eggzotic 1 Report post Posted September 2, 2022 Hi all, curious to know if anyone has recommendations for mechanics in the Hamilton area who are willing to perform basic mods to (in my case) an E60 5 series (2008 550i). I take my car to Coombes Johnston BMW for service and repairs (been a bit too much of that so far - oil leaks, Cam cover, PCV,...). But, hoping those are becoming "behind me", there's some other work I'd like, specifically: - stiffer rear suspension/springs, to prevent tyre-rub during sudden dips when I have a bit of load in the boot or back-seat passengers (probably made-worse by the 20" rims) - curious about subtle mods to the exhaust system - just a little louder as the factory setup is super-quiet - curious about colored brake calipers (yeah, I know these are pricey!) Anyway, that was just to add some context to my general enquiry... Thanks, Richard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1901 Report post Posted September 2, 2022 SD European might be worth a shot, I haven't had any work done by them but have purchased parts off them a few times. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gjm 3193 Report post Posted September 2, 2022 With an older BMW gave a chat with Greg Hantz. Cheaper than CJ, and highly regarded by them. Exhaust mods - talk to Sinco. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggzotic 1 Report post Posted September 2, 2022 Cool, thanks for those pointers 🙂 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1524 Report post Posted September 3, 2022 As you suggest the rubbing over bumps is probably due to wheels - tyre size and offset are important to avoid issues. Where are they rubbing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggzotic 1 Report post Posted September 4, 2022 Mainly rubbing on the outer edge of the left-rear tyre. This car has 20" rims, with 275/30R20 on the rear - presumably reducing the space between tyre and car, compared to the intended factory setup of 18" or 19". It's an import from Japan - so is just as-it-came from there - no further mods by me. As I understand these originally came with 18" or 19" rims - so not sure if this was an "extra-special" model, or the if the previous Japanese owners changed them up after purchasing it. The black-n-white BMW badges (boot & bumper), the black front-grills also seem possibly non-factory-standard? Being my 1st BMW, I was not sure 🙂. Was in pretty premo condition though, and low kms, so it seems like it was treated pretty well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gjm 3193 Report post Posted September 4, 2022 Big rims don't need to be a problem provided they have suitable offsets and are fitted with appropriate-sized tyres. I reiterate the suggestion to have a chat with Greg. (Our daughter is taking her 116i in for a WoF tomorrow.) He'll have seen similar issues before and may have a little more flexibility than CJ with regard to suggestions. Nothing at all wrong with CJ but they may have more difficulty looking at non-original-BMW solutions. (Jon @E30 325i Rag-Top may be able to comment on that). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggzotic 1 Report post Posted September 4, 2022 Cool, thanks Graham - yeah I've been happy with CJ for the work they've done but also suspected they might be effectively limited to recommending original BMW parts only. They mentioned "trailer springs" as something that once existed, but were not sure if they can still get them. I'll try Greg. Cheers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1524 Report post Posted September 4, 2022 I'd be checking the wheel offset and Tyre size and compare it to OE wheels and Tyre measurements. Also check the alignment to see how much camber you are running, more may help. Fitting different springs is bit of a gamble and you are likely needing to do front and back with most kits. Ideally you'd also have to replace struts to match new springs and originals are probably worn to some degree anyway. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 438 Report post Posted September 5, 2022 18 hours ago, eggzotic said: Mainly rubbing on the outer edge of the left-rear tyre. This car has 20" rims, with 275/30R20 on the rear - presumably reducing the space between tyre and car, compared to the intended factory setup of 18" or 19". It's an import from Japan - so is just as-it-came from there - no further mods by me. As I understand these originally came with 18" or 19" rims - so not sure if this was an "extra-special" model, or the if the previous Japanese owners changed them up after purchasing it. The black-n-white BMW badges (boot & bumper), the black front-grills also seem possibly non-factory-standard? Being my 1st BMW, I was not sure 🙂. Was in pretty premo condition though, and low kms, so it seems like it was treated pretty well. Try this: https://www.willtheyfit.com/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggzotic 1 Report post Posted September 22, 2022 So, there are no spacers involved here - perhaps indicates they're real BMW rims after all? Anyway, a more recent development has been that my latest WoF required both rear-tyres to be replaced. I then mentioned that there have been some vibrations at ~80 km/h and ~110 km/h - so they attempted a wheel balance - and that led to them identifying that 3 of the wheels are out-of-round, and have been sent for some repair (suppose it's not called "straightening"?). All of which is gonna cost a packet. So other work will be on hold till I recover from that... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggzotic 1 Report post Posted December 25, 2022 So, the work in the previous message did not fix the vibrations or the tyre-rub. It turned out to be simply the wrong wheels were on the car (i.e. those that were on it when I purchased it in ~Sep 2021). Took it to Capital tyres in Hamilton to diagnose as it felt like CJ had just really missed the mark on this one. The problems with the wheels were: 1. vibrations: wheels had wrong (too-big) center bore - essentially making it almost impossible to get them centered over the hub on the car, causing them to not spin in a true circle. I think the suspension could mask the resulting vibrations for lower speeds but not all. This was probably hurting the wheel bearings a lot and I should have got that seen-to earlier, sigh... This could have been resolved with Hub-centric rings, to take up the difference in size and ensure proper centering of the wheels. 2. tyre-rub: the rear wheels were essentially the wrong offset - and without any spacers in use, there was nothing to adjust or remove to bring them in (to avoid hitting the guards when going thru dips), so the cure for this was speccing some wheels that are actually a correct fit for the E60 550i. Richard from Capital Tyres whipped up some options for me and I went with a new set of Forum Chargers (e.g. https://www.hyperdrive.co.nz/product/113832/forum-wheels-charger-gloss-black) - and they are very nice. Kept the 20" option, so existing tyres could be moved across. Still planning to get in touch with Greg for future work though. Cheers, RS. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1524 Report post Posted December 25, 2022 Pretty much what everyone was telling you. If you asked CJ to check this and they didn't then that's very unprofessional. Be aware that cheap aftermarket wheel especially big ones with low profile tyres buckle very easy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eggzotic 1 Report post Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) Thanks Jared - I must have missed the recommendations about the center-bore previously... The offset mismatch was spot on, yes. Don't think these new ones qualified as On 12/26/2022 at 8:35 AM, Eagle said: cheap aftermarket wheel though. Have updated my profile pic with the new look 🙂 Edited January 5, 2023 by eggzotic 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
