Eibach, H&R or FK Springs?

[nickasmith]

Hi guys

its not clear to me from your discussion if you all just fitted the springs only, or did you replace the top boots, and did you have to get the alignment done.

many thanks

 

[Franzino]

I assume that he did a wheel alignment?

He did...

 

[Sae]

H&Rs On 19s and 18s

There are two types for the ///M

One lowers 25mm and one 30mm I have the 30mm

http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/uprated/h_r-lowering-springs/bmw/m-roadster-mcoupe.html

Good link Tom, that's a good price for the springs. Thinking of buyong now for spring time fitment - no pun intended

 

[Philly_Sweden]

H&Rs On 19s and 18s

There are two types for the ///M

One lowers 25mm and one 30mm I have the 30mm

http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/uprated/h_r-lowering-springs/bmw/m-roadster-mcoupe.html

Good link Tom, that's a good price for the springs. Thinking of buyong now for spring time fitment - no pun intended

I hope you saw my post?
The 30mm springs in the link Tom posted are for the Z3M and not Z4M.

The 25MM are for the Z4M.

/ Filip

 

[Sae]

H&Rs On 19s and 18s

There are two types for the ///M

One lowers 25mm and one 30mm I have the 30mm

http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/uprated/h_r-lowering-springs/bmw/m-roadster-mcoupe.html

Good link Tom, that's a good price for the springs. Thinking of buyong now for spring time fitment - no pun intended

I hope you saw my post?
The 30mm springs in the link Tom posted are for the Z3M and not Z4M.

The 25MM are for the Z4M.

/ Filip

Cheers Filip, yep, I think 25mm enough of a drop, looking at toms pics with 18/19, snug enough to look good but enough clearance to stay practical

 

[jamiez]

Anyone with a side pic with the Eibachs on?

From this thread and others on here im getting tempted by the H&R setup! But want to seek all views first...

 

[Franzino]

Im goin Eibach now as those will only drop my Zed by 25mm, as i will have 19" rims fitted shortly after too, more practical and will still look great

On a Z4M, the Eibach springs lowers 2cm front and 1cm rear.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

As mentioned above, be cautious when lowering a car too much on OEM dampers. Also, the differential drop front to rear from the Eibach springs encourages a positive rake angle - theoretically this should improve down force at the front end (although perhaps making the rear end a little more lively). Fitting Eibachs to mine abolished the vagueness of the front end at extremely high speed found with the OEM setup, as well as reducing the understeer engineered into the ///M.

 

[jamiez]

As mentioned above, be cautious when lowering a car too much on OEM dampers. Also, the differential drop front to rear from the Eibach springs encourages a positive rake angle - theoretically this should improve down force at the front end (although perhaps making the rear end a little more lively). Fitting Eibachs to mine abolished the vagueness of the front end at extremely high speed found with the OEM setup, as well as reducing the understeer engineered into the ///M.

Thanks for this - so are you saying that EIBACHs are good such that they "abolished the vaugeness of the front end " and reduced the understeer?

I guess the other thing i havent mentioned is tire wear - i presume both of these setups on OEM dampers will increase wear to an extend?

Tomscott - what is your tire wear like front/rear on stock dampers and your H&R;s on both 18s and 19s?

 

[BMWZ4MC]

When I bought my ///M it had OEM suspension. I found at extremely high speed (>140mph) the front end seemed light and vague even in a straight line on smooth surfaces. This resolved when I had the Eibachs fitted - at an indicated 175mph the front end now remains planted.

I've been trying to improve the inherent understeer in the ///M since I first drove it hard on a track. I suspect that BMW engineered this into car as they perceived understeer to be safer than oversteer. I wouldn't suggest that the Eibachs have cured the understeer but fitting them did improve the situation a little. I've made lots of subsequent modifications with incremental improvements in handling each time, but the single greatest improvement to the sharpness of turn in came from fitting PS2s to my track wheels in place of OEM Contis.

You asked about tyre wear - my rear track tyres usually wear to the canvas on their inner margin (5-7cm) before the outer edge has reached the wear bars. I wouldn't expect that road use would lead to such an exaggerated wear pattern though. The car squats at the rear under hard acceleration and I think that there is an associated increase in rear negative camber. As such, with track use where you are always hard on the brake or the throttle, pitching of the car is greater and more frequent and so the inner edges of the rear will frequently be loaded preferentially leading to more rapid tyre wear. My front track tyres usually wear on the outer shoulder from scrubbing on hard cornering. I'm hoping that the adjustments I made to the front camber in the summer will reduce this as there was certainly an improvement in turn in. My road wheels are CSLs with Vreds. The lower profile of the tyres leads to a harsh ride on poorly made surfaces and the increase in tyre width produces more road noise, but they look great and handle and wear well.

 

[DONDP]

I would also second the Eibach route I was very happy with the setup and agree it did help remove a reasonable amount of understeer. I have since installed a set of monotube H&R coil-overs which are in another league again. Combined with an custom geometry setup I have virtually no understeer. You can pick these up brand new for about £1100, definitely worth the extra when you consider the cost of the springs alone.

Anyway here is some pis of mine when it was on the Eibachs.

And just to tempt you here it is on the coilovers:

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Dondp, how much adjustability is there with the coil overs you have?

 

[DONDP]

BMWZ4MC, they are the mono tube version so the only adjustment is ride height. I was concerned they might not offer the improvement I was after, but at the price I picked them up for it was worth a punt. I was out at bedford's track with them last weekend and surprisingly impressed.

I have talked more about them here:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38918&start=255

 

[tomscott]

Done 8,000 miles with the h&Rs and have had very little tire wear at all. Saying that its 4k on the 19" 4k on the 18" so not enough to say really.

I really like the H&R springs the handling is very direct and doesnt have much in the way of understeer. My car does have a slight negative camber on the front and rear.

Had it up to 135(kph and was very stable even on the slightly uneven surface that I was on. No complaints here at all.

 

[tomscott]

DONOP - your cars look amazing! Awesome combo

 

[BMWZ4MC]

BMWZ4MC, they are the mono tube version so the only adjustment is ride height. I was concerned they might not offer the improvement I was after, but at the price I picked them up for it was worth a punt. I was out at bedford's track with them last weekend and surprisingly impressed.

I have talked more about them here:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=38918&start=255

Ah yes, I had read that before but I'd forgotten about that thread.

This beautifully demonstrates the positive rake I was talking about, albeit even more exaggerated with the coilovers

 

[DONDP]

DONOP - your cars look amazing! Awesome combo

Cheers buddy, although can't claim the M3 as mine... I do have a 6 cylinder e46 but the red line is at 4500 rpm and its an estate... Still fun though with road conditions as they are at the moment.

 

[nickasmith]

hi guys, Both my rear springs have gone and I will replace them with Eibach kits. Looking at the Rubber pads that they sit on it looks like they should be replaced aswell. Question is does anyone know what the correct part numbers are for both the top and bottom pads for an 2007 Coupe..E86..,,many thanks as always

 

[2skiddy]

H&R 25mm drop and a big improvement on the road, you can feel the springs working on the rear at last! I haven't tried them on track yet, but it won't be long!

 

[jrainlay]

...I have since installed a set of monotube H&R coil-overs which are in another league again. Combined with an custom geometry setup I have virtually no understeer...

Can you provide the specs for your custom geometry setup? I need to get mine aligned.

BTW... your Imola Red Coupe looks great!