Advice on lowering my 3.0i

[Paulj100]

Need some advice guys I'm looking at lowering my 03 reg 3.0i Z4 and one of the options the original owner from new had fitted was m suspension and recently I found a invoice for new rear springs as previous ones were broken so looking at my car from side the back clearly sits higher than the back.





I have measured the gaps from top of tyre to arch and it's 20mm front and 50mm back!

I want to fit lowering springs possibly 30mm so the back sits lower but the front is pretty much the right height so can I just fit rear lowering springs or would I need to replace fronts and backs? ( Coilovers is not an affordable option )


Paul

 

[markplant]

How recent were the rear springs done . is it a settling issue. If fronts are 10 years old might have been worth fronts been done at same time as it may have looked more balanced front to rear. If going for a set of lowering springs I'd buy a full set just my opinion

 

[Paulj100]

New rear springs were fitted about 14 months ago and covered some 2k miles. I was thinking maybe buy a full set of 30mm lowering springs and just fit the rears to start with and see how it looks :-/ would this be dangerous though?


Paul.

 

[markplant]

Shouldn't be dangerous, would always change both on the same axle tho, but if buying a set would fit all 4 at same time, am sure there are some sets that drop different heights front to rear within the same kit

 

[Paulj100]

That sounds interesting didn't realise you could buy lowering sets with different lowering heights from front to back.


Paul

 

[markplant]

That sounds interesting didn't realise you could buy lowering sets with different lowering heights from front to back.


Paul

I'm 99% certain I've seen it on here when people talking about drops, although wouldn't be the first thing I've miss read .
Am sure you'll get it sorted

 

[ben g]

The front does sit higher than the back.

Think about the weight difference between an empty car and a car with a full tank, 2 passengers and a boot full of luggage. Thats a lot of weight over the rear wheels of the Z4, hence the height difference.

The front isn't affected as much.

You could fit just rear springs, but i'd fit the whole lot. The front springs don't lower it that much compared to the rears.

 

[Beedub]

i wonder if the wrong springs were fitted 14 months ago..... thats a big difference

 

[cj10jeeper]

3.0 had ///M suspension as standard and that's lower than normal suspension by about 30mm. standard springs may have been fitted on the rear in error. Been done many times in error. Zed springs don't settle or sag so that's not the reason and weight is near 50:50 and not intended to be higher at the rear.

I would not fit different springs on front and rear for safety. They can affect handling, cornering etc.

Personally I'd just put new ///M on the rear, or fit eibachs all around that will lower it by a little more over stock ///M, but remember you'll be closer to speed bumps.

 

[Paulj100]

i wonder if the wrong springs were fitted 14 months ago..... thats a big difference

My exact thoughts as they were replaced at in Indy garage and just replaced the m springs with standard ones.

I'm thinking best bet is it fit 30mm eibachs all round.



Paul

 

[GuidoK]

3.0 had ///M suspension as standard and that's lower than normal suspension by about 30mm.

m sport suspension is 15mm lower than standard suspension, not 30mm.

But I also guess that standard springs were fitted in the rear instead of the required m sport suspension springs.

 

[Z4M-2006]

We just fitted rear lowered springs for one of our customers on his 3.0..

He was in a similar predicament to you but one of his rear springs had broken the bottom coil..

He bought a pair from the suspension store down south, they where £60 and we popped them on...
Car looked great and sat flat instead of arse high..

Btw , any E46 lowered spring will fit on the rear..

 

[cj10jeeper]

3.0 had ///M suspension as standard and that's lower than normal suspension by about 30mm.

m sport suspension is 15mm lower than standard suspension, not 30mm.

But I also guess that standard springs were fitted in the rear instead of the required m sport suspension springs.

You're absolutely right. I was mixing up the ///M difference with effects of swapping to Eibachs.

 

[aquazi]

If you can take a look at the springs fitted to the rear i think the standard ones tend (but no guarantee) to have blue paint blobs and the sport green.

Unless of course they got m sport ones from "euro car parts" which a member on here did and they were clearly the wrong height.

Personally for the cost and ease fit m sport to the rear... As fitting rear springs are an easy DIY fronts require compressors and will be more challenging to do.

 

[Paulj100]

Some great advice there guys thank you. I'm pretty happy with how the front sits so may just get some m springs for the rear.

Has anyone a pic of there preface lift 3.0i on m springs side on so I can see what the correct height should be?


Paul

 

[stevo///m3]

Paul, you've probably got what you need from this thread already and I'm unlikely to add much - just to comment that these cars are LOW and your front looks really low! A different set for the back sounds like the best answer, albeit when I had a read spring go, I swapped them all out for Eibachs and haven't looked back. Mine does look a little lowered but not so much in my view - these cars are just LOW LOW LOW from the get-go! Speed bumps are fine if you behave and take it easy.
Stevo

 

[Paulj100]

I agree Steve I think the front is fine on just need to sort the rear. When I get a chance I will have a closer look at springs on mine to see if there is any clues to what I have fitted.


Paul

 

[capnahab]

Hello! I bought my Z last week. It had a cracked rear spring so it was changed for the MOT before I picked it up.

I drove it home, and the rear left was about an inch higher than the rest of the corners of the car.

Sure enough they'd ordered standard Z4 spings - mine was fitted with M sport suspension, which as you know is lower.

Correct spring ordered, and is being fitted tonight. Indeed looking at your pic i'd say they've just fitted standard rear springs. Luckily its the work of minutes to pop new ones in