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Suspension Springs, sway bars, shocks.

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Old 06-06-2013, 01:53 PM   #1
deathsled
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Default Suspension refresh and E36 Raceland coilover install

So last summer I purchased my Ti with 175k on the clock and a completely original suspension. I've driven it this whole time with its tired and saggy shocks and springs. Last night my roommate (who happens to own and run a shop) and I set out to replace just about everything and lower the car. I wanted to do it as cheap as possible so I had purchased one of those parts kits off eBay several months back when there was sale. I think it was around $300 for new control arms, ball joints, tie rods, end links, bushings, etc. I chose to go with the m3 upper strut mounts and offset bushings for the control arms for a little extra camber to help fit my front tires a little better.

All the eBay parts appeared to be of great quality and everything went on without a hitch.

All 4 shocks/struts were completely blown which has made driving around hilarious. I've never felt a car bounce and undulate like that before I replaced those and the tired springs (it sagged really bad in the rear) with more of the cheapest parts I could find. I picked up a used set of E36 Raceland coilovers off another BMW forum.

I used the rear shocks that came with the Racelands even though they are supposed to be too long for our rear end (designed for e36 sedan or coupe). The rear springs were installed without any of the adjuster pieces, so it is as low as it can get back there. Even like that I am not bottoming out the shocks on bumps. My tires were already rubbing in the rear with the stock suspension (so saggy) so we rolled the rear fenders. It still rubs since the tires are way too big (235/45/17 on 17x8 et20) but it's a pleasant rub that let's you know you are low and fitted and not a terrible tire slashing rub haha. It will go away once I'm through these tires that came on my Throwing Stars and mount a more appropriate tire size for the wheels and car. I'm thinking about going to a factory like 205 for a stretched look, but will probably end up with 215s or 225s.

The fronts are assembled without the use of the helper/tender springs. We first lowered the coils as far as they would go to see where that put us and the car was sitting on the tires when we put it back on the ground so that clearly wasn't going to work. I ended up raising them a very scientific width of my cell phone (htc evo 3d) and that left it with a little more than a fingers clearance between the tire and the fender when back on the ground. The great part is that combined with the m3 bushings/mounts the front tires (same specs as the rear) no longer rub/scrape when the wheel is turned to a high angle or when pulling into driveways and stuff.

I've heard plenty of horror stories about Raceland/Rokkor/whatever suspensions and I'm sure these will probably blow up in a few thousand miles but the car feels better than ever. Of course anything has got to be better than the 15yo tired and blown OEM suspension. I've driven plenty of cars with modified suspensions and the spring rate and dampening of these cheapos feels akin to a decent OEM sport suspension. It's very comfortable to me.

Oh while we were at it we tossed an old m3 lip on the bottom of the bumper since I needed one. Looks sharp (duh).
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Last edited by deathsled; 06-06-2013 at 02:09 PM.
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Old 07-05-2013, 01:44 AM   #2
erikerikerik
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So... updates? how's the ride now?
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Old 08-25-2013, 10:55 PM   #3
Jawn
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Ya, how about an update!?
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