Question about lowering my car

[Memphis]

I'm with APEX springs for sedan, not for ti, but they fit OK.
But i don't know how much mm is lower now.
Is it 40/40mm?
Tires are stock size 225/45 R17.

[rochey6957]

how did u get the rear spirngs to fit? Cause i have some bilsteins for a sedan and the fronts went on to my car but i never tried the rear cause everyone said they dont fit? Just wondering how you did it?

[cooljess76]

They'll physically bolt up, but there's a couple problems. For the rear shocks, the shocks will likely be too long limiting travel and the valving will be off. As for the springs, while they may "fit", they're rated for a heavier car, so the spring rates will be off. If you only care about appearance, fine, but if you care about safety, handling and overall performance, I recommend using parts that were engineered for the ti. That being said, I'm no one to talk. I'm running 1.9L Z3 H&R race springs with 318ti Bilstein sports in the rear and M3 H&R race springs with 318ti Bilstein sports in the front. The reason for the M3 fronts are to facilitate my S52 swap. Reason for the 1.9L Z3 rears is simply because the geometry and weight is very similar between the ti and Z3 and the Z3 springs were the only ones I could find without breaking up a set. The Z3 and 318ti uses a semi-trailing arm design in the rear while e36 coupes, sedans and verts use multi-link rear suspension. Front suspension is the same with the exception of M3 struts being linked to the swaybar and different spring rates between 4cyl and 6cyl models. One should also note that 318ti sport models came with slightly stiffer springs that also lowered the car about 1/2" lower than base and active models.

[rochey6957]

Yeah I understand jess. Your saying the sedan shocks would be too long? That makes sense but could u run sedan rear springs and ti rear shock? Not stock shocks of couse but like billy sport or something. It makes sense tht the sedan spings are stiffer then need to support the trunk lol. If you ran the rear sedan rear springs and ti specific shocks how would the handeling be affected? Bouncy rear? Mine is pretty jumpy since I only have half lowering so I cant imagine it would get much worse?

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by rochey6957

Yeah I understand jess. Your saying the sedan shocks would be too long? That makes sense but could u run sedan rear springs and ti rear shock? Not stock shocks of couse but like billy sport or something. It makes sense tht the sedan spings are stiffer then need to support the trunk lol. If you ran the rear sedan rear springs and ti specific shocks how would the handeling be affected? Bouncy rear? Mine is pretty jumpy since I only have half lowering so I cant imagine it would get much worse?

Unfortunately I can't give you an experience based answer. I honestly don't even know if sedan rear shocks are longer, but I do know that they are valved for a specific application. Sure you could get just about any shock to "bolt up" by simply compressing it, but you have to think about compression, stroke/travel and dampening. If you were to try to squeeze a longer shock in place of a 318ti shock, half of your travel would be gone and the shock would likely bottom out when the rear suspension compresses.

As far as sedan springs go, well if they are a stiffer rate, they'll probably put excessive wear on the shock's valving. I know from experience when you use aftermarket springs with OEM style shocks and struts, the higher spring rate will cause them to wear prematurely. It may last for a few months, but you'll eventually be replacing blown shocks or struts. Bilstein sports or Konis would probably hold up to it, but if they do blow, I wouldn't expect them to warranty anything given that they weren't being applied properly.

[tiFreak]

there are special long shock mounts that allow you to run regular E36 rear shocks on a ti, I think Turner sells them

it looks like your ti is around the same height as mine on H&R race springs, H&R say they lower by 25.4mm in the rear and 35.5 in the front, that's probably close to your setup

[NiteOp]

Memphis I would really love to see a picture of the rear springs in the perch! I have some 1995 M3 race springs in another state, bilstien re-valve is cheap, and I used 650lbs rear springs on over the counter SA koni's for 2years with no complains, E30 so same motion/ wheel rates for the shocks and springs. my Ti will be doing everything I can fit in my schedule.

Jess are u using the 1995 M3 spring Hat or the M3 96+ spring hat? with your front spring setup.

[rochey6957]

Originally Posted by NiteOp

Memphis I would really love to see a picture of the rear springs in the perch!

+1

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by NiteOp

Jess are u using the 1995 M3 spring Hat or the M3 96+ spring hat? with your front spring setup.

IIRC I'm using the 318ti strut hats. I wanted to use the ones off of my '98 M3 donor, but they were too small for the '95 M3 H&R's.

[Memphis]

I have only these old pictures

[NiteOp]

ok so the inner diameter of the m3 H&R springs fit on the 318ti (non-M) Spring hat/upper perch.
I posted the vorshlag picture of the spring hat differences, let me add here.
http://www.vorshlag.com/images/catal...tockstyles.jpg

you can see the confusion. the non-m e36 outer diameter is larger than the 2 M spring hats or upper spring perch. but ur the saying the important part (spring to perch) matches up, for the 1995 M front springs! that's good to hear. something else I do not have to track down. thanks!

now if I could just get the rear settled I might go pick up the other springs.

[NiteOp]

well, I thought the motion ratios would just way off because the spring is closer on the e36 multi-link rear but they are not. actually they are close.
0.67 e30
http://www.e30m3project.com/e30m3per.../eff_rate2.htm

and 0.65 e36
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...n+ratio&page=2

so the rear springs will be 2% stiffer on the e30/318ti control arms than the e36 control arms. that is a good thing being that the rears are so sloppy in the the 318ti and i dont like toe gain (or rollsteer).

e30 spring seats
http://webgraphx.com/m42club/images/...-springout.jpg for the double pigtail springs