-----My 328Ti project-----

[Phamster]

Originally Posted by bullmand

Cool. Thanks for the info. I was actually asking for a friend off mine who has a bad case of ti lust. Apparently your car is his favorite one on the forum and we were both describing to each other before we realized we were talking about the same car. He's in the market for a second car and I'm trying to convince him that he needs a "pre-loved" ti.

Good luck on that, the more Ti's the merrier!

[Phamster]

Tonight I've decided to upgrade my front springs from the H&R sports springs for a 318Ti to a set of M3 H&R sport springs due to the weight differnece since the swap. I know some may say M3 springs won't fit on a 318Ti bilstein strut because of the diameter but you can make it fit if you have the right spring compressor. Anyways onto my steps...

Before:


Tools I used for this project - BMW spring compressor, 18mm, 13mm, 10mm(optional - for disconnecting the tie rod, it be easier to take the spring off), ratchet, and a breaker bar since i'm a weak person.


I first start with the 2 bottom bolts.


Then just losing up the middle bolt.

[Phamster]

Losing up and disconnect the tie rod so that you can pull the strut/spring out easier.


After you got all the bolts from under the wheel well lose then time to start losing up the top 3 strut tower bolts.


Picture of it after it has been taking off the car.


Here I use the BMW spring compressor to pop the old H&R sport spring off.



I used a rubber piece and wrap it around the strut pole and clamp it down so that when you losing up the top bolt, it won't spin.

[Phamster]

318Ti H&R Sport Springs on the right and M3 H&R Sport Springs on the left. As you can kinda see the 318Ti springs diameter is wider then the M3 but we can make it work. Would be easier If I had M3 struts but I'm short on $$$.


Clamping the M3 springs on. As you can see the M3 springs doesn't cover the all the bottom of the 318Ti strut.


Picture of it after it has been clamp on.


Reverse the steps in putting it back together and this is what you'll get.


Before:

[Phamster]

After:



After driving it around, it's a lot better. The ride is just a little more rough but that's ok because I would rather have that then when I hit bumps the wheels would hit my fender due to the 318Ti springs. now I can take sharper turns and not worry about slowing down as much on bumps anymore.

[thesk8nmidget]

sweet!
looking good!


pm sent!

[JedzE36/5]

thanh are the springs rusted?

that spring compressor is very nice. BMW issue right? kind of freaks me out that there is not lock pin on the ends but if they use it at the dealership, i guess it is safe enough.

looking good!

[JedzE36/5]

btw just noticed. your sport springs are as low as my race springs. same struts?

[Phamster]

Originally Posted by JedzE36/5

thanh are the springs rusted?

that spring compressor is very nice. BMW issue right? kind of freaks me out that there is not lock pin on the ends but if they use it at the dealership, i guess it is safe enough.

looking good!

The springs are not rusted, it's just the dirt stuck on/inside the padding. And yeap, it's BMW. Keith let me borrow it. They do have lock pins, you just can't see them. They are located under the spring compressor arms. And that spring compressor weighs a ton! The thing is like 50lbs.

Originally Posted by JedzE36/5

btw just noticed. your sport springs are as low as my race springs. same struts?

Yeap, same struts. But if you put these springs on a non-swap 318Ti it will probably be the same height as mines.

[Phamster]

Added a better pic of the after results above.

[tiFreak]

looks good

[Phamster]

Thanks guys, my next project will be tieing down the battary already located in the trunk and glass/flexieglass sunroof.

[thesk8nmidget]

sweet! there is a guy who races in our chapter with carbon fiber panel

[StealthBimmer]

It looks the same to me.... nice and low and good looking!!!

[zboot]

Originally Posted by Phamster

Does anyone know what spoiler this is?