springs with HD Bilsteins
- Thread starter pdxcsi
- Start date
Honolulu
Well-Known Member
Carl Nelson has springs
at bimmerdoc dot com, intended for use with Bilsteins. You'll have to look there to see how much they lower.
at bimmerdoc dot com, intended for use with Bilsteins. You'll have to look there to see how much they lower.
blumax
(deceased)
Lowering springs with Bilstein HD's on your CS
Bimmer Doc aka Carl Nelson in La Jolla, CA has been a purveyor of the lowering spring set and HD Bilstein combos for years--my BLUMAX has been wearing this set-up for over 12 years and am very happy with the result--handling, stance and appearance all benefited--first with stock wheels and now with 16" staggered 7/8" Alpinas F/R
NOTE of Caution--based on first hand experience--do not install this combination unless you also roll the top 45 degrees or so of your front fenders (to accomodate same) or wings as our Jolly Auld, Scottish Laddies, Kiwis and Aussies call them. HTH
Bimmer Doc aka Carl Nelson in La Jolla, CA has been a purveyor of the lowering spring set and HD Bilstein combos for years--my BLUMAX has been wearing this set-up for over 12 years and am very happy with the result--handling, stance and appearance all benefited--first with stock wheels and now with 16" staggered 7/8" Alpinas F/R
NOTE of Caution--based on first hand experience--do not install this combination unless you also roll the top 45 degrees or so of your front fenders (to accomodate same) or wings as our Jolly Auld, Scottish Laddies, Kiwis and Aussies call them. HTH
mandala
Active Member
Same setup here....
I have the same setup as blumax and i really like it. Definitely roll your fenders as i failed to do that intially and I have some paint work to get done next summer. I am sure mosy bodyshops can do it around Portland but I had Mike at Paciifc Motorsports do it and he did a great job.
Jeff in PDX
I have the same setup as blumax and i really like it. Definitely roll your fenders as i failed to do that intially and I have some paint work to get done next summer. I am sure mosy bodyshops can do it around Portland but I had Mike at Paciifc Motorsports do it and he did a great job.
Jeff in PDX
I had custom springs made here in NZ for about $80 US each, worked well
but I cant remember the spring rate?
Just be careful about how much you lower, I had some travel issues and had to raise mine back up a little to sort this out, you guys in the States may not have this problem as your roads are probably not quite as bumpy and twisty as ours, and yes flare you fenders (just to be different we call them gaurds here in NZ blumax!), one "spirited" drive caused tyre rubbing and "burnt and blistered the paint on the front "gaurds"
but I cant remember the spring rate?
Just be careful about how much you lower, I had some travel issues and had to raise mine back up a little to sort this out, you guys in the States may not have this problem as your roads are probably not quite as bumpy and twisty as ours, and yes flare you fenders (just to be different we call them gaurds here in NZ blumax!), one "spirited" drive caused tyre rubbing and "burnt and blistered the paint on the front "gaurds"
Lowering springs
When using lowering springs and Bilstein HD's, have any of you all experienced a front spring that is totally without any compression when the car is lifted? Shouldn't there be enough tension so that the assembly remains seated and wont shift/rotate out of it's proper seat?
When using lowering springs and Bilstein HD's, have any of you all experienced a front spring that is totally without any compression when the car is lifted? Shouldn't there be enough tension so that the assembly remains seated and wont shift/rotate out of it's proper seat?
Hey Ed,
on my yellow csl the front springs were custom made and are pretty stiff and exhibit the characteristic you mention. Once you are aware of it you can seat them while lowering it and usually they seat themselves anyway.
Regards,
Rohan
on my yellow csl the front springs were custom made and are pretty stiff and exhibit the characteristic you mention. Once you are aware of it you can seat them while lowering it and usually they seat themselves anyway.
Regards,
Rohan
Springs that dont "seat" when the suspention is at full droup is a bad idea, and you may not get your cert of fitness because of this (here in NZ they jack car up and check)
If you were having a "spirted" drive and went over a yump in the road and the springs cam out of there cups it could get very messy on tha way down!!!
A few ways to fix the problem
You could fit new "progressive springs" that when the strut is at full droup the spring has just enough lenght to stay tight between the platforms, A progressive springs first one or two top coils may be only a very low spring rate just enough to "hold" the spring in place, but when the weight of the car in on the spring these coils become "coil bound" i.e the rest on each other and don't accually provide any springing action at all.
The only set back to this option is that on cars with not a lot of "bump" travel, and from personal experiance I beleave the E9 is one of these cars
is that you end up losing the thickness of the spring coils (could be nearly an inch) in bump travel
An other much cheaper way is to drill small holes in the top and bottom spring cups/platforms either side of the spring coil were it touchs the spring cup/platform and "tie" the spring in place with some good strong tie wire, this can be a little tricky to get wright but does work
And the other way and this is probably the "correct" way is to take you shock inserts to a good Bilstein man and have them shorten the droup travel of the shock, this is what I have done and it works all good!!
If you were having a "spirted" drive and went over a yump in the road and the springs cam out of there cups it could get very messy on tha way down!!!
A few ways to fix the problem
You could fit new "progressive springs" that when the strut is at full droup the spring has just enough lenght to stay tight between the platforms, A progressive springs first one or two top coils may be only a very low spring rate just enough to "hold" the spring in place, but when the weight of the car in on the spring these coils become "coil bound" i.e the rest on each other and don't accually provide any springing action at all.
The only set back to this option is that on cars with not a lot of "bump" travel, and from personal experiance I beleave the E9 is one of these cars
is that you end up losing the thickness of the spring coils (could be nearly an inch) in bump travel
An other much cheaper way is to drill small holes in the top and bottom spring cups/platforms either side of the spring coil were it touchs the spring cup/platform and "tie" the spring in place with some good strong tie wire, this can be a little tricky to get wright but does work
And the other way and this is probably the "correct" way is to take you shock inserts to a good Bilstein man and have them shorten the droup travel of the shock, this is what I have done and it works all good!!
My front ST springs come off the seats when the suspension is at full droop. I'm not too worried about it happening when driving, but if it does, they're coil over damper struts, so there's nowhere for the spring to go -- when the car slams into the ground, the springs will end up approximately where they should be. That will be comforting as I watch the oil pour out of my crushed oil pan...
:?
On a 3.0 the rear suspension is also coil over damper; on my 2800 CS the shock is outside the coil, but the rear spring doesn't come unseated at full droop.
:?
On a 3.0 the rear suspension is also coil over damper; on my 2800 CS the shock is outside the coil, but the rear spring doesn't come unseated at full droop.
Tony, you've got problems if the sump (oil pan) hits the ground!!!
The bump stops are there to stop that from happening!
And did you say that the 3.0 has coil over rear shocks???
Mines got what I thought all the models had, 2800 and 3.0, the spring working on the top of the arm and the shock bolted to the end of the arm just behind the wheel bearing :?
The bump stops are there to stop that from happening!
And did you say that the 3.0 has coil over rear shocks???
Mines got what I thought all the models had, 2800 and 3.0, the spring working on the top of the arm and the shock bolted to the end of the arm just behind the wheel bearing :?
Well, if if my car is high enough off the ground to unseat the springs, I don't know if the bump stops will be up to the landing... :shock:
You're right, all e9's have the same spring/shock setup in the rear. I was thinking e9 vs. e3, which has the coil over.
You're right, all e9's have the same spring/shock setup in the rear. I was thinking e9 vs. e3, which has the coil over.
I'm not talking so much about being airbourn, more the car becoming "light" as you travel quickly over large "yump" in the road.
If your springs are short they will fall out for sure! (I know from experiance on my old Toyota starlet I had as a kid!)
And yes there are plenty of "yumps in the secondry road that we all go for a "fang" on in NZ
If your springs are short they will fall out for sure! (I know from experiance on my old Toyota starlet I had as a kid!)
And yes there are plenty of "yumps in the secondry road that we all go for a "fang" on in NZ