To lower or not to lower?

F

Fat fella

Member
 Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hi, I'm new to this so please be gentle.

I've owner my 2.2 Z4 for over 2 years now without altering anything much on it apart from a stubby aerial and a silver grill from the 3.0
I've just bought some clear indicators and the 3rd brake light and will post photos when i've worked out "photo bucket"????http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/posting.php?mode=post&f=2&sid=874957f7f533782a63c3253f95d3bde9#

I've recently been thinking of lowering it by 30mm to give it a more planted look. (Currently sitting on 108's)

Has anyone out there done this and have before and after photos? ?

I would imagine that this will stiffen the ride up but does anyone know how significant?

Any help/advise would be appreciated.

Cheers.
 
H & R sports give a good look and handling on the M (with spring pads on the rear for the M) - I suspect for non M's too - you will need new dampeners after a year or two however...

http://hrsprings.com/scripts/appguide.php?Mode=Application+Guide&SubMode=Find2&Year=2004&ModelID=129&q=2004 | BMW | Z4
 
i have just recently installed (yesterday) some eibach sport springs giving a lower ride height of 15mm. 15mm lower than than the standard m sport springs on the 3.0i model which it had previously. So -30mm lower than the standard z4 without the msport springs. (if that makes sense?)

Im also running 19's with a staggered set up with a 265 wide rear tyre and a 235 wide front tyre. ive done about 120 miles since they have been installed and havent had any rubbing issues so far, it certainly improves the visual appeal and now sits perfect on the 19's. i would also say the steering feels a little more direct than before, so overall everything seems great !
 
Lowering a car can improve the handling but just a spring change is a compromise. The real difference is made IMO with a suspension upgrade where the springs are properly matched to the damper units.
 
AlanJ said:
Lowering a car can improve the handling but just a spring change is a compromise. The real difference is made IMO with a suspension upgrade where the springs are properly matched to the damper units.
Click to expand...
Yup, Alan's right about that. You just about get away with it lowering a Sport equipped Z4 by the 15mm that Eibachs do, but not sure how non-Sport dampers cope with a 30mm drop. Ideally I'll get matching dampers for my Eibachs sometime in the future, but in all honesty the Sport dampers do a pretty good job for me.
 
That's a good point about the non-sport dampers - hadn't considered that! May have to look at a complete kit :?

Fat fella, I'm thinking the same at the moment, this might help:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15781&hilit=ride+height+poll

Caddyshk mentioned H&R - great reputation and 25mm drop, or so I thought... that was the M, when I looked at the standard Z4 the drop is too much is too much - something like 40mm :cry:
 
When installing my springs i noticed that one of my front dampers was leaking !

Just a few questions as follows:-

Anybody have any idea on cost ?
Do you have to replace them in pairs, as the other side is perfectly fine ?
The car is a 2003 53 3.0ISE model so are the dampers part of the msport suspension or is that just the springs ?

Thanks in advance...
 
easty027 said:
The car is a 2003 53 3.0ISE model so are the dampers part of the msport suspension or is that just the springs ?

Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...

I wasn't sure about that - after what A11y mentioned I had a look on RealOEM which lists standard and M Sport shocks for the 3.0 up to 2005? Cooper BMW Parts price was around the £170 mark.

You getting the alignment done?

OP - that's also something you want to consider when lowering!
 
fat fella-maybe you dont need to lower ur car any more :poke:

only kiddin mate- welcome to the club- be good to ee u at a few runswen the weaher picks up :thumbsup:
 
Nice 1 Murphy!

Thanks for the invite. Just give me a nudge when your planning a run out, once the weather turns.

I better leave the springs till after then, as most of the roads in Yorkshire are still cobbled aren't they??

Only funning.

Cheers.
 
murphy- who did u figure out i was irish! haha
will defo give u a heads up for our next run out- what colours ur z?
auf wiedersehen pet
 
Paddy,

Silver.
With 108's (Starting to peel ,so home referb job in February), silver grill, stubby aerial, clear indicators and 3rd brake light.
Hard top for the winter months. (Approx September-June!)

Will post some pics once wheels are refurb'd, clear lights are fitted and I figure photo bucket out! (Thick Geordie)

Cheers.
 
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