Palazzo 427 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 Possibly a dumb question, but never looked into this before. If you use thicker spring pads at the rear, (I believe you can use thicker top and bottom?), this will have the same effect as lengthening the spring height? Or am I missing some simple piece of geometry? And if this is the case, what is the standard spring pad thickness on an E30? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ00Z3 186 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 Yes, increasing the thickness of the spring raises the ride height. Have a look in WWW.RealOEM.com. Put the last 7 digits of your VIN number into the search tool and you can browse for parts specific to your car. It will tell you the spring pad thicknesses. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 427 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 Thanks, had a look, three different sizes for the bottom and no size specified for the top. Something to mull over. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adro 1052 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) I have a 15mm spring pad in the rear of my E46 touring with eibach springs and 2 x 5mm (stacked with a bit of cutting) in the rear of my E30 with H&R sport springs. Gets rid of the saggy bum nicely. I think lengthening spring height would adjust the spring rate? I’m no engineer but iv had the pads in both cars for over a year now and they seem to work nicely. If anything I would like a 15mm pad in the E30 too. Edited March 24, 2022 by adro Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4015 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 FWIW you can get "rough road" (or similar translation) spring pads for some markets, including (IIRC) 15, 20, and 25 mm to fit the e36, e46 and possibly others. Grabbing them saves you having to stack smaller ones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 427 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 My theory is that the spring pads add length to the spring area, but don’t actually affect the physical spring length? If that makes sense. I’ve been told it’s arguable as to whether the rear springs are fully captive, but if they have less physical room due to thicker pads, this should be cured, as in they are held more securely in place? Just trying to get a gauge on if my theory will work or create more issues I’m unaware of. For reference, centre of the rear wheel to top centre of the arch is 270mm, so I can afford to have a bit more height. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 427 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 5 minutes ago, M3AN said: FWIW you can get "rough road" (or similar translation) spring pads for some markets, including (IIRC) 15, 20, and 25 mm to fit the e36, e46 and possibly others. Grabbing them saves you having to stack smaller ones. Interesting. Realoem showed the spring pads were the same for e30/36. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4015 Report post Posted March 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Palazzo said: Interesting. Realoem showed the spring pads were the same for e30/36. Just looked, part of the "Poor Road Package" (option S815A). I got these ones (15mm): https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-4213-rear-spring-pad-priced-each-15mm/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sammo 2476 Report post Posted March 25, 2022 E30 you have these options I believe: Front - 3mm lower and 3mm and 9mm upper. Rear 5/7.5/10 or any combo really and E36/E46 pads look essentially the same. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4015 Report post Posted March 29, 2022 (edited) Just found this guys: Spring pad 5MM (33531136385) Spring pad 7,5MM (33531136386) Spring pad 10MM (33531136387) Spring pad 14,5MM (33531094754) Spring pad 21,5MM (33531091599) HTH. Edited March 29, 2022 by M3AN Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
