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      12-31-2011, 05:54 PM   #1
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**FIXED** Ride is sitting way too high!!

**FIXED**
I checked for installation error but everything was fine then i measured my new shocks with the old oem ones and they were exactly the same. so i bought a set of C2 front springs off my friends e92 316i and installed them and finally my ride height is normal like all the e90s w/o zsp.

Thank u all guys for yr help


Hi guys, i just replaced my old shocks after 100,000km and they were completly worn out , i installed new Bilstein B4 for the front and the rears the part numbers are VNE-500 , VNE-501 & BNE-502 which are the direct replacment for my 320i, now the car sits way too high about 4 and half fingers in the front but nothing changed in the rear hight , i used to have a 3gap in the front after i installed 17 inch style 285 and with the stock 16s the gap was 2 and half fingers, i checked everything regarding the installation and everything seems fine. iam really annoyed as it reminds me with the x-drive version , i checked the springs codes and i found the front are C3 and the rear are C2, i also checked my friends 320s and they have the same springs but there height is completly different is this due to the high pressure of the bilsteins? or my front springs are wornout and cant hold the new shocks??
i also heard that people use the zsp and msport springs on the standard suspension but iam a little worried about the life span of my new shocks , and the only aftermarket springs i found was the koni sport springs that drops 30mm fornt and rear.

Any ideas??
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      12-31-2011, 06:03 PM   #2
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If you JUST replaced them the car might need to settle still.
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      12-31-2011, 06:05 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AllydNYC View Post
If you JUST replaced them the car might need to settle still.
it has been 6 days now , do i need to wait more?
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      12-31-2011, 07:19 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abcarino View Post
it has been 6 days now , do i need to wait more?
No, should settle within the first day. I'm sure someone else would chime in with other ideas.
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      12-31-2011, 08:06 PM   #5
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perhaps the perch for the spring is adjustable?
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      01-01-2012, 04:59 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by chicagob5 View Post
perhaps the perch for the spring is adjustable?
i dont have aftermarket perch , do u mean the stock one can be adjusted?
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      01-01-2012, 07:49 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abcarino View Post
Hi guys, i just replaced my old shocks after 100,000km and they were completly worn out , i installed new Bilstein B4 for the front and the rears the part numbers are VNE-500 , VNE-501 & BNE-502 which are the direct replacment for my 320i, now the car sits way too high about 4 and half fingers in the front but nothing changed in the rear hight , i used to have a 3gap in the front after i installed 17 inch style 285 and with the stock 16s the gap was 2 and half fingers, i checked everything regarding the installation and everything seems fine. iam really annoyed as it reminds me with the x-drive version , i checked the springs codes and i found the front are C3 and the rear are C2, i also checked my friends 320s and they have the same springs but there height is completly different is this due to the high pressure of the bilsteins? or my front springs are wornout and cant hold the new shocks??
i also heard that people use the zsp and msport springs on the standard suspension but iam a little worried about the life span of my new shocks , and the only aftermarket springs i found was the koni sport springs that drops 30mm fornt and rear.

Any ideas??
Just going from the limited information here is what I am thinking. In the US, these shocks (Bilstein B4) are sold as "Bilstein Touring Class" shocks. They have 2 different model numbers for fitting both sport and non-sport oem springs. I wonder if you ended up buying the shocks for the sport suspension that were designed for the shorter sport springs, then installed your non-sport springs, hence the increased height. The other potential could be new (thicker) rubber spring pads placed on the perches.
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      01-01-2012, 07:58 AM   #8
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Hmm...this is not good, as I was just preparing to buy some Bilstein B4s for my car. I checked the part numbers and they seem to be the right ones.

Gas pressure and damping force should not have anything to do with the ride height unless your car is sitting on the shock bump stops (search Google) - can you check ? If it's the case, the ride should be very stiff in front. In some applications, the stock bump stops have to be trimmed or replaced with shorter ones. Did you receive new bump stops with your new shocks or used the stock ones ?

The other reason is that the replacement shock has the spring seat placed higher than the standard shock, which should be very unlikely unless you received different parts than the ones you asked for. Did you have the chance to compare the two shocks (Bilstein & stock) side by side to see if the placement of spring seats is the same ?

At the rear there are no problems because the spring sits completely independently from the shock.

By the way, how is the ride with the new shocks ?

Let us know how this evolves...

Last edited by tscdennab; 01-01-2012 at 09:37 AM..
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      01-01-2012, 09:35 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdgatti View Post
Just going from the limited information here is what I am thinking. In the US, these shocks (Bilstein B4) are sold as "Bilstein Touring Class" shocks. They have 2 different model numbers for fitting both sport and non-sport oem springs. I wonder if you ended up buying the shocks for the sport suspension that were designed for the shorter sport springs, then installed your non-sport springs, hence the increased height. The other potential could be new (thicker) rubber spring pads placed on the perches.
No the set i bought was for standard not sport suspension and the cross reference on Bilstein website is equivlent to my oem shock part number, about the spring pads i used my old ones
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      01-01-2012, 09:56 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tscdennab View Post
Hmm...this is not good, as I was just preparing to buy some Bilstein B4s for my car. I checked the part numbers and they seem to be the right ones.

Gas pressure and damping force should not have anything to do with the ride height unless your car is sitting on the shock bump stops (search Google) - can you check ? If it's the case, the ride should be very stiff in front. In some applications, the stock bump stops have to be trimmed or replaced with shorter ones. Did you receive new bump stops with your new shocks or used the stock ones ?

The other reason is that the replacement shock has the spring perch placed higher than the standard shock, which should be very unlikely unless you received different parts than the ones you asked for. Did you have the chance to compare the two shocks (Bilstein & stock) side by side to see if the placement of spring perches is the same ?

At the rear there are no problems because the spring sits completely independently from the shock.

By the way, how is the ride with the new shocks ?

Let us know how this evolves...
I replaced the bump stops with new febi ones of the same height and i think bump stops doesnt do anything with ride height , i also dont need to trim them or to buy shorter ones as i didn't lower the car.
About the spring perch i didn't compare it with the oem shock as the bilsteins were a direct replacement to my oem shock, but it seems that i will go to the shop i bought the shocks from and i will measure my old shock with a new bilstein set.

My opinion on the bilsteins is that they dramatically improved the car , the difference is night and day , i dont feel that the rfts are stiff anymore and the car drives perfectly on poor roads exactly like the comfortable E60s with 16s !!! . On the Highway the handling is improved alot and the car is completly different than a brand new 2012 e90, i was going to buy SACHS aftermarket (Super touring) they are way better than the oem BUT Bilstein proved that they are the best stuts ever. I advice anyone using the oem setup with the crap oem Sachs to replace them with B4s.
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      01-01-2012, 10:47 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abcarino View Post
it seems that i will go to the shop i bought the shocks from and i will measure my old shock with a new bilstein set.

My opinion on the bilsteins is that they dramatically improved the car
It would be nice if you could post your conclusions here regarding the shock measurements.

Great news on the handling side !
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      01-01-2012, 11:06 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tscdennab View Post
It would be nice if you could post your conclusions here regarding the shock measurements.

Great news on the handling side !
i'll measure them tomorrow at the shop and if found both have the same height i will diassemble my hole strut leg to inspect any installation error.
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      01-01-2012, 11:13 AM   #13
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Abcarino,
I think your model is considered as a standard model, so it may came with standard height springs (as you found out). According to your OP, the new shock has helped the springs to bring the car to its proper road height. I think regardless of make any replacement shocks may do the same thing.

Plus, when you changed to the 17 inch wheels from the 16 inch wheels, you have increased the height by that 1 inch or so. As you have already researched, you can use lowering springs or spring perch drop units (usually used a the front) to get it back to the height you desire. This is your best bet.

Changing the bump stop does absolutely nothing to lower the car except to increase wheel travel, which can be a good thing in certain circumstance.

Good luck and keep us informed.
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      01-01-2012, 11:39 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thumperx View Post
Abcarino,
I think your model is considered as a standard model, so it may came with standard height springs (as you found out). According to your OP, the new shock has helped the springs to bring the car to its proper road height. I think regardless of make any replacement shocks may do the same thing.

Plus, when you changed to the 17 inch wheels from the 16 inch wheels, you have increased the height by that 1 inch or so. As you have already researched, you can use lowering springs or spring perch drop units (usually used a the front) to get it back to the height you desire. This is your best bet.

Changing the bump stop does absolutely nothing to lower the car except to increase wheel travel, which can be a good thing in certain circumstance.

Good luck and keep us informed.
Thanks very much , but my car height is abnormal compared to any other e90s in egypt with 17 rims , we dont have sport suspension here even the 330i which costs around 80k $ doesnt come with zsp , so iam sure i have something wrong
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      01-01-2012, 01:02 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abcarino View Post
Thanks very much , but my car height is abnormal compared to any other e90s in egypt with 17 rims , we dont have sport suspension here even the 330i which costs around 80k $ doesnt come with zsp , so iam sure i have something wrong
Not sure why you mention sport springs (or cost) when your car doesn't have sport springs. Even if you did, sport springs are approximately 1/2 inch frt an 1/4 inch rr shorter than standard springs.

I think, maybe, the springs are soft and compliant (not sure what Egyptian roads are like). The shocks are new and freshly charged compared to worn shocks. Together, they may cause your car to sit a bit higher than norm. I agree with others that have mentioned the shocks will settle in time and mileage.

Have you taken your car to a good mechanic or dealership (someone that you value their opinion) to have an evaluation performed?
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Last edited by Thumperx; 01-03-2012 at 09:58 AM..
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      01-01-2012, 04:35 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thumperx View Post
Not sure why you mention sport springs (or cost) when your car doesn't have springs. Even if you did, sport springs are approximately 1/2 inch frt an 1/4 inch rr shorter than standard springs.

I think, maybe, the springs are soft and compliant (not sure what Egyptian roads are like). The shocks are new and freshly charged compared to worn shocks. Together, they may cause your car to sit a bit higher than norm. I agree with others that have mentioned the shocks will settle in time and mileage.

Have you taken your car to a good mechanic or dealership (someone that you value their opinion) to have an evaluation performed?
Thanks Thumperx , iam aready taking the car tomorrow to a good bmw mechanic to proffesionaly inspect the whole front strut
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      01-11-2012, 07:47 AM   #17
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Here is a pic after the new springs
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      01-11-2012, 07:51 AM   #18
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first check that everything was installed correctly, make sure the front struts are completely seated in the spindle.

if that is correct, whoever did the install may have tightened everything while it was not at ride height, resulting in bushing bind and not allowing the suspension to settle. so if thats the case, loosen the bolts, set the suspension to ride height and tighten everything
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      01-11-2012, 02:12 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abcarino View Post
Here is a pic after the new springs [...]
Yes, Kevin gives really good advice. abcarino, now that you've fixed the problem by installing C2 in front (), what do you think happened to cause the problem? Did the installer switch springs on you by mistake when they installed the shocks?
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      01-11-2012, 04:38 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by luckyu View Post
Yes, Kevin gives really good advice. abcarino, now that you've fixed the problem by installing C2 in front (), what do you think happened to cause the problem? Did the installer switch springs on you by mistake when they installed the shocks?
no my car came from the factory with c3 in front but it seems that the shocks were worn when i installed the 17" wheels so i didn't notice any change in the hight untill i installed my new shocks that stretched the springs back to its original position
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