E90 H&R Sport Spring DIY Install

for the left side we remove the 21mm nut and bolt, 10mm control arm sensor and 19mm strut nut.

for the right side we remove the 21mm nut and bolt and the 19mm strut nut.

there is only 1 control arm sensor, that is located...

ohh yeah i forgot one more thing. when we were tightening the bottom shock nut, my buddy did the right one and I torqed the left one and I think I might have overtightened it because as you can see the left side a little lower than the right. either that or the left spring has settled a little faster than the right. Anyone else had a similar problem? Minor adjustment no big deal.

[quote=lni]

You're likely going to find that lining up the rear swingarm bolt, during reassembly, may be a PITA, as it was on E90boy's car. [quote]

Actually it wasn't that bad we just used the jack to raise/lower the swingarm until the holes aligned and slapped that bad boy in (with the help of hammer)

Looks like a nice clean drop! They'll settle maybe another 1/4", but it looks great! Congrats.

a_moux, are you saying that you removed the outer bolt of the rear control arm, instead of the inner one (like in the DIY)? If so, did the control arm just pivot down?

Yup. Once you remove the outer bolt the spring is going to push the control arm downwards so you want to have a jack under it. Once you remove the bolt, just gradually lower the jack and the spring should pop out. no spring compressors required. h&rs are short enough where you can just slap them in and use your hand and and maybe a jack to bring the control arm up. It might be a little diffucult with one person but with 2 ppl it was pretty easy.

hey lni, i'm not trying to be a smartass or anything but I just think you could eliminate messing with exhaust pipes and using spring compressors by just removing the outer bolt of the control arm instead of the inner. Just to give everyone else an idea, I copied this image to clarify what I'm talking about. The circled bolt/nut combo is the outer hardware of the control arm and the arrow is pointing to the bottom shock nut. Remove those but make sure you have a jack right under the control arm just like in the pic.

Attached Images

 

a_moux, I just finished my swap last night. I can confirm that removing the outer bolt does work on the rears. It definitly saves a lot of hassle.

The fronts were a bear to do, especially by myself. It probably took me close to 5 hours to do the fronts and about an hour to do the rears. I spent most of the time on the fronts just messing with the stupid ars spring-compressor that I own. The bolts to tighten the compressor were hard to get to once it was inside the front fender.
Overall, a good DIY with a lot of good input from everyone!

*Update on test drive with ZSP springs*

All I have to say is, "WOW!" What an improvement over the stock suspension. The car feels much more planted and hunkered down. Also, the ride didn't change much at all. I'd say the ride is slightly firmer than non-ZSP. I remember test driving a few ZSP E90's before and the shocks are definitly firmer on them.
Anyone who might be considering putting sport-springs on the Non-ZSP car, I would highly recomend it.

It doesn't work. I've tried that on two cars now, and you can't get the spring out by taking the red circled bolt out. It would make it much easier, but it's been tried. I have no idea how you did it, because I've tried that. BTW, you don't need spring compressors for the rear. Only for the front.

If you've been able to do that, God bless ya, but I'd need to see pics of it before I could believe it, since I've tried it twice already.

Like I mentioned earlier, I did it last night. Once I removed the two bolts, I stepped on end of the control arm and the entire arm pivoted down. I had to put quite a bit of weight into it, but I can attest that it worked.

It's possible, but sorry I dont have pics to prove it. Once that bolt is out the control arm will pivot down as far as u can force it, which is plenty of room to get the spring out. I just think this method will save a few minutes.

I'm glad, I was able to help you out.

I second that.:rocks:

Quote :You can now remove the inboard bolt that holds the lower swingarm on, with a 21mm socket wrench. Mark both washers and the bolt head with a sharpie so they can be aligned again when placing it back in (the bolt has an offset flange/washer on it). Once the bolt is loose, tap it out. I used a 1/4" drive socket extension. Once the bolt is removed, you can lower the jack slowly and remove the jack. You can now remove the spring. Take note of how the lower rubber spring seat sits in the control arm.[/quote]

Hi, I want to ask question,from your diy instruction I quote above,

a. Do you know the function of the offset flange/washer, it seems they adjust some position of the suspension geometry.What does it adjust ?

b. also on step 3,I understand that you suggest to remove the upper end link bolt.When we finished with spring installed,and tighten back the bolt, I notice the vertical rod that connect it to the sway bar,can move around a little bit. (there is play).Is it ok or it should be stiff.because I might have not tighten the bolt enough then.

Thank you

The offset washer controls the amount of camber on the rear wheels. I added a bit to my setup, but you should really make sure you keep themj in the factory position, unless you want excessive tire wear or race.

The upper sway bar end link is designed to pivot, for front wheel steering and suspension position. If you have the bolt tight, upon resassembly, you should be ok. Remember that you need a wrench between the end link, and the mounting point, or the bolt will just spin forever.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply,actually a shop where I buy my springs already installed it for me,It just that somehow,I did not 100%sure if they had done everything correct,so I jack up the car,when down under and check every suspension parts and bolts (and refering and following with your detailed quidance of course )That's when I notice that the left and right rear wheel offset wahser control is not in the same position.But since you already told me know it's function,I will just going to adjust it so it would be the same.

Thank you again for your kind guidance and great DIY post.

Updated first post above with shorter instructions from longtran.

after you replaced the spring didnt you have to align the car because otherwise the alignment would be wacked out

Yeah, you should... I had mine aligned and they told me that it was indeed out of specs after changing the springs...
The only thing that sux is that only BMW shops can do the alignment. I took it to a couple of other shops in town and they all said they didn't have the right tool for one of the alignment parameters. So, I forked over $150.00 at Desert BMW.

dang that sucks because im gonna install tein springs on my e90 325i and i was gonna let my friend do the alignment with one of the costco tire shops since i work at costco hmmm do u think they may have the tools?

It won't hurt to take it in and see if they can do it... I took mine to a local suspension shop and to Big-O tire and they both told me the same thing.... I called an independent BMW shop and they had the neccesary tools, however they were charging $140. Not much of a savings vs going to the dealer..

what kind of floor jack is that blue one in the picture? It looks really nice, much higher quality than the cheapy harbor freight one I have clunking around.