From Lowered, Back to Stock [PICS]

[bmwman91]

As I am sure some of you are aware, my oil pan got in a fight with a rock a little while back. Aside from that, I was getting tired of rough, noisy rides with my renewed interest in road-tripping. So, I traded my Bilstein Sport's & H&R Sport's for some new Boge TurboGas shocks & stock springs. Visually, it is a world of difference (I definitely liked the lowered look better). Handling...well it really is not THAT much different, but I am keeping the beefy sways and all the poly bushings I have in there. The car just feels a lot higher and there is a bit more body roll. A couple HPDE's should have me going just as quick as before, maybe faster. I miss my lowered suspension for sure...until I get on a crappy bit of road! So, pics.....pairs of before & after.

The after pics might be a few mm higher than they will be in like 3 months. With the performance stuff I had removed the rubber spring pads from all 4 corners. I bought brand new ones for this, and they will settle a little.

http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/a1.jpg
http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/b1.jpg


http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/a2.jpg
http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/b2.jpg


http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/a3.jpg
http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/b3.jpg


http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/b4.jpg
http://www.e30tuner.com/bmw/images/my318is/pic/unlower/a4.jpg

[FL318is]

I too like the lowered look better but, scraping the bottom is no alternative. In Florida the city roads have deeper dips for rain water run off. As much as I would like to lower the car its still not worth the risk.

Your ride looks great!

[bmwman91]

Thank you. As goofy as it looks all high up again, I still like to run a tight ship. Still gets the wash & wax treatment!

I also pulled the front seats and did a thorough interior cleaning this weekend. Actually I HAD to pull the seats as I was removing the 4 point harnesses for good. I do not know why I had such a hard time appreciating a nice, stock car back in the day. There is definitely something to be said for it. I think I always felt it sucked because 1) both 318iS's I have had had totally blown stock shocks when I bought them and 2) all the bushings & crap i have replaced were also blown when I got the cars. Now that I have replaced virtually EVERYTHING on this car, it rides better than new (well, the beefy sways & all poly bushings help with that).

[asubimmer]

up and in lol. I do like the dropped look but now you can have a rally machine ;)

[D. Clay]

I forget sometimes what initially attracted me to these cars. After the honeymoon, I started to notice little stuff that needed a bit of improvement ........ wait - this sounds too much like a relationship!
You fall in love with someone because they are the way they are and immediately go about trying to change them.
My priority list of mods starts with quicker steering and better sway bars. I'm really tired of cars that ride like go-karts!

[dude8383]

Have you considered H&R O.E.'s? I have them on my car and the drop was about an inch. You'll clear everything...i haven't had any issues and i drive into the city several times a month. Also factor in that most roads suck here in the NYC area.

[Berlin]

i agree, i too, will someday have a stock e30... it will most likely be a touring however.... but modifying is fun too. anyway i think that if you just dropped the front maybe half an inch it would look perfect... thinner spring pads or somethin

[Euro Nation]

I also suggest H&R OEs if you get around to different springs. Can't wait for my new stuff... hehe

[dude8383]

OR...get yourself some M3 springs! The drop will be minimal.

[FL318is]

Have you considered H&R O.E.'s? I have them on my car and the drop was about an inch. You'll clear everything...i haven't had any issues and i drive into the city several times a month. Also factor in that most roads suck here in the NYC area.

OK, I am listening. Sounds like a reasonable compromise. Where did you get them?

[dude8383]

OK, I am listening. Sounds like a reasonable compromise. Where did you get them?

I was lucky enough to score a full set with 100 miles on em, from ebay.

Check if ebay has any listings...otherwise craigslist is a good source. You can try finding them new also...price is the same as any other spring set, around $200

[bmwman91]

$200 for the 1 inch drop is not bad at all. How is the stiffness comapred to stock?

[haledj]

The pictures are painful to look at, taking such a big aesthetic step backwards, but I applaud you for making a prudent decision

[m42 fan]

No question, you've got to do what you've got to do. The car is no good if you can't drive it anywhere, or are in fear the whole time.

Just another sign responsibility is taking over. Just watch Old School a couple of times, you'll feel better. I always do!

Brian

[dude8383]

$200 for the 1 inch drop is not bad at all. How is the stiffness comapred to stock?

The stiffness is the same as H&R Sport springs

[bmwman91]

Old School...definitely on my top 3 list. It just does not get much better....

[dude8383]

indeed

[Euro Nation]

There's a set of H&Rs and Bilsteins sitting in my livng room. Can't imagine where those came from... hehe.

[Eurospec]

Looking at those pics almost made me cry. Get some OE sports....pls!!!

[dude8383]

Looking at those pics almost made me cry. Get some OE sports....pls!!!

X2 on that...

[m42 fan]

I thought I'd bring this thread back with a couple of questions. I'm thinking about going with the H&R OE/Bilstein combo.
1) I can't find a H&R OE spring listed for the 318,only for the 325/M3. Is this the right one, or should I look harder?

2) would we want the HD shocks with the OE springs, or the Sport shocks?

Thanks!

Brian

[bmwman91]

You want HD with stock springs, sport with lowered springs ONLY. Try to get a set of shocks matched to the springs, too. Turnermotorsport does this, and proably others.

[m42 fan]

OK, did some reasearch, got some answers, just looking for some confirmation. Referencing Febi's H&R thread: http://m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119,
it looks like 50404 are the springs that would be considered the "OE" springs for us, even though they are listed as "Sport" springs for the 325 crowd.

That's my own detective work, I may be way off base here, so someone set me straight if I'm wrong. Looking on Turner's website, I can get this setup with shocks and "suspension mount kit" for ~$750. I know some folks might not bat an eye at that price, but that's a nice chunck of change for a guy with 3 kids, two seperate student loan payments, a minivan payment, and a house. I guess I'm asking if anyone knows if this stuff can be had for any cheaper anywhere else. More than likely I'll just split the pain up and buy one piece at a time till everything's ready to go.

Brian

PS. bmwman, sorry for the threadjack!

[bmwman91]

Nah no worries. It takes attention off of the goofy lift.