Uneven rear suspension

This isn’t just apparent on Z4s, but is also on most other BMWs. It’s not an ‘urban myth’ either.

As others have mentioned, they’re designed like this to ‘corner weight’ the driver of a LHD.

Adjusting the spring pads is the cheapest fix.
 
R60BBA said:
This isn’t just apparent on Z4s, but is also on most other BMWs. It’s not an ‘urban myth’ either.

As others have mentioned, they’re designed like this to ‘corner weight’ the driver of a LHD.

Adjusting the spring pads is the cheapest fix.

I'm not wanting a bun fight over the LHD set up story, but when I was concerned about the height difference on mine I took the trouble to research the myth. There is no difference in anything L/R apparent in TIS, speaking to my Indi, he says its not so. I scoured the web for exactly what component or part of the 'set up' is supposed to be different. Until someone comes up with a proper technical source for the story I can't see any reason to believe it, but would love the idea if catering for lardy LHD drivers to be true :D
 
Mine definitely sits higher on the n/s rear. I mostly notice it when walking back to my car. I always assumed it was normal. I've replaced rear shocks and springs (and re seated the spring pads a million times) and it's still slightly higher than the o/s rear.
 
Ewazix said:
R60BBA said:
This isn’t just apparent on Z4s, but is also on most other BMWs. It’s not an ‘urban myth’ either.

As others have mentioned, they’re designed like this to ‘corner weight’ the driver of a LHD.

Adjusting the spring pads is the cheapest fix.

I'm not wanting a bun fight over the LHD set up story, but when I was concerned about the height difference on mine I took the trouble to research the myth. There is no difference in anything L/R apparent in TIS, speaking to my Indi, he says its not so. I scoured the web for exactly what component or part of the 'set up' is supposed to be different. Until someone comes up with a proper technical source for the story I can't see any reason to believe it, but would love the idea if catering for lardy LHD drivers to be true :D

Don’t need to mate.

If you want to get technical I suggest you do a field test:

Go to a BMW dealership and measure the difference in rear ride height on every car in the forecourt.

Your urban myth will become reality. :thumbsup:
 
Ewazix said:
R60BBA said:
This isn’t just apparent on Z4s, but is also on most other BMWs. It’s not an ‘urban myth’ either.

As others have mentioned, they’re designed like this to ‘corner weight’ the driver of a LHD.

Adjusting the spring pads is the cheapest fix.

I'm not wanting a bun fight over the LHD set up story, but when I was concerned about the height difference on mine I took the trouble to research the myth. There is no difference in anything L/R apparent in TIS, speaking to my Indi, he says its not so. I scoured the web for exactly what component or part of the 'set up' is supposed to be different. Until someone comes up with a proper technical source for the story I can't see any reason to believe it, but would love the idea if catering for lardy LHD drivers to be true :D

Well let's take a look .
I humbly present my observations to the body of enquirery.
The battery and the windshield washer reservoir is on the right side of the E85 3.0SI. Also the fuel filler is located on that side.
Not sure if that's enough weight bias to be noticed by a sharp eyed Zed owner.
The muffler is placed on the left side.
Not too sure how much effect the location of the steering column might have cause I have no idea how much that weighs.

It might have been helpful during this inspection of saggy corners, it a straight edged ruler had confirmed how much and where the sag variations exist. I know from my vast experience that most often the suspension's components take the most abuse on the side of the car closest to the curb / ditch. Any fatigue / deterioration, seized bushes / seals most likely present on that side. Wheel rash and tyre scuff would be a good indicator of the extent of that sort of damage. In the worst case scenario, damaged suspension components can seize and thus resist other components return to their natural state.

Cheers and good luck with this.
Bumpy

Now I can return to inspecting BMW OEM Sparkplugs to try and figure out what they did to them to make them so ridiculously expensive, with such a short service life, and as one American N52 owner discovered ..a $600 USD labour charge to remove and replace 6 spark plugs ! (Yes, that's just for labour. Parts are extra !)
 
Bumpy said:
Ewazix said:
R60BBA said:
This isn’t just apparent on Z4s, but is also on most other BMWs. It’s not an ‘urban myth’ either.

As others have mentioned, they’re designed like this to ‘corner weight’ the driver of a LHD.

Adjusting the spring pads is the cheapest fix.

I'm not wanting a bun fight over the LHD set up story, but when I was concerned about the height difference on mine I took the trouble to research the myth. There is no difference in anything L/R apparent in TIS, speaking to my Indi, he says its not so. I scoured the web for exactly what component or part of the 'set up' is supposed to be different. Until someone comes up with a proper technical source for the story I can't see any reason to believe it, but would love the idea if catering for lardy LHD drivers to be true :D

Well let's take a look .
I humbly present my observations to the body of enquirery.
The battery and the windshield washer reservoir is on the right side of the E85 3.0SI. Also the fuel filler is located on that side.
Not sure if that's enough weight bias to be noticed by a sharp eyed Zed owner.
The muffler is placed on the left side.
Not too sure how much effect the location of the steering column might have cause I have no idea how much that weighs.

It might have been helpful during this inspection of saggy corners, it a straight edged ruler had confirmed how much and where the sag variations exist. I know from my vast experience that most often the suspension's components take the most abuse on the side of the car closest to the curb / ditch. Any fatigue / deterioration, seized bushes / seals most likely present on that side. Wheel rash and tyre scuff would be a good indicator of the extent of that sort of damage. In the worst case scenario, damaged suspension components can seize and thus resist other components return to their natural state.

Cheers and good luck with this.
Bumpy

Now I can return to inspecting BMW OEM Sparkplugs to try and figure out what they did to them to make them so ridiculously expensive, with such a short service life, and as one American N52 owner discovered ..a $600 USD labour charge to remove and replace 6 spark plugs ! (Yes, that's just for labour. Parts are extra !)

.... Question is, what is the suspension part or setting that is supposed to be different L/R. If it exists one if our knowledgeable crew must know? Nothing in TIS, Pelican or any forum or web article to suggest any part or setting is configured for LHD lardy drivers. Just curious to know a factual answer :)
 
Just curious to know a factual answer :)
[/quote]

Factual ?
Just checking my British Colloquial Dialects Thesaurus to make sure I wasn't just insulted.
I posted on an American Forum and they said "No facts here since before the First World War.
Looks good so far. :fuelfire:
 
Turns out front drivers spring was the ‘new’ issue causing rear stance to look off. Full set of eibach springs, front control arms, tie rods etc arrived. Just waiting on my new found friendly mechanic fitting it all.
 
Deek said:
Turns out front drivers spring was the ‘new’ issue causing rear stance to look off. Full set of eibach springs, front control arms, tie rods etc arrived. Just waiting on my new found friendly mechanic fitting it all.

Sounds like a good refresh of the suspension :thumbsup:

From the silence it seems that nobody has any answer to how BMW supposedly 'set-up' their cars with a deliberate tilt for tubby LHD drivers? :popcorn:
 
Don't forget that the driver, battery and fuel tank all sit to the right. So that stance, if you're measuring to the mm, won't be exactly the same left to right, especially if the suspension is old and worn.

The fuel tank is split in 2, but the first 1/2 fills up on the driver's side. So there's a lot of weight over to the right.
 
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