[Tallest]

Hi! Forgive if these are noobish questions, this is a first one for me. I am kinda of fed up with regular suspension set up on my E90. Too much body rolll, it just feels sloppy especialy with my 17s which also let me lean on tyres a bit (which i like). Hence my plan to drop the ride height.

I have read a bit on it and seems that everyone recommends that if you have the money, go with KW V2s or something similar. The thing is I don't want to spend so much money so I guess lowering springs are only choice. My goals are:

a. To make car a bit more stable through corners but some body roll is acceptable
b. ride height should be just around Sport suspension or bit lower - don't want the car to be too low since our roads are poor, driveway issues, etc.
c. ride should remain comfortable to a degree. looking for brand that gives best comfort on just lowered springs.

So what can you guys suggest me to buy, considering I have a standard suspension car.

1. Do i need to buy H&R Sport springs, Eibach springs or Koni ? (as best out there)

2. Do I also need to buy any sway bars or I have them already on the car with regular suspension?

3. What damage are my shocks going to take since they are non-sport - will they last for like 50k miles and die and i need to get new shocks as well right now, or it's a non issue if I don't track the car daily, etc.

4. Anything else you'd suggest? Is alignment needed after spring replacement?

I want to spend around 1000 usd on everything including install.

My main concern here is if I get just springs, will my other suspension components that currently are on the car need replacing too or I can just swap the springs, and get a nice drop, better handling and others parts won't be facked up through this mod.

If there is anyone here who done exactly that, i.e. dropped the standard car on H&R, and left everything else stock, please give some feedback on ride quality and result in handling as well as any issues encountered.

Thanks!

[SV Concepts III]

Given the amount of miles on your shocks, I suggest replacing the suspension with a spring/shock combo. Your best option would be the H&R Cup Kit which packages H&R Springs with matched shocks for a complete replacement. This way you can replace the suspension at once and not have to deal with replacing the shocks later on and spending double on labor. These kits are fairly affordable- ~$649 and will accomplish what you are looking for in terms of an improvement of handling and a lowered ride.

You may want to add sways later on to improve the turn in and further increase the responsiveness of the car. They will also assist in reducing the amount of bodyroll and making the car more netural by dialing out the inherent understeer.

[Tallest]

I see. so basically I am correct, spring-shocks combo is the only way to go if I don't want coilovers, because I'd mess up stock shocks if i just go with springs.

how big is the drop on HR Cup kit vs standard suspension? an inch or more?

But what kind of spring shock combo would you recommend if I want to have a drop similar to the sports suspension? Would HR Sport and Bilstein B6 be OK? The sticky above is nice but don't show which are compatible and since those seem to be trial and error type of thing, I'm asking the experts here.