4 strut except the dust protection collar. No-7 in the attached pic. It was stuck under the old bearing support as I replaced it with a new one. Not sure if I can get away not installing one. I can add grease to the bearing on annual basis. This way the old grease gets pushed out the lower part of the bearing. Not sure if this would work.
Also can't tell if the thickness of the washer does anything mechanically. It is a thin washer.

So driving the car seems to drive ok except when I go over small bumps I hear a slight mechanical clunk. Not sure if this anything to do with it. May be that's how Bilstein b4 rides.

Side note. I replaced all suspension components including complete tie rods as I was doing the oil pan gasket.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you

[smallseafishie]

The B4 should be very close to OEM. If they clunk, then you'll need to redo them. Sucks. Life lessons personal to me are that it's better to just suck it up and redo it than to let it drag out incorrectly. Been there. Done that.

[mp-E46]

Yeah I agree. However looking at the old bearing support it doesn’t look like the washer is doing any thing mechanically. It’s about 1mm thick.