[stelvio]

Hello all, I spent way too much time looking into lowering springs for an XI wagon. Did not want coilovers anymore because I do not benefit from ever changing ride heights. I've had an XI in the past but I just used H&R springs and lived with the reverse rake/boat look. Recently purchased the following car and listed are my attempts at figuring out a suspension combination that most importantly works well as well as gets rid of the reverse rake.

OEM - Suspension height was probably great in the theory for those who live in high-snow climates [although I've lived in the middle of nowhere in Canada with a lowered XI without issues but mk]


H&R 50494-2 Sport Springs - Rear was acceptable but front was still too high, especially for lowering springs. Car was also sitting weird in the parking garage in so that the rear appears much lower in the photo than in reality. You can compare with the last photo as these H&R springs are what were used in the rear of the last photo; the purpose of this photo is really to show the massive difference between the front and rear ride height.


Tein SKJ14-AUB00 S. Tech FOR RWD - These were obviously for RWD but I've had these on a few E9x's and I liked how the car sat/rode with them so I figured I'd give them a try. The front was now at a very acceptable height but the rear was way too low [not clearly visible in the photo]. I suspect this would have worked great on a sedan but because this is a wagon, the extra junk in the trunk really shows. Also, apologies for the dark photo here and the springs did not have time to settle too much in the photo.


TEIN front springs & OEM rear springs - Not sure why, but I listened to someone on the internet say they had lowering springs in the front but they kept the OEM springs in the rear. Car looked stupid. But for educational purposes, I did it. The shadows sort of play with your mind a bit because the rear was considerably higher than the front. Here's the photo:


TEIN front springs & H&R rear springs - This seems to be the ideal configuration for my awd wagon...personally. The springs have had enough time to settle by now and this is how the car looks:


The car currently sits on the TEIN & H&R spring combo. The fronts are Koni Yellows and the rears are the Bilstein B8's. Reasoning is that the rears will not be adjusted as it's a royal pain to get to the shocks anyway and the B8's are very good all-round shock designed for lowering springs. Some have said they consider the B8's a little too stiff but I have had no such complaints thus far. The fronts having stiffness adjustment is nice for adjustments as it can quickly and drastically change the feel of turn-in and overall front end responsiveness depending on purpose of drive; occasional mountain drives. I did not put any spacers on the car in the photos.

[relative4]

Thank you so much for doing all this work and posting the results. My E90 xi has Dinans & B8s all around, and I've never liked how high the front is. Do you see any potential problems with running Tein front, Dinan rear, and B8s all around?

[stelvio]

Originally Posted by relative4

Thank you so much for doing all this work and posting the results. My E90 xi has Dinans & B8s all around, and I've never liked how high the front is. Do you see any potential problems with running Tein front, Dinan rear, and B8s all around?

So I do not know anything about Dinan springs. Can you please post a photo of how your car sits with the Dinan springs and B8 shocks?

The front Tein springs are 190 lbs/in.
I don't know the Dinan front spring rates.

I currently have Koni Yellows up front but am getting crashing over some larger bumps even after cutting the bump stops accordingly. I have not had time to look into it yet but I do NOT believe the 190 lbs/in front TEIN springs are to blame; OEM are much softer. Unless of course my understanding of springs is way off.

[relative4]

The specs I found show 156 lb/in front, 605 lb/in rear.
According to Dinan's website, the springs lower the ride 1/8" front and rear. In other words, basically exactly the same as stock.
I'll post some pics asap.

[stelvio]

Originally Posted by relative4

The specs I found show 156 lb/in front, 605 lb/in rear.
According to Dinan's website, the springs lower the ride 1/8" front and rear. In other words, basically exactly the same as stock.
I'll post some pics asap.

The H&R Sport Springs lower the front more than OEM, but not as much as the Tein's do; may be something worth considering. You could also throw in a rear spacer to lift the rear to help w/ the reverse rake.