Broken rear spring!

[kis]

I'm sure it's been covered many times and I've browsed a few topics but haven't found what I'm looking for. So while I had the rear wheels off I noticed the rear springs (both were broken). Cars obviously desperate to be lowered!

Few pics!




I noticed the springs have the green marks which indicates that it's a standard spring. I think the M ones have blue markings? There are also red ones I've seen on eBay? What are these?

Tried looking on Real OEM but it doesn't list a part number for me. Never come across that before... I'm assuming I've selected the correct part.



So I'm not overly interested in lowering the car, but as the springs were broken I guess I was riding with a "lowered" car anyway?

I've seen the Eibach Pro Springs but 30mm seems a bit excessive? I don't want to end up with clearance issues. 10mm and 20mm on the back seems like a good compromise? But open to suggestions from anyone who's been through similar?

So what are the other alternatives? Obviously looking to take a step away from BMW OEM in pursuit of something better. Better quality, better performance, etc.

The M springs, could I switch to these? What's the difference in ride height?

Thanks in advance!

 

[firebobby]

M springs have 3 dabs of paint on them, not sure about the colour though

 

[kis]

Oh really? I thought the colour indicated what type of spring it was, not the number of dabs!

So mines an M spring?

 

[firebobby]

Mine got M sport suspension and my springs had 3 dabs of paint, I understand that's the way you can tell the difference

 

[Zikim]

It's the colour of the paint on the spring that shows what it is.
- Blue paint is M Sport 15mm lowered
- Grey paint is Z4M

 

[kis]

It's the colour of the paint on the spring that shows what it is.
- Blue paint is M Sport 15mm lowered
- Grey paint is Z4M

And green / red paint is standard then?

Is the M Sport (blue) interchangeable with standard? i.e. will it fit straight without any other parts (or modifications)?

 

[firebobby]

It's the colour of the paint on the spring that shows what it is.
- Blue paint is M Sport 15mm lowered
- Grey paint is Z4M

And green / red paint is standard then?

Is the M Sport (blue) interchangeable with standard? i.e. will it fit straight without any other parts (or modifications)?

Looking at your spring Kis, I would say they are M sport, when i bought a second hand spring, I was told 3 paint dabs indicate Msport ??

 

[NickDE]

According to RealOEM the shocks are also different on M Sport.

Very weird that RealOEM does not list spring part numbers. Maybe Z4s have no rear springs, that would explain the harsh ride

 

[vester86]

standard e85 lowered on eibach pro-kit... ( i had 3 broken springs, 2 front, 1 back)

 

[d3matt]

Lovely colour.

 

[Newbers]

Blue is M sport
Green is standard
They are interchangeable. The shocks may be slightly different but you can get away with it (I've done 40k miles on sport springs after original standard ones broke). Sport springs don't look low at all and you won't have any problems with clearance.

 

[Steve84N]

I've got a complete set of M Sport springs for sale, crucially the rears are Suplex with only a few months use before I changed to Eibach. Yours for £55 posted.

 

[kis]

standard e85 lowered on eibach pro-kit... ( i had 3 broken springs, 2 front, 1 back)

The kit lowers 30 and 30? Is this what you got?

Or are there some kits which lower less? I'm sure I saw a 20 and 10 somewhere?

 

[kis]

Thanks for the updates. I think I'm going to go down the M sport route. This is either what I have already or only a tad lower. When I remove the springs I'll try and see if I can get any more details / comparison for future reference

 

[Ewazix]

Blue is M sport
Green is standard
They are interchangeable. The shocks may be slightly different but you can get away with it (I've done 40k miles on sport springs after original standard ones broke). Sport springs don't look low at all and you won't have any problems with clearance.

When I changed a busted spring on my 2.5se I wasn't able to find a reliable source explaining the colour codes, they were all over the place. When I took my std 2.5 se spring off (Papers say it was BMW fitted under warranty at just under 3 yrs old) it had a pair of blue spots on. The new Sachs se non-sport replacement springs were the same height and didn't have colours, so I'm not sure about these colours still? :scratchhead:

 

[vester86]

standard e85 lowered on eibach pro-kit... ( i had 3 broken springs, 2 front, 1 back)

The kit lowers 30 and 30? Is this what you got?

Or are there some kits which lower less? I'm sure I saw a 20 and 10 somewhere?

I will put a 10mm spring spacer in the rear so the rear will come slightly higher. Makes it 30f 20r effectively

 

[kis]

Interesting. Never considered spacers. Is this a diy type thing or are there specific off the shelf products?

 

[Steve84N]

Pretty sure BMW sell some thicker 10mm rubber pads as opposed to the normal 5mm ones.

 

[vester86]

BMW offers indeed different sizes pads off the shelf. Somewhere between stock 5mm & 15mm if i remember correct.

 

[kis]

Good to know, thanks again all