cost effective lowering |
Post Reply |
Author | |
beemerfool
Senior Member II Joined: 02-April-2006 Location: rep.of Irl(cork) Status: Offline Points: 213 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 27-August-2010 at 23:13 |
Hi all. I have an E36 316 saloon (recession car). It came with nice 17s but it badly needs to be lowered in the front, at least. An m-tech type drop would be great. Ideally something no greater than 25mm or so. Is it out of the question to get spurious m-tech replacement springs? I suppose using the word "cutting" would mean ridicule?.... |
|
gas brake honk. gas brake honk. honk honk punch. gas gas gas '92 E36 325i saloon
|
|
Sponsored Links | |
Peter Fenwick
Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 27-August-2003 Location: Lost somewhere in time... Status: Offline Points: 6484 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Yes it would
If you want to lower your car the only way to go is a set of proper springs. Eibach would be a good place to start. |
|
Entering an age of Austerity and now driving a Focus Diesel.
|
|
UweM3
Moderator Group Joined: 11-February-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 5445 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
springs have been cut before, it can be done.
As long as you keep them long enough to be under tension when suspension is under full drop (to keep the spring located in the platform. But with a SHORTER spring with the same spring rate'ish (cutting raises the spring rate a little) you will LOOSE suspension travel which may result in bottoming out when the car is loaded. I doubt you will get 25mm drop with cutting the spring safely (as described above) Look around for some used springs, I am sure there will be loads on Ebay. Or subscribe to a dedicated E36 forum and browse the adverts. |
|
E61 520d, slow and buzzy but my wallet likes the mpg.....
|
|
Andrew Rolland
Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
If you cut a spring sufficient to drop the car by say 15 - 20 mm how do you get an adequate spring seat? All springs have the last coil manufactured to give a flat seat. Cut that off and you don't have a spring seat. If a broken spring is an MOT failure, surely cutting one is an invitation to a re-test? |
|
Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series!
Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto |
|
Cambell
Really Senior Member II Joined: 07-January-2007 Status: Offline Points: 3830 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I dealt with Eibach Direct as my E46 Cabriolet could easily have been rented out to Wells Fargo as a stagecoach it looked so bad. £130 later and a couple of hours and it looks like this. Had to replace the drop links aswell tho but now the look and handling are both completely transformed. |
|
jimf671
Groupie Joined: 09-December-2008 Location: Inverness Status: Offline Points: 60 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
If you cut then there is the problem that without doing the maths the stresses can be too much and the spring may not remain seated at full rebound.
In my opinion, and it's a minority opinion, these cars look good level. They are usually nose low and lower kits often make this worse. If you cut, then a quarter coil off each end of the fronts is about the limit for the 316/318 spring because they are so skinny anyway. Don't do it if they have a lot of rust. This cut drops the front a few millimetres and gets a small increase in rate. At the rear, more radical action is possible. I ran an E36 for years with 1.5 coils cut from the bottom end of the spring and the effect was great! This is only safe if the cut end is fitted downwards. You get m-tech ride height and a useful rate increase for 40 minutes work. |
|
JimF
"Nemo me impune lacessit" |
|
UweM3
Moderator Group Joined: 11-February-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 5445 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I always wonder why people suddenly need to lower the csr after fitting bigger RIMS. The tyre itself (if the correct size is used) is exactly as big as before, means the gap between fender and rubber is the same.
|
|
E61 520d, slow and buzzy but my wallet likes the mpg.....
|
|
Post Reply | |
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |