Ahmedsinc 414 Report post Posted September 24, 2013 Hey guys. Scored a set of Bilsteins & matched Eibachs off one of our members a few months ago, finally got to put them in the car about a month back. While it looks tits I have noticed that I scrape the standard non - Motorsport front bumper on basically everything thats taller than 40mm off FGL. Before After Was told the springs were "Lows", and as much as I love the ride height and quality (REALLY comfortable springs!) I'm more than a little worried I'm gonna nail the radiator into something immobile fairly soon. The Bilsteins are definitely not shortened, measurements were the same from stock to new units. Does the second photo seem a typical ride height for low springs? As can be seen there was a significant drop in height from the standard coils. Is it possible they're a bit lower than 'low'? Or am I just getting too old? Not keen on replacing them if I can help it, but living in a semi - rural area with typical poo quality roads the chance of doing something terminal is fairly high. Will dig up some part numbers off the new springs if they'll be of any use. No known tyre rub, 225/45 on style 159 17 x 8", ET34. As always, TIA Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jom 98 Report post Posted September 24, 2013 Hey guys. Scored a set of Bilsteins & matched Eibachs off one of our members a few months ago, finally got to put them in the car about a month back. While it looks tits I have noticed that I scrape the standard non - Motorsport front bumper on basically everything thats taller than 40mm off FGL. Before DSCF2684.JPG After IMG_0551.2.jpg Was told the springs were "Lows", and as much as I love the ride height and quality (REALLY comfortable springs!) I'm more than a little worried I'm gonna nail the radiator into something immobile fairly soon. The Bilsteins are definitely not shortened, measurements were the same from stock to new units. Does the second photo seem a typical ride height for low springs? As can be seen there was a significant drop in height from the standard coils. Is it possible they're a bit lower than 'low'? Or am I just getting too old? Not keen on replacing them if I can help it, but living in a semi - rural area with typical poo quality roads the chance of doing something terminal is fairly high. Will dig up some part numbers off the new springs if they'll be of any use. No known tyre rub, 225/45 on style 159 17 x 8", ET34. As always, TIA Measure the height from the bottom of the rim to the topmost point of the wheelarch. With 17" rims, the standard motorsport suspension measures 578mm (+/- 3, the drivers side always seems to be 6mm lower than the other). I've run springs 20mm lower than this and the car grounds over speedbumps, the motorsport spoiler hits kerbs, gets destroyed by the bolts in parking stops etc. In my view the motorsport height is about as low as you want to go for normal road use. I've winced enough over traffic calming devices. Went back to standard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mikal 4 Report post Posted September 24, 2013 Looks about the same height my old 328i was, on bilstein springs and I had the m3 lip + the extra corner splitter things and only scraped on a few steep driveways... Maybe its buggered shocks letting the suspension travel more? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cab 148 Report post Posted September 24, 2013 That will be how they're meant to be. Doesnt look so low that you'd be doing damage underneath? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ahmedsinc 414 Report post Posted September 25, 2013 Cheers for the input guys. Didn't think the seller gave me the wrong info about the ride height, but it's been that long since I bothered using lowering springs I'd forgotten how low these buggers get! Useful info on the measurements, will pop down and check that out tonight. No scraping of the car to date but it's not something I'm to keen on risking. Might have to find some M spec coils or go back to standard Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BM WORLD 1283 Report post Posted September 25, 2013 yea my 328i coupe with ebaichs sits about that low , Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ahmedsinc 414 Report post Posted October 15, 2013 The word "comfortable" in your opening query would entice me to ask do you mean soft / compliant? For compression control (bump) the spring does about 90% of the work , a low spring rate will allow more movement under barking and on bumps, are you sure they are for a six and not a 4 cylinder ? . I run a lowered 328 (M-sport ride height) and rarely hit the spoiler , more often ground chassis rails on judder bars After driving on them a bit more I'd describe the feedback as ever so slightly 'stiffer' than the standard non M-sport coils. Certainly a lot closer to terra firma, not measures 125mm to lowest part of chassis. I'm balancing that against rubbish King springs et al. that I've used on other cars in past years. The FS thread for the kit is here http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/44256-e36-6cyl-bilstein-suspension-kit/ TBH I didn't search the part numbers through Eibach when I bought them so there is a chance (Though I suspect unlikely) they could be 4 cyl items. Which would suck really The front end has come back up a little (15mm ish?) since the manual swap was finished off, so that should assist some. The shocks could also possibly need a refurb, having said that they're a major improvement on the knackered stock items that got pulled out! Original struts did not return at all once the shock was depressed. Plus the rattling sounds made when shaken suggested they'd been full of air instead of fluid for quite some time Would like to figure this one out, just not really in a position to buy more springs, the gearbox & bits ate most of my monies! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
