Suspension Rebuild Help!

M

matthewpri

Member
 Malvern, Worcestershire
Hi there! Over the past year I bought a previously crashed Z4 and have been restoring it. I have been driving it during this time too, it passed its first MOT since it was crashed in April last year but with the advisory 'Offside Front Shock absorbers light misting of oil or has limited damping effect'. It doesn't help that the previous owner lowered it using 50mm Eibach lowering springs and although I loved the lowered look to begin with, I have to go over speed bumps at sub 5mph to prevent scraping, I feel every bump in the road etc. so I am also looking to raise the car but preferably not to the original springs was thinking the M sport springs which I believe are 15mm lowered. I thought it sensible to change the front dampers and fit newer springs at the same time, however I am struggling to find some M sport springs and I have been quoted £100 for each damper. Is it best for me to continue trying to source some springs and just pay the price of dampers or shall I try and invest in some cheaper coilovers? Being a somewhat fund-lacking student I would like a cheaper solution but at the same time I don't want to get crappy parts. Would appreciate any advice on this, thank you for your time.

Matt
 
For me, on a budget, I would search ebay for the cheapest combination of Bilstein dampers and a decent spring. Lowered may look good to start with, but on our roads, it will suffer. Standard ride height isn’t that bad. Also, keep an eye out for bits becoming available on here. People price things very reasonably for other forum members.
 
Definitely look for Bilstein kits. They do a variety of firmness to match the different options for the Z4 I.e. SE or MSport.

I agree with you about the lowered look, but the firmness is too much for British roads.
 
Sgr74 said:
For me, on a budget, I would search ebay for the cheapest combination of Bilstein dampers and a decent spring. Lowered may look good to start with, but on our roads, it will suffer. Standard ride height isn’t that bad. Also, keep an eye out for bits becoming available on here. People price things very reasonably for other forum members.
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Thank you Sgr, I'll keep an eye out on the forum but ill try and shop around for some Bilstein kits.
 
dhobbs said:
Definitely look for Bilstein kits. They do a variety of firmness to match the different options for the Z4 I.e. SE or MSport.

I agree with you about the lowered look, but the firmness is too much for British roads.
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Thanks hobbs, I'll keep a lookout, this probably sounds like a stupid question but I found a thread on here saying the Stance+ coilovers aren't too bad for the price, I'm assuming that I'd be better off going for the Bilstein but is this the sort of price I'm looking at?
 

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Detailer next to me has fitted Stance coilovers to his VW van and seems to rate them with their quality and ride. They are only a couple of miles from where I live, which was easy for him to collect them. For the money they look good, but are a bit of an unknown.
As for Bilstein, they are old school and a decent TUV approved product.
I have Eibachs on my car and now settled seem a little too low and I have ordered the 10mm spacers front and rear to preload the springs and give a little more road height. They have been awkward to get hold of and have ordered via Lithuania and Germany , than a UK supply, unless someone knows anyone ?
 
Thrustyjust said:
Detailer next to me has fitted Stance coilovers to his VW van and seems to rate them with their quality and ride. They are only a couple of miles from where I live, which was easy for him to collect them. For the money they look good, but are a bit of an unknown.
As for Bilstein, they are old school and a decent TUV approved product.
I have Eibachs on my car and now settled seem a little too low and I have ordered the 10mm spacers front and rear to preload the springs and give a little more road height. They have been awkward to get hold of and have ordered via Lithuania and Germany , than a UK supply, unless someone knows anyone ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, I would love to put some really decent coilovers on it but just can't afford them at the moment so think I'll give the Stance a go and see how they fair. Definitely agree with the Eibachs though.
 
Interested on how you get on with the Stanced kit. Looks pretty decent from when he put them on his van :thumbsup:
 
FWIW - I recently replaced my front / rear springs and shocks/struts. Like you, I was tired of scraping the underside on speed bumps and when pulling in/out of parking lots. I went with Suplex standard height springs and Koni yellow struts/shocks. The 15mm difference over the sport setup is not noticeable in my opinion.
 
Thrustyjust said:
Interested on how you get on with the Stanced kit. Looks pretty decent from when he put them on his van :thumbsup:
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Not too sure where the best place to put this is but I fitted the stance + set and generally im very happy, I think the major difference was the shock absorbers, when placed upside down they went down on their own, you could use one finger to compress them but definitely a much better ride after changing them and much more happy with the ride height now all in all a good purchase. Only think to be aware of is if you have aftermarket wheels which are larger than the stock ones its likely the wheel will scrape against the strut as it did on mine, only way I could think to fix this is to return to original sized wheels or get spacers (I did the latter).
 
Thats good to get some feedback on different products. I know the guy next door to me at work is still happy with his kit and changes ride heights depending on what he puts in the van ( mobile detailer with a big water tank in the back :D )
 
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