[MJ777LR]

Hi all, I bought this kit recently for my 2007 E90 non-sport, and am planning to install it with the help of a friend. Going through the box, I only see 4 springs and 4 shocks. Here's where my confusion begins. The product box has a picture of a bump stop on the outside, and various literature I've seen online also seems to suggest that the Pro-System comes with its own set of bump stops in the box. Yet, some members have posted that this kit (perhaps just the one specific to the E90) does not come with bump stops. My own set did not seem to come with bump stops.

Does anyone have a definitive answer on this - should the Pro-System for the E90 come with bump stops?

If the kit indeed should not come with bump stops, are we supposed to use the original stops that came with the car, and if so do they need to be trimmed? I read through the instructions and it doesn't mention anything about bump stops, let alone trimming them.

If anyone can shed some light on this, it would be most appreciated! Thanks!

[brocklanders]

it does not come with bump stops, find a phone number for eibach they have techs that will answer your questions

[MJ777LR]

Thanks, I went ahead and installed them with the original bumpstops. So far I think the suspension travel is good and clear.

[cdgatti]

How's the ride feel?

[MJ777LR]

cdgatti, the ride feels very good. Everyone's definition of 'good' will be different. For me, I was looking for something that firmed up the suspension just slightly coming from the factory non-sport suspension, but not enough to make the car feel like it's riding on leaf springs.

I should first give some background on my suspension prior to the upgrade. My comparison will not be against a young and new suspension, but a tired and beat up one. My old dampers were completely gone, so the car was pretty much just riding on the springs all this time. This made the ride over bumpy/cracked roads quite uncomfortable, since there wasn't much damping left in the shocks. The new setup made the car feel much firmer and tighter on bumps, yet incredibly well-damped and refined in its response. By 'refined' I mean that it has been able to handle the same perturbations and disturbances on my regular drives/routes while still maintaining its composure with ease. Cracks and bumps I used to avoid like the plague now don't seem anywhere near as uncomfortable. I wouldn't say it's the firmest ride I've ever sat in. I've certainly driven cars that were stiffer. This setup for me feels very nicely balanced, giving a good and comfortable ride for daily driving while still providing a sporty and inspired drive. I tend not to take turns and corners fast, so I would not be able to accurately rate how much body roll the setup gives. I do notice that it's somewhat more planted in turns, and keeps its footing pretty well. Highway driving feels much nicer - very stable, planted, and confident. I think a lot of the 'stableness' and 'plantedness' is in part due to the center of gravity being lower than before, due to the drop, and hence the car tends to 'follow the road' more as compared to when I had the factory non-sport suspension.

As with any mass-spring-damper system, the spring constants and damping coefficients should ideally be chosen to complement each other while supporting the intended mass - the car - and that is one of the reasons why I went with the Eibach kit, being a system with springs and dampers that I've read are designed and tuned to work in unison. I went through hours of reading on e90post about other setups, and I have no doubt that there are other setups that feel just as good, if not even better than what I have. However, with my schedule I do not really have the time or resources to experiment with different setups or to change out springs/dampers until finding the 'right one'. So the fact that the Eibach kit had matched springs and dampers was a selling point for me. The other selling point was the price, of which I found to be quite reasonable and within my budget.

Appearance wise, I really like the drop with the new setup. It may not be as aggressive as other setups I've seen on the forums, but I now have a roughly 2.25 finger gap all around (I have small fingers, so it may be 2 fingers for others), which is good enough for me. I came from the non-sport factory suspension, so the improvement for me was quite noticeable.

I should also mention that along with replacing the springs and dampers, I replaced all of the front and rear control arms, stabilizer links, tie rods, etc. The control arms/stabilizer links/tie rods were of the Meyle HD line where available, which I've read are supposed to firm things up as well. This could well have factored into my driving impression of the new shocks and dampers, so do take note.

All in all, I'm very happy with the Eibach Pro-System. It has given my car a much better driving experience, and at an affordable price. I would likely buy it again if I ever had to replace my suspension down the road.

[cdgatti]

Excellent review MJ, thanks alot. I think this is the suspension that would fit my needs as well, as I have the 08 328i also with non-sport, but my current suspension has only 48K miles of mostly highway easy miles.

[Mwishlist]

I am thinking about this when the time comes to replace my suspension. Thanks for the review.