Cracked spring! + to do list (brakes etc), advice please

[fraz]

Hi Darren M,

I've had my ///M for two years and a few months. I bought from BMW in auction with 550 miles on clock in March 2008. The car did very little on the road last year so most of the driving was done in 2008. I'm not happy that this has occured so soon but have to deal with it. I was speaking to a friend who mentioned 'aftermarket' springs from other companies (not BMW). Please could you list some of the better ones please???? - any of you folks who know your stuff please speak up now.....

BMW will fix the current problem under warranty but if it happens again (too soon) I will insist on buying a good quality springs. The friend I was talikng to suggested that if good springs were bought you'd never have the problem again. Whether this is true or not I'm not sure.

Someone on the forum mentioned Eibach, please list the others that would be suitable for road driving and bear in mind I don't need the suspension lowering any further than what it is already.....

 

[etedlm]

you might struggle to get other than oem springs if you don't want to lower the car,iv'e put on eibachs which only drops the car by 20mm front and 10 on the rear which really does suit the car and where i live the place is like speed bump city ,all shapes and sizes and i hav'nt had any problems going over them

 

[fraz]

you might struggle to get other than oem springs if you don't want to lower the car,iv'e put on eibachs which only drops the car by 20mm front and 10 on the rear which really does suit the car and where i live the place is like speed bump city ,all shapes and sizes and i hav'nt had any problems going over them

Don't you think the car is low enough already? - I'll have to take a look at the front. To lower it another 2cm is quite a lot.

 

[johnsh123]

My 2.5i SE has a higher ride than your M and in the couple of months I've been driving it has grounded out twice on speed bumps whilst being driven quite slowly and carefully. Admittedly these were minor scrapes but I personally would not like my car any lower.

Is there a quality replacement out there that doesn't alter the ride hight?.

 

[dgm]

My 2.5i SE has a higher ride than your M and in the couple of months I've been driving it has grounded out twice on speed bumps whilst being driven quite slowly and carefully. Admittedly these were minor scrapes but I personally would not like my car any lower.

I'm not sure that's the case, does the standard car not sit lower than the M?

 

[johnsh123]

My 2.5i SE has a higher ride than your M and in the couple of months I've been driving it has grounded out twice on speed bumps whilst being driven quite slowly and carefully. Admittedly these were minor scrapes but I personally would not like my car any lower.

I'm not sure that's the case, does the standard car not sit lower than the M?

Done a quick bit of googling and it looks like your right dgm ride hight of the M is higher, sorry for the duff gen, and am surprised!. However the BMW tech spec for the 2.5i SE is with 16" wheels, I have 18" wheels that raise the car to a gnats hair above the M, so I still would not go for the lowering option.

 

[etedlm]

with the car lowered by the amount stated on the ///m imo it sits just about right,i'll measure the gap tonight and post it up

 

[etedlm]

just for info,the gap between the top of the tyre and the the top of the wing is approx 30mm front and back with eibach springs fitted

 

[sixspeed]

The reason for the cracked springs is fairly simple, as it's down to the design of the spring platform. You get a lot of crap, stones, etc getting caught in the collecting at the base of the spring. This then wears away the powder-coating, exposing the bare metal of the spring, and then moisture and more crap corrodes this, until one day.. SNAP.

Not entirely sure a different spring would stop this happening tbh.