[Polish_Pounder]

Hey Everyone,

So I just picked up my 2007 335xi a few weeks ago and my Right Rear shock is shot. I am stuck with what route I should go. I used to have an Evolution 8 that made over 700whp and was just a Raw Car. However I loved the way the BMW Drove when i first got it because it was completely opposite of my Evo. I do not love the body roll that comes with it however so I am stuck with what route to go with suspension and was hoping i could get some help.

Option 1:
ST Suspension Coilovers
Part# 90902

Option 2:
Koni FSD Shocks with Dinan Lowering Springs.
Part# 2100 4123 for shocks

Opinions on this would be great why you would go with 1 vs the other? All help is appreciated!

Thank You,

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by Polish_Pounder

Hey Everyone,

So I just picked up my 2007 335xi a few weeks ago and my Right Rear shock is shot. I am stuck with what route I should go. I used to have an Evolution 8 that made over 700whp and was just a Raw Car. However I loved the way the BMW Drove when i first got it because it was completely opposite of my Evo. I do not love the body roll that comes with it however so I am stuck with what route to go with suspension and was hoping i could get some help.

Option 1:
ST Suspension Coilovers
Part# 90902

Option 2:
Koni FSD Shocks with Dinan Lowering Springs.
Part# 2100 4123 for shocks

Opinions on this would be great why you would go with 1 vs the other? All help is appreciated!

Thank You,

Hey man, I'm no expert in this, but I know that ST is same as KW V1 and they are matched perfectly - shocks with springs. I bought V1s myself just couple of days ago, haven't installed it, but I considered many shock + springs combos and almost all of them had some issues with not optimal spring rates matched to shocks.
That and the fact that ST coils are height adjustable (that is a great resource to set the car how you like it) tipped the scales in favor of coils for me. Price wise they are almost similar, as I know Tiago (a vendor on this forum) sells ST coils for $855 shipped! One more thing, with coils you can do a perfect corner balance, with FSD+dinan you can't. I know for sure that ST coils are tried and true, but I can't find a lot of FSD+Dinan combo reviews on e9x
How much are FSD + Dinan?

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by Polish_Pounder

Hey Everyone,

So I just picked up my 2007 335xi a few weeks ago and my Right Rear shock is shot. I am stuck with what route I should go. I used to have an Evolution 8 that made over 700whp and was just a Raw Car. However I loved the way the BMW Drove when i first got it because it was completely opposite of my Evo. I do not love the body roll that comes with it however so I am stuck with what route to go with suspension and was hoping i could get some help.

Option 1:
ST Suspension Coilovers
Part# 90902

Option 2:
Koni FSD Shocks with Dinan Lowering Springs.
Part# 2100 4123 for shocks

Opinions on this would be great why you would go with 1 vs the other? All help is appreciated!

Thank You,

I went with Bilstein B6 matched with stock springs. That said, when I was looking at options, I ran across a few issues you may want to consider. First, as I understand it, Dinan matches their springs to Koni Yellows (adjustable) rather than FSD. You may want to consider that when you buy.. Also, with shorter springs, you may need shorter bump stops for more travel. Finally, new mounting hardware will likely be needed as well, but that depends on many factors.

Good luck!

[Polish_Pounder]

Originally Posted by n55jb4

Hey man, I'm no expert in this, but I know that ST is same as KW V1 and they are matched perfectly - shocks with springs. I bought V1s myself just couple of days ago, haven't installed it, but I considered many shock + springs combos and almost all of them had some issues with not optimal spring rates matched to shocks.
That and the fact that ST coils are height adjustable (that is a great resource to set the car how you like it) tipped the scales in favor of coils for me. Price wise they are almost similar, as I know Tiago (a vendor on this forum) sells ST coils for $855 shipped! One more thing, with coils you can do a perfect corner balance, with FSD+dinan you can't. I know for sure that ST coils are tried and true, but I can't find a lot of FSD+Dinan combo reviews on e9x
How much are FSD + Dinan?

- I would love some feedback on your experience with the ST Coils. I was considering going with them. I just dont know how I feel going Coilover on this car. I dont want a bumpy harsh ride like you get with coilovers on most cars I want the comfort fit

- The FSD + Dinan combo would actually be about 1-200 more than the ST Coilover combo....

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

I went with Bilstein B6 matched with stock springs. That said, when I was looking at options, I ran across a few issues you may want to consider. First, as I understand it, Dinan matches their springs to Koni Yellows (adjustable) rather than FSD. You may want to consider that when you buy.. Also, with shorter springs, you may need shorter bump stops for more travel. Finally, new mounting hardware will likely be needed as well, but that depends on many factors.

Good luck!

- New Mounting hardware will all come with what I am doing we jacked the car up yesterday and the bushing in the right rear definitely needs replaced so I was just going to do everything. As for the Bilstein B6's that was my second option. How do you like them? do they ride good? I want a lower drop with my car which is what is frustrating. What springs would you recommend? Does BMW have like a lowering spring from factory like the Sport springs? Would they work on an XI? Also what else can I do to eliminate Body roll? That's really what i want gone the most!

[WJMSprtXDrive]

You can lower the xDrive with the H&R/Bilstein Sport Suspension Package from Turner Motorsport. The Shocks/Struts(Bilstein B8) are valved the same as the B6 but setup for a lowered suspension.

I was 95% satisfied with my suspension except for some floating on long sweeping turns so I just kept my stock springs and changed(~70k miles) the Shocks/Struts(Bilstein B6/HD) as advised by my experienced mechanic. The floating is now gone and I am very happy! The ride is firm but not harsh or crashing over bumps in the road.

Call Turner Motorsport and talk to them about your plans.

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by Polish_Pounder

- I would love some feedback on your experience with the ST Coils. I was considering going with them. I just dont know how I feel going Coilover on this car. I dont want a bumpy harsh ride like you get with coilovers on most cars I want the comfort fit

- The FSD + Dinan combo would actually be about 1-200 more than the ST Coilover combo....



- New Mounting hardware will all come with what I am doing we jacked the car up yesterday and the bushing in the right rear definitely needs replaced so I was just going to do everything. As for the Bilstein B6's that was my second option. How do you like them? do they ride good? I want a lower drop with my car which is what is frustrating. What springs would you recommend? Does BMW have like a lowering spring from factory like the Sport springs? Would they work on an XI? Also what else can I do to eliminate Body roll? That's really what i want gone the most!

Hey man, i hear you, comfort is high priority on my list too! I am going to install coilovers and will update you my impressions. I'm just like you doing it to eliminate body roll and to lower my car for aesthetics.

I posted in different thread, but I can post here too. This is spring rates for ST/v1 coilovers in comparison to stock xi suspension and BMW Performance one:

e90/e92 BMW Stock XI
Front: 145 lb/in
Rear: 460 lb/in

KW v1-v3 (non M3)
Front: 190-256 lb/in (progressive average)
Rear: 545-570 lb/in (progressive average)

e90/e92 BMW Performance (Calculated given that the material of this spring is the same as the ZSP springs)
Front: 195 lb/in
Rear: 505 lb/in

As you can see ST coilovers have spring rates very close to OEM BMW Performance springs and only roughly 20% firmer than stock xi suspension - which is floaty as fack. So I think from all coilovers ST/v1 is probably most comfy ones and many report ride is close to stock in terms of comfort and yet rebound is more controlled and car feels planted and much improved handling
Anyway - I'll post a review in a couple days

P.S. Do you know what spring rates Dinan has? I only found Dinan lowering springs for F30 and they were 30% firmer than stock. If it's same for e90 - then I think ST coilovers will be better for comfort lol

[chris@strutmonkey]

For Dinan springs, I would recommend Koni Yellows or Bilstein B8 shocks.
Also, your 2 options are confusing to me since the coilovers will lower your car up to 1.8" whereas the Dinan springs will only lower your car .5". If you want a "lowered" look, I would recommend different springs.
Also, not against coilovers, but one advantage of shock/spring combo is ability to replace a single part if it fails (e.g. shock), whereas most coilovers are sold in complete sets only.

[Polish_Pounder]

Originally Posted by WJMSprtXDrive

You can lower the xDrive with the H&R/Bilstein Sport Suspension Package from Turner Motorsport. The Shocks/Struts(Bilstein B8) are valved the same as the B6 but setup for a lowered suspension.

I was 95% satisfied with my suspension except for some floating on long sweeping turns so I just kept my stock springs and changed(~70k miles) the Shocks/Struts(Bilstein B6/HD) as advised by my experienced mechanic. The floating is now gone and I am very happy! The ride is firm but not harsh or crashing over bumps in the road.

Call Turner Motorsport and talk to them about your plans.

I did just stumble upon that https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...nsion-package/

This looks like what I might be going with if I can find pictures of what it looks like...

[AtlasM]

I have Koni FSD shocks and B&G S2 springs on my xi. The B&G springs are similar to Eibach Pro-Kit but a bit more lowering and supposedly a bit higher spring rate. B&G didn't disclose exact spring rates to me when I contacted them but of all the lowering springs out there that would work on an xi I liked the look of the B&G drop the best.

The thing with FSDs is on the front they need a very stiff bump stop in order to work properly. This is because the xi suspension when lowered has only a small amount of travel, and the FSDs are designed to soften in response to sharp bumps. With the limited travel of the front suspension, they do soften up, but they can slam into the end of the suspension travel.

I went with E36 M3 front bump stops at first because that's what most people with lowered E9x cars do. The E36 M3 front bump stops are the common choice because they are a BMW OE stop and shorter length than E9x bump stops. But they're also very soft compared to E9x bump stops. With the FSDs and limited travel, they're too soft and you bottom out the front suspension way too often. It sucks.

I switched to Speedthane polyurethane front bump stops which are a bit shorter than stock but also stiffer. They're progressive so it's not entirely whacking into the stop, it still can compress. It was a HUGE improvement. The front end can still sometimes bottom out because it's just not that much travel on a lowered xi, but when it does, the Speedthane bump stops do a much better job.

Full info on how I ended up with the Speedthane bump stops here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1299281

If ride quality is your priority and you don't care about the wheel gap, you could keep the stock springs, go with a performance shock, and reduce body roll through sway bars. UUC sway bars for front & rear are available here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1317753

The rear sway bar requires dropping the rear subframe to access it. Many people upgrade the rear subframe bushings at the same time.

[Polish_Pounder]

Originally Posted by chris@strutmonkey

For Dinan springs, I would recommend Koni Yellows or Bilstein B8 shocks.
Also, your 2 options are confusing to me since the coilovers will lower your car up to 1.8" whereas the Dinan springs will only lower your car .5". If you want a "lowered" look, I would recommend different springs.
Also, not against coilovers, but one advantage of shock/spring combo is ability to replace a single part if it fails (e.g. shock), whereas most coilovers are sold in complete sets only.

My Main thing here is its cheaper for me to go coilovers vs Shocks / Springs... So i wasnt sure if people liked coilovers more or not. I dont like the way H&R lowers the car though. It tucks in the rear and not in the front just looks funny to me. the Dinan I like the drop a lot from pictures but people are saying dont match them with B8s put on the Konis because thats what they reccomend I have no idea what to do at this point haha

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by Polish_Pounder

- I would love some feedback on your experience with the ST Coils. I was considering going with them. I just dont know how I feel going Coilover on this car. I dont want a bumpy harsh ride like you get with coilovers on most cars I want the comfort fit

- The FSD + Dinan combo would actually be about 1-200 more than the ST Coilover combo....

- New Mounting hardware will all come with what I am doing we jacked the car up yesterday and the bushing in the right rear definitely needs replaced so I was just going to do everything. As for the Bilstein B6's that was my second option. How do you like them? do they ride good? I want a lower drop with my car which is what is frustrating. What springs would you recommend? Does BMW have like a lowering spring from factory like the Sport springs? Would they work on an XI? Also what else can I do to eliminate Body roll? That's really what i want gone the most!

I like the B6s for daily driving; they're firm but not punishing. That said, if you want to drop the ride height, you'd need shorter springs. If you get lowering springs - HR, Dinan, others...- the B6s won't be for you.. B8s are more likely to match to your lower springs.

Try to drive cars with shock/struts you're considering to get a sense of the changes before you spend $ if you can..