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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
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H&R Street Performance Coilovers 335xi (Partial Write-Up)
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06-20-2016, 10:46 PM | #1 |
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H&R Street Performance Coilovers 335xi (Partial Write-Up)
After a lot of consideration, I decided to buy the H&R Street Performance coilover setup for my my 335xi. The deciding factor was that I didn’t want to spend over $1500 (coilovers, mounts, bushings, etc.) on a coilover setup and I wanted to buy a product that was a recognizable brand name. Since I live in Pittsburgh, corrosion was one of my main concerns. After narrowing it down to either KW V1s or H&Rs, I decided to get the H&Rs and accepted that I would simply have to take better care of them (corrosion protection).
Reading through the review AlpineSwift made and after talking to a forum member rosica that I saw recently sold a set of H&Rs, I was convinced that the firmer ride wouldn’t be too excessive. He also mentioned that he lived in Philly and didn’t have corrosion issues after taking them off after 2 years of use. Shopping around online, I found that Jeff@TopGearSolutions had the best deal on the H&Rs. He was very helpful in answering my questions. The shipping was free and insanely quick. I ordered the parts on Monday morning and had them waiting on my doorstep Tuesday. I plan on using this post as a partial installation write-up so that I can hopefully answer any questions others may have, since this particular set of coilovers has very little info available. Parts Ordered: OEM Unless Otherwise Specified
Included in H&R Street Performance Coilover Package
Mistakes/Problems/Concerns
FAQ
FINAL SETUP / PICTURES Front Measurements -Thread length below bottom locking ring: 2mm -Fender to bottom wheel lip: 57 cm Rear Measurements -Retaining clip to bottom of locking ring: 1.5cm -Fender to bottom of wheel lip: 57 cm Additional pictures here: http://www.e90post.com/forums/album.php?albumid=13598 **UPDATE 1/22/17** As I posted below, this weekend was very warm so I took the time to lift the car up and clean the wheel wells and coilovers. To my disappointment, I found lots of flakey white residue on the portion of the threads that is covered by the rubber boot. I had to use a brass wire brush to get it off and found small spots of rust. Since the supplied Boeshield had not worked as well as I hoped, I cleaned up the threads and applied FluidFilm (sheep's wool oil based protectant) to the threads. Note, only the threads were like this, the shock bodies still have their light blue spray paint and are in great condition. The rears also looked good. The other thing I discovered was that the front had settled significantly since installation. As you can read above, the front measurement was at 2mm of thread left below the bottom locking ring. This resulted in all 4 corners sitting at 57cm. In order to get everything level, I had to increase the front height from 2mm to 15mm. This means that the front settled by around 13mm. The only reason I really noticed was because the ride had become very harsh, to the point where I was bottoming out weekly and getting bump steer frequently. After adjustment, the front is ~1-2mm higher than the rear, so it's not noticeable visually. Test driving it afterwards, the front feels better and I'm not scraping on everything. The links below show the original measurement and the new measurements (note the yellow stuff on the threads is FluidFilm): Original Front Shock Measurement (2mm): http://www.e90post.com/forums/album....ictureid=61743 Updated Front Shock Measurement (15mm): http://www.e90post.com/forums/album....ictureid=63602 Last edited by Tallgeese179; 01-22-2017 at 10:42 PM.. Reason: Provide an update on the product |
06-21-2016, 09:01 PM | #4 | |
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When I called H&R US, they said they were steel. They said they were galvanized after I asked if they were. He didn't seem very sure in his response however. Regardless, I decided to clean them and spray paint the bodies with sea breeze blue paint. I also coated the paint/springs/rear perches in Jet Seal and covered the threaded portions with the Boeshield provided. I'll update after this upcoming winter. |
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12-23-2016, 10:11 AM | #5 |
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12-23-2016, 10:24 AM | #6 |
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Depending on how long you've had the coilovers installed, they will soften up some once they break in. What are the spring rates?
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N52 : 6MT : ZSP : ZPP : BC Racing Coilovers : BMW PE
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12-24-2016, 10:31 AM | #7 |
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01-22-2017, 10:25 PM | #8 | |
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It was warm outside today so I took the opportunity to clean the coilovers up and re-apply Boeshield to the threads. Sliding the rubber boot up off of the top threaded portion, I found a bunch of white flakey stuff all over the threads. I had to use a brass wire brush to get it off. Underneath I cold see a spot or two of rust starting to form. I ended up cleaning both front struts and covering the threads in FluidFilm. Hopefully it protects the threads better than Boeshield did. I also ended up raising the front end by ~1.3cm, since apparently it settled since the install. |
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01-23-2017, 10:02 AM | #9 | |
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05-24-2017, 08:39 PM | #11 |
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Update: 5-24-17 (90K miles)
The winter is finally over and it's almost summer. I've had a chance to look over the front struts to check for the corrosion that I found originally after using the Boeshiled.
The FluidFilm appears to have worked much better than the Boeshield. Everything still looked kind of greasy/yellow, but that's just how the FluidFilm looks. The threads were missing the distinctive white chalky corrosion they had previously. There's some road grime/sand that's stuck to the bodies, but I'll be cleaning that off in one of the coming weekends. In regards to the ride quality: raising the fronts after they had settled really worked wonders. The suspension is still definitely more on the stiff side, but it's not crashing hard over every road imperfection. The ride height I have now is a nice balance between looks and function. I've also been able to take the car to autocross twice so far. I'm still very much a beginner to performance driving, but I'd say the coilovers are doing their job. It stays planted on the course with reduced dive/roll characteristics. Finally, I got a third set of wheels that are dedicated for the summer. They really complete the look of the car. Overall I'm very satisfied with what I've built |
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06-03-2018, 01:44 PM | #12 |
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Dead thread bump. I'm installing these as we speak and I'm really confused by the rear set up. Does the rear spring perch just sit in the rear control arm uncentered? I can't seem to get it sitting in the middle of the control arm and I really don't want to take it all apart again. It was a major pain just to get it all assembled and put in there. Will it settle out later after driving? Just seems weird theres no way to solidly put the perch in the middle of the control arm. It just goes where it goes? Thanks
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06-05-2018, 07:51 PM | #13 | |
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Spring perch assembly for reference: View post on imgur.com Lower sprint perch assembly partially installed: View post on imgur.com |
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06-07-2018, 02:04 AM | #14 |
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I stumbled upon your additional pictures and it was a huge help! Thank you so much. I originally had it installed wrong. Was a pain to redo, but at least I figured it out before I put the car on the road. My only issue now is the strut alignment in the spindle in relation to the end link. I tried to replicate the position to the stock strut as much as possible. I checked and I only have abiut 5mm of clearance between the strut and the front half shaft now. I'm not sure if that's ok, or if on tight turns I could risk hitting the axle. I plan to get adjustable end links which should help this clearance issue but in the mean time do you recommend I readjust the strut position to allow more clearance between the end link and the half shaft? Or as long as there is clearance will I be good? Thanks again!
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335xi, awd, coilover, h&r, lower |
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