Roll Pin Bilstein Replacement
 

Can I remove the roll pin and put in a new one without removing the strut. Basically jack up car, put on stand, remove front wheel, bang out roll pin and bang new one in.

I have redone the whole front end of the car(bushings, pin, turbo tie rods, elephant bushings, roll bar bushings, castle nut, top strut mounts) and the left still has a clunk. Only thing not replaced is that left strut insert and its roll pin. Im thinking roll pin may be potentially broke.

I have replaced strut roll pins on the bench but you should be able to replace the pin as you have described. As long as the strut insert is not under pressure you should be ok, make sure you have a drift pin to realign if necessary.

Knock the old pin 1/2 way out and follow it in with the new one. Round side toward the shaft, not the split.

That's what Im wondering when you say round side toward shaft is that the split facing the inside(i.e. toward the wheel well).

Yes, i believe the roll pin is on the inner side of the shaft, so the split should face the center of the car. Support the bottom of the strut with a jack or something so that the strut does not unload while you remove the old roll pin. If the shaft moves up, bits of old bump stop can drop down in to the hole and prevent the shaft from re-seating properly.
Were the inserts removed during the suspension service? I have a hard time believing that the roll pin would just break.

inserts were not removed, they have probably only about 5k on them although they are 10 years old. Im trying to track down the clunk on the front left and can't find it. Things not repalced is the strut, roll pin, and the insert and the a arm, steering rack. Everything was torqued up and then rechecked by shop before they did alignment. Shop i can see went over lots of items as they marked everything with their color paint.

I recon it's the ball joint.

replaced, castle nut replaced, tightened properly, new bolt to the strut where the ball joint goes in.

Gland nut on the insert?

Do all the bilsteins have a gland nut at the top

Not sure. The Bilstein inserts in my Boge struts do have a gland nut.

I have Bilstein struts so no gland nut, they are held by the roll pin. The only thing I can think of if its not the roll pin is the bushings inside the strut are tired, 65k on the car.