Lowering Springs and Spacers

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Thu 29 Dec, 2011 13:45

Hi All,

Looking at lowering and widening the stance of the car..

What does the following combination sound like in people's opinions? I know there are more expensive ones available.. but these are not the cheapest either.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z3-2-2-Lo ... 43abf02cf2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220905373373? ... 1423.l2649

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270712288623? ... 1423.l2649

Z3C · Post by **Z3C** » Mon 02 Jan, 2012 07:27

Hi,

It's a bit difficult to answer your question. It really depends on what kind of look you are looking for and what wheels you have. Just take measurements from your car and see for your self wheather the wheels will fit or not.

Also regarding the springs, I suggest that you try to find someone who has installed these springs and has some experience from them. The quality of the aftermarket springs varies quite much. You probably don't want your car to start dropping down or break a spring coil after a couple of year (its not unheard of!).

Ride comfort also varies quite much with different brands. This is not necessarily a bad thing because stiffer ride usually comes with more sportier responce. You should decide what is it that you want though.

One more thing to consider is the amount of lowering. The values that the manufacturer are promissing are more directional than precise. This is why I bouhg an adjustable suspention kit for my car

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Wed 04 Jan, 2012 16:35

Thanks for the response. I'm not too pushed about ride quality as the roads don't make any difference over here anyway!

Could you recommend a good aftermarket set?

Z3C · Post by **Z3C** » Wed 04 Jan, 2012 17:55

Wolverine_1999 wrote:Thanks for the response. I'm not too pushed about ride quality as the roads don't make any difference over here anyway!

Could you recommend a good aftermarket set?

Hmm, don't really know what to recommed, but here are some comments about my own experience:

I have a KW variante 1 coilover set my own Z Coupe. It's a well known quality brand and I really like the fact that the coilovers are stainless (INOX steel). The ride stiffness is on the sportier side, probably even too much so for a regular(=non Z) car to be used day to day. However, the sportiness goes well with the "spirit" of my Z Coupe (or thats what I tell my self

).
This set is not the cheapest, I payed 800e for it. I've been driving it for a year now and all in all, I'm fairly happy with it.

I've also driven a Z Coupe with a H&R lowering kit. It was also very stiff/sporty but I think it was a little more comfortable on a bad surface compared to my own KW. It lacked surface sensitivity that is present in my KW set. The H&R kit din't have height adjustment and it was VERY low. Dont know about the price of this one but it can't be more that what I payed for my KW set.

I've also tried two cheap brands in my other car: In-Pro and Supersprint. I had the superspring dampers in both cases.
The In-Pro springs are rather stiff in comparison to the Supersprint. They also dropped the car a bit lower (even though both sets are rated as -40mm of lowering). After changing the In-Pro set to the Superspring, the ride comfort improved dramatically. At the same time the car still feel as sporty (if you can use that word when talking about a Vecta

) and looks as good. So I think that superspring set is better.

So there it is, I hope that this is helpful.
Good luck!

g8jka · Post by **g8jka** » Wed 04 Jan, 2012 18:46

Wolverine_1999 wrote:Thanks for the response. I'm not too pushed about ride quality as the roads don't make any difference over here anyway!

Could you recommend a good aftermarket set?

I have the Eibach Pro Spring Kit on mine, lowers the car 30mm all round and offers great handling.

Not the cheapest of kits but they are quality and its better to pay for quality when it comes to something like the suspension.

I just swapped the dampers for OEM Bilstein ones which are pretty solid also.

peteslag · Post by **peteslag** » Thu 05 Jan, 2012 16:42

I have also just fitted the Eibach 30mm pro kit, it has transformed the car. Even on stock shocks the car handles soooooo much better. Big recommendation from me.

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Fri 06 Jan, 2012 13:58

Eibach it is so

g8jka · Post by **g8jka** » Fri 06 Jan, 2012 14:08

Wolverine_1999 wrote:Eibach it is so

Good choice Wolverine

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Fri 06 Jan, 2012 17:17

Springs bought

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0139717327

peteslag · Post by **peteslag** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 18:07

You won't regret it

zibomb · Post by **zibomb** » Sat 07 Jan, 2012 22:38

What type of wheel fitment did you want on the rear? tucking a bit or flush? tucking wont need any work but to get them to sit flush you will need to roll the arches which is a easy job with an arch roller.
The thickness of the spacers will depend on how you want the car to sit.
I would wait till you have your new springs in and they have settled as your wheels will have more negative camber and will tuck a bit more then they do as standard.
Get a ruler and measure from the rim edge to the point you will be happy with the wheel sitting.

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Mon 27 Feb, 2012 15:47

Thanks for your response. I ended up getting 15mm spacers from TPI. I have fitted them and one side of the car is fine, but there is a very dangerous wobble off of the driver's side of the car on the rear!

I removed the spacer, and no more wobble... manufacturing defect?

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Mon 27 Feb, 2012 16:03

Are they hubcentric spacers or the plate type ?

If they are the plate type then your wheel was mounted off centre and that would cause the wobble.

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Mon 27 Feb, 2012 16:17

No Hubcentric alright, these are them

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TPI-WHEEL-SPA ... 27b2319098

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Mon 27 Feb, 2012 16:35

You could try it on the other side to see if it still wobbles.

Wolverine_1999 · Post by **Wolverine_1999** » Tue 28 Feb, 2012 14:03

Ok, tried other side.. no wobble.

I looked at the wheel and cleaned the hub a good bit, scraped off a lot of crap. It's still wobbling.. but not half as bad.

Still though, there must still be something lingering..