After changing the shocks and springs all round i thought it would be of use to do a how to for the peeps I only thought of it halfway through doing the rears so some the pics look out of sequence but they serve the purpose of an illustration
Rears
Tools required - Jack, Axel Stands, Wheel brace or 21mm Socket, 19mm Socket, 14mm Socket, 14mm Swan neck spanner, Molegrips, 1/2" Rachet, 1/2" Knuckle bar
1) Jack the back up and place on stands, remove wheel
2) Crack off bolt at bottom of shock
3) Remove rear shelf and enough interior rear trim panels to gain access to strut top
4) Whilst holding the part with the flats with molegrips or similar undo the strut top nut (centre) with a 14mm spanner (access is pants and movement limited) Leave the nut on the last few threads.
5) Remove the strut off the bottom bush (support hub with jack)
6) Remove top nut and extract strut and spring
7) Remove plate and rubber bush from top of old shock and fit to new
8) Assemble spring losely in position
9) Locate spring in top cup and fit top nut on losely
10) Using the jack guide the bottom of the strut on to the bush
11) Fit bottom bolt and tighten to spec 98-118Nm
12) Nip top nut up, replace wheel and drop car down. Torque top nut to 18-24Nm
13) Repeat for otherside
The manual says to remove the strut and spring as an assembly and use spring clamps but i did it this way with no problems. Like this....
http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=90153
Fronts
Tools required - Jack, Axel Stands, Wheel brace or 21mm Socket, 19mm Socket, 14mm Socket, 12mm Socket, 17mm Socket, 1/2" Rachet, 1/2" Knuckle bar, Mallet, Large Flat Screwdriver, Springclamps.
1) Jack the front up and place on stands, remove wheel
2) Undo the 2 bottom strut bolts (17mm bolthead, 19mm nut)
3) Undo ABS Sensor wire bracket (12mm, under 'n' shape loop) and remove brakeline clip (mallet and screwdriver)
4) Crack off 3 top mount nuts
5) Remove strut and spring assembly
6) Using springclamps compress spring and crack off top nut, remove top mount.
7) Fit new spring to new shock (if applicable), compress spring and fit top mount (take care of orrientation). Fit top nut, torque to 59-78Nm
8) Locate assembly in position and losely fir top mount nuts.
9) Locate strut back into hub and fit bolts
10) Fit ABS sensor bracket bolt and brake line clip
11) Torque hub bolts/nuts to 123-152NM
12) Refit wheel, drop car back on ground and torque top mount bolts to 39-54NM
13) Repeat for other side
Cheers to Chil for the other write up and pics