Wheel and suspension mods - and maybe exhaust!

A

andyrich1512

Member
Evening All

I dont come on here often unless I have a problem of which I havent had for ages so that must be a good thing.

Had the E86 Z for nearly 4 years and still love it. Have no plans to sell anytime soon and would like to think it's a keeper for life and will probably be handed down to my lad who is mad about cars.

Been thinking for a while that I would maybe spend some time and money just bringing it back to it's fomer glory as the paintwork is not completley perfect but more than usable and presentable. If I did this I would be inclined to keep it stock but on the other hand part of me really likes the idea of just losing a bit of wheel-arch gap and upgrading the MV2's to maybe a csl, or bbm lm rim - copys of course as I dont plan on selling kidneys or children to fund the real ones. I did see a set of bronzey gold prodrive rims on an e92 m3 near me in Suffolk and thought they might work also.

Trouble is I'm not overly clue-ed up on what would fit especially where offsets are concerned. So basically looking to change wheels - still keep them 18's and to give the ride height a small drop each end but not stupidly slammed. Also I think the stock ride is more than comfortable of which I wouldn't want to lose too much of and the car handles pretty nice. Firm but not crazy. If it was a tad firmer with not losing too much ride quality then that would be great. It is just a road car, as I have no intention of doing track stuff really. I have looked at prices of coilovers etc and I gather to get anything half decent you are paying over a grand which I have no objection with but do I really need all that? Also I dont wnat to be cutting the car about to stop any rubbing etc and would like to put the car back to stock if needed.

Another thing unrelated to this topic is exhaust systems that would not cost the earth but would give a bit more vocal range the car - again, nothing crazy - I dont want a machine gun outback as I am 54 not 24. Something that dosen't drone on the motorway would be a bonus. Any ideas?

Any advice on what works would be great thanks as I find myself pondering this upgrade fantasy more and more.

Thanks

Andy
 
My 2nd E86 came fitted with recently refurbed 108s, but reading about how they tend to deteriorate I wanted to sell them while they still looked presentable. I found a set of E89 295 wheels which had the same staggered sizes as the 108s but different offsets which meant they sat further out in the arches. Effectively like fitting 18mm spacers to the front and 10mm to the rear which looked better. Alternatively E9* 3 Series wheels would do much the same if you see some you like.

Otherwise it's the predictable CSL Reps or some people have fitted Style 224s like the Ms have. Your MV2s are ET47 front and ET50 rear so you need to compare any replacements with those. A site like "willtheyfit" will tell you how they will sit in comparison to the MV2s.

I bought my MC with H & R coil-overs fitted but they only adjust for height, so they're really only an adjustable lowering spring! You might as well just get lowering springs that will give you the drop you want, because coil-overs with adjustable rebound and compression will cost silly money. I got quoted nearly £3K for a set of fully adjustable KWVs, :o

If you drop it you lose suspension travel, so the springs are likely to be stiffer to keep the car off the bump-stops, and then ride is likely to suffer. Although plenty of people on here like the Bilstein-Eibach combination.

My 2nd E86 luckily came fitted with a custom cat-back exhaust that was really great, but wouldn't have been cheap! And my MC already had after-market back boxes so I've never had to look into exhaust mods. Hopefully someone may be able to help.

Anyway good luck - it's all too easy to get carried away. :thumbsup:
 
Well thats certainly given me some stuff to think about Mr Tidy !

I do quite like the 224 M car rims you mention althoughI think I want something more aftermarket and not BMW fitment if you get what I mean.
The 108's I think are a good looking rim although they do corrode a bit dont they? I dont think I want to have to space the wheels out as I think I like the look of them in the arch and have no plans to go wider with rim or tyre to be honest. And thanks for the advice on that website - I'll give that a look!

Yes I did notice that some of the better quality coilovers can be damn pricey - I guess you get what you pay for really. As I'm not a track day type hero I dont suppose I need all the rebound / compression / camber adjustments as much so maybe a spring and damper chane might do the job. To be honest I get pissed off trying to dial my 3 mountain bikes worth of suspension in sometimes - I probably dont need that headache on the car! And good to know about the Bilstein / Eibach combo. I'm sure the previous owner had either b4' or b6's fitted - I can see the yellow dampers on the car just dont know what model. Would I have to run the b8's with lowered springs and not be able to run the cheaper ones even if I had a small drop in height?

Again I suppose you get what you pay for in terms of exhausts but maybe I should just concentrate on this project first and yes I know from experience that you can get in way deeper than intended with car mods - been down that road before so thats why I want to research this and get it somewhere near right.

Thanks again for all the advice, I shall go research!
 
My E86 came with M-Sport suspension.
- It's low, too low for many speed bumps and steep angled drives.
- It has a very stiff suspension. You feel every bump and the wife has to wear a sports bra when she comes along for a ride.
- Looking at putting normal Z4 suspension in the car to get some improvements

So, be careful not to trade away ride quality to get the car lower.
 
NZ00Z3 - absolutely, I really like the ride at the moment and appreciate that going lower will firm up a bit. Just hope not too much!
Heard that before about the M car being stupidly stiff and uncomfortable.
Thanks for the reply!
 
I didn't want to use spacers either which is why I was so pleased with the E89 wheels, but there are loads of after-market options too if you want something different.

If you'll only ever drive your car on the roads fully adjustable coil-overs are probably something of an extravagance IMHO. So I can't see what benefits you'd get from more basic coil-overs compared to lowering springs and dampers, unless you wanted to experiment with different ride heights.

Sorry I can't help with your question about the different Bilstein options as my 3 litres both stayed on standard M-Sport suspension.

There used to be a couple of people on here who would open up the back-box ad remove some baffling for a bit more noise, but one has stopped doing it and the other has been banned from the forum! Maybe a less restrictive back-box would work, but you don't know what you've got until it's too late!

I certainly wouldn't recommend removing the back-box and getting straight pipes though. I've heard a 3.0Si with that mod and it's way louder than I could live with for more than 10 miles or so.
 
Yes I think coilovers would be a bit too much to be honest. Been researching the b12 package - b8's + eibach sprinhs and it sounds quite positive - pictures of other folks cars look pretty much like the effect I'm after height wise or certainly not far off.

Just found the old add on here from the previous owner that I got the car from and it states that its running m-sport supension with b6's and supplex springs. Not sure how this affects my options going forward?!

And no I cant seem myself bodging the back box or straight piping the system - way too much for someone my age!

Thanks again !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom