Ride height adjustment

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GGR

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High all,

a few years ago, my euro CSI was taken apart for body work and a new paint job. Since it was put back together it is sitting a bit higher than before in the front. The car is 100% stock. Any idea of what was assembled wrong? I would like to bring back the front height where it should be. How is height adjusted on these cars?

Thanks for the help!
 
What is a bit higher? New shocks and old springs, if the springs were allowed to expand, could cause the height to raise but I doubt more than an inch and you will need to check if the struts are tight (the top nut). Some pictures will help and I think there is a thread on ride height. Please let us know what you find.
 
Below is a picture of how the car sits today.

I don't think any part was replaced when the car was taken apart at the body shop as it had been sorted out mechanically before that. I think I remember seeing the whole front assembly lying on its own, I don't think the struts were disassembled. The car came out of the shop sitting higher in the front, I don't know the reason.
 

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Unless you have lowering springs like the ones Carl Nelson sells, yes these cars look high in the front with stock suspensions which it looks like you have.

Here are pictures of my CSi, Athena, before and after adding front lowering springs, which lower the front 9/16ths of an inch.

GGR, please add your location to your profile under the User CP in the left corner of the sub header, thanks.
 

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GGR said:
High all,

a few years ago, my euro CSI was taken apart for body work and a new paint job. Since it was put back together it is sitting a bit higher than before in the front. The car is 100% stock. Any idea of what was assembled wrong? I would like to bring back the front height where it should be. How is height adjusted on these cars?
Click to expand...


Have you reviewed the archives for ride height discussions? ;)

You are in the best position to answer this question. How long has it been since the reassembly and has the car been driven much since then?

Body work? How? Where? Your post implies that nothing was changed except for "unknown" adjustments, but are you sure you did not factor in replacement of anything "sagging" in favor of new? Strut mounts, new gas charged struts and springs immediately come to mind. Ride height spacers below the strut mounts?

Weight reduction? An aluminum radiator, smaller starter and or alternator can all reduce sprung weight and potentially affect ride height. Same with removal of air conditioning components.


http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9468
http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14578
http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15827
http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8153
 
Indeed, my front looks like yours before you lowered it. I'm now wondering if in fact the car came out of the workshop with a lower rear. But for sure, the stance is not the same as before it went in.
 
Perhaps you had your aluminum spacers mounted on top of the strut tower, and they moved them underneath after install. Do you remember seeing aluminum rings on your strut towers?
 
Peter Coomaraswamy said:
What is a bit higher? New shocks and old springs, if the springs were allowed to expand, could cause the height to raise but I doubt more than an inch and you will need to check if the struts are tight (the top nut). Some pictures will help and I think there is a thread on ride height. Please let us know what you find.
Click to expand...

“if the springs were allowed to expand, could cause the height to raise” No Peter, that is not true with coil springs. However it is true with leaf springs because of friction between the leaves. A coil spring or a torsion bar suspension should return to its original ride height unless the carry weight has changed :smile:. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
Thanks Lloyd.

I had done a search and from what I read there does not seem to be any ride height adjustment in the front. Hence my suspicion that something was put back together the wrong way.

Work was performed about 10 years ago, and the car may have been driven about 20,000 miles since then. Everything is stock on the car. I'm quite sure suspension wasn't replaced when the car was painted. Only thing may have been the rear pads, which may have ended up dropping the rear if thickness of the replacement ones is not the same.
 
I don't remember about spacers, but this is 10 years ago. This is a euro car (still in France), weren't the spacers only on US cars to get the height of the lights up to US specs?
 
Looks like typical ride height to me. Maybe your rear springs are worn out.

Would look better (all E9s for that matter) w/the Carl Nelsson springs.
 
Perhaps you had your aluminum spacers mounted on top of the strut tower, and they moved them underneath after install. Do you remember seeing aluminum rings on your strut towers?
 
GGR said:
I don't remember about spacers, but this is 10 years ago. This is a euro car (still in France), weren't the spacers only on US cars to get the height of the lights up to US specs?
Click to expand...


The subject of E9 spacers for Euro models seems to illicit different answers depending upon who you ask. http://e9coupe.com/forum/showpost.php?p=34663&postcount=10 I have seen them on Euro-spec cars and Realoem seems in support.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho..._1972_E9_BMW_30CSL&diagId=31_0451#31331106059 In the diagram, part number 31331106059 is labeled a "washer."

If replacement strut mounts happen to have longer threads to accommodate US models originally equipped with spacers/washers, it is easy to understand why a mechanic with good intentions might automatically assume the "need" for washers and install them.

I asked about the "time" since work was performed to determine if everything had settled.:smile:
 
Peter Coomaraswamy said:
Thanks for the correction John, always learning here :-)
Click to expand...

Me too……… these coupes have made me humble me several times :oops:. If it wasn’t for Don I probably still wouldn’t have a clutch pedal. ~ John Buchtenkirch

P.S. To my eyes my coupe sits pretty near correct, I only put Carl’s springs in the front, not the rear and of course aluminum spacers removed. Any street / hot rodder that has been around for a while knows that stance & tire size can make or break the looks of a car, for my eyes I feel the same way about our coupes.
!000!###.JPG
 
lloyd said:
If replacement strut mounts happen to have longer threads to accommodate US models originally equipped with spacers/washers, it is easy to understand why a mechanic with good intentions might automatically assume the "need" for washers and install them.
Click to expand...

That is an interesting route. The struts were replaced before the car went to the body shop. It may well be they are of the longer bolts type and that the mechanic had installed spacers on top of the towers to compensate. The body shop may have installed them on top of the struts when reassembling the car. I will check that next time I'm close to the car.
 
Springs

Along time age boyd fechner told me the best way to do this and he did for mine was to use
3.0 front springs and cut one wung off the top
and grind flat
my ride is perfect and it dropped the front end by 1"
 
As others have mentioned, coupes with stock suspension appear to be sitting too high in the front. This is due to the shapes of the wheel arches. You'll probably find that your rocker panels are pretty much parallel to the ground, which is correct. Many of us think coupes look best with a slight rake to them, which is required to get the tires to fit into the wheel arches in a way that looks consistent front and rear. 2002s have the same trait.

Measure from the ground to the chrome trim on the rocker cover just behind the front wheel and just ahead of the rear. If the distance is about the same, you have a stock stance... which, again, looks odd due to the difference in shape between the front and rear arches.

-Scott
 
sreams said:
As others have mentioned, coupes with stock suspension appear to be sitting too high in the front. This is due to the shapes of the wheel arches. You'll probably find that your rocker panels are pretty much parallel to the ground, which is correct. Many of us think coupes look best with a slight rake to them, which is required to get the tires to fit into the wheel arches in a way that looks consistent front and rear. 2002s have the same trait.

Measure from the ground to the chrome trim on the rocker cover just behind the front wheel and just ahead of the rear. If the distance is about the same, you have a stock stance... which, again, looks odd due to the difference in shape between the front and rear arches.

-Scott
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree. However I don’t think the front & rear wheel openings are all that much different, it’s just that the front ones are cut higher up into the body. If you look at the distance between the body side molding and the tops of the front & rear wheel openings it is very apparent. If you like your tires to fit the wheel openings the same both front & rear you are going to end up with a slight nose down rake. Not a bad thing, it helps to keep the car planted at speed. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
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