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      02-23-2018, 06:39 AM   #1
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E90 330D M-Sport Suspension upgrade options

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to improve the suspension a bit as I find the standard M-Sport setup a bit "skittish" on our potholed UK roads. Mainly I find its the rear of the cars that gets somewhat unsettled when pressing on through country roads.

The general consensus seems to be that the M-Sport setup is slightly oversprung for the dampers, at least that what others have said and it does feel that way....

So.... I've been checking out possible options, I've ruled out coilovers simply because my experience with them has been pure hassle and they tend to be quite hard with no give. I know there are coilover setups that are good but I'm just not going down that road.

This pretty much leaves me with simply upgrading the shocks and springs and with a bit of reading I had more or less settled on Koni FSD shocks and Eibach Pro springs. From what I understand, they more or less have an OEM ride height (a touch lower I hear) and the shocks are generally well regarded. Sweet..

But then I stumbled across a post about a BMW performance Suspension retrofit kit....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Perfo...4383.l4275.c10

From what I understand, this is not the M-Sport suspension but something better, Does anyone have any experience with this kit?

Should I go down this road or stick with my initial thoughts of Koni FSD + Eibach Pro?

Thanks

EDIT: Looks like the kit I linked to is for the smaller engine models, the part number I need for the OE Performance Suspension is 33500444832

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-OEM-M...oAAOSwYlRZGiBL

Last edited by sirleeofroy; 02-23-2018 at 09:11 AM.. Reason: Correction
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      02-24-2018, 02:36 AM   #2
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I have koni fsd for 30k miles and epk combo for last 15k miles and contisportcontact5 on my pre lci e90 330d se that i am very happy with.
My wife had a 67plate 320d msport on loan this week and i thought my 12yr old car with 130k miles was quite a close match suspension wise. Obviously the newer car with less than 10k miles was more taught and body control was better but i was pleasantly surprised how bmw have sorted the suspension on rft's and msport.
Dont think that the fsd will give some kind of merc e class ride though. Its still pretty firm but without the crashing, dive and squat that i used to get on the oe sachs. I had to decide between koni fsd and bilstein b4, which i also read many good reviews for but discounted any replacements from bmw as i was so disapointed with the oe.
Hope this helps!
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      02-24-2018, 04:40 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirleeofroy View Post
Hi Guys,

I'm looking to improve the suspension a bit as I find the standard M-Sport setup a bit "skittish" on our potholed UK roads. Mainly I find its the rear of the cars that gets somewhat unsettled when pressing on through country roads.

The general consensus seems to be that the M-Sport setup is slightly oversprung for the dampers, at least that what others have said and it does feel that way....

So.... I've been checking out possible options, I've ruled out coilovers simply because my experience with them has been pure hassle and they tend to be quite hard with no give. I know there are coilover setups that are good but I'm just not going down that road.

This pretty much leaves me with simply upgrading the shocks and springs and with a bit of reading I had more or less settled on Koni FSD shocks and Eibach Pro springs. From what I understand, they more or less have an OEM ride height (a touch lower I hear) and the shocks are generally well regarded. Sweet..

But then I stumbled across a post about a BMW performance Suspension retrofit kit....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Perfo...4383.l4275.c10

From what I understand, this is not the M-Sport suspension but something better, Does anyone have any experience with this kit?

Should I go down this road or stick with my initial thoughts of Koni FSD + Eibach Pro?

Thanks

EDIT: Looks like the kit I linked to is for the smaller engine models, the part number I need for the OE Performance Suspension is 33500444832

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-OEM-M...oAAOSwYlRZGiBL
I have a Bilstien Eibach (B12 pro kit I think) set up in my 330d E91 and to be honest it's awesome.

I couldn't believe how much better it was corners flat but is as compliant as an SE suspension over bumps!

I have an F31 on order and will change the springs to Eibach on that as soon as it arrives!
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      02-25-2018, 10:02 AM   #4
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Does anyone make an upgrade that retains stock M Sport ride height?
My car is usually full of drums and lowering it isn't an option due to that extra weight.
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      02-26-2018, 12:29 AM   #5
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My car had a standard SE setup and after one of the front springs snapped, I put on the Bilstein B12 kit.

One year later, I regret it.

The additional stress placed on other suspension components such as sway bar links, control arm bushes, etc... is just not worth it.

The ride is hard, as expected and road holding / grip is good. I don't suffer from the tram lining effect like my wife's car does, however all of these are not enough to make me enjoy the ride
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      03-02-2018, 04:42 AM   #6
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Really ?

Mine has been on for 3 years and 60K miles and I have had no suspension issues and it drives and rides so much better.

In fact for me its the best thing I have done to any car I have had - its even made more of a difference to this car than when i upgraded the suspension on my 911.
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      03-02-2018, 06:02 AM   #7
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i like my SE ride height but seems most of the kits B12 ect all lower the cars.
at the moment i think when its time i'll just refresh with stock, a lot of the OP's issues could be down to components starting to age and wear maybe?
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      03-21-2018, 07:23 AM   #8
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Hi Guys,

Apologies for my lack of response here, life has a way of finding the perfect moment to properly bend you over.... With the expense of moving back down south, the additional cost of driving a 100 mile round trip to work every day and effectively burying the front of the car into a pothole so big my front shock simply popped So, the whole idea of Koni FSD/BMW Performance Kit is well and truly on the back burner for now.....

I've had my hand forced at a time that couldn't be any less convenient if I had tried myself! In any case I have had to go for a pretty budget setup for now, I will be doing all 4 corners so I know that everything is new as I'm not actually sure if the suspension has ever been changed, I suspect not.

I weighed up going for B4s shocks and some springs that would lower the front a little more over the standard M-Sport setup but couldn't quite find a cost effective solution compared to the kit I eventually went for as I intend on changing all of the top mounts and bump stops too.

Eventually I plumped for an AP Sport Suspension kit - https://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/perfo...wers-rear-20mm This will drop the front 30mm which will hopefully close the arch gap a little and the rear 20mm which is pretty much stock ride height.

A bit of reading on these shows pretty good reviews from mostly VW drivers, I am under no illusion as to their budget status but I reckon these will be alright for the time being. Got to be better than similarly priced coilover setups! With a discount code I got it down to bang on £300...

Gonna pick up the following top mounts - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-SACHS-...53.m1438.l2649 and - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SACHS-STR...53.m1438.l2649

The only thing left to get are the bump stops to prevent bottoming out, thing is I don't know which ones to get as I can't seem to find a spec on the shock piston shaft. Looks like I might need to get in touch with AP, unless anyone here happens to know!

Finally, I can get all this fitted for £240, does that seem reasonable to you guys?

Last edited by sirleeofroy; 03-21-2018 at 07:34 AM..
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      03-22-2018, 10:50 AM   #9
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Looks like Demon Tweaks royally messed up the listing for the for the AP Sports Suspension Kit I bought, called them today after trying to find out the shaft diameter direct from AP where they said they didn't even list the product code I gave them.

Turns out DT had not only listed a product code that doesn't exist, they also listed a lowering combination that AP don't even supply (30mm front, 20mm rear) and to top it off, the price they had listed was about £100 cheaper than it should have been!!!

So after a bit of faffing about I changed my order to the Vogtland Club Suspension kit - https://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/perfo...wers-rear-25mm
This is a little more aggressive up front but that's what I wanted anyway, not only that but I've heard pretty good things about Vogtland springs given their competitive pricing. I also read somewhere that they pair these with (unbranded) Koni dampers however I'm not sure how true that is, I have emailed them for clarification on the dampers used.

Suffice to say, due to the monumental cock-up I got a few quid off which brought it much closer to £300. Not bad I thought! Just need to wait for them to come into stock, got upgraded to express delivery too..

I'll do before and after shots when I have them fitted and post here.
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      04-26-2018, 05:01 AM   #10
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Ok, so a quick update....

On Monday I had the new suspension fitted with all new mounts all round along with a service and MOT....

Apologies for the "before" pics, I could have sworn I took a side shot prior to having the suspension done but apparently not....quite...

So here are the semi-sides shot prior to the suspension install:





Here is a quick shot of the suspension kit:



And here are the after shots:





I'm not sure how much you can tell from the pics but the rear of the car has quite a minor drop compared to the suspension that came off however, the front is quite noticeable and was just what I was looking for

The kit is still settling in but I think its mostly there as I've already done several hundred miles since the install.

So how is it compared to before?

Well, it's not a night and day difference but its not far off, what is apparent (hindsight being the wonderful thing it is...) is that the suspension that came off was factory and quite evenly worn (apart from the blown shock) but worn nonetheless. My Indy said the springs were ok but had sagged a bit however, the shocks were pretty past it.

Initially when the car rolled out of the garage you couldn't even tell that the suspension had been changed, the ride height looked pretty much the same however, a few days and a few hundred miles and its settled in a bit.

Handling is where the biggest improvement is (surprise surprise!) with body roll significantly reduced, turn-in has much more confident feel about it and bumps are handled well with none of the rear skipping about like it did before. The ride is noticeably stiffer than before which stands to reason given the shot suspension that was on there but it certainly isn't uncomfortable at all. I do feel a bit more of the road which I personally consider a good thing given my driving preference. It also doesn't dip/dive nearly as much under hard acceleration/braking which translates to considerably more confident acceleration out of corners. With that said, it does need the alignment doing as it does drift off to the right slightly so I have it booked next week to be aligned with a Hunter, I expect it only to get better!

All in all, I'm pretty happy so far. What do you guys think?
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      08-31-2018, 12:56 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirleeofroy View Post
Ok, so a quick update....

On Monday I had the new suspension fitted with all new mounts all round along with a service and MOT....

Apologies for the "before" pics, I could have sworn I took a side shot prior to having the suspension done but apparently not....quite...

So here are the semi-sides shot prior to the suspension install:





Here is a quick shot of the suspension kit:



And here are the after shots:





I'm not sure how much you can tell from the pics but the rear of the car has quite a minor drop compared to the suspension that came off however, the front is quite noticeable and was just what I was looking for

The kit is still settling in but I think its mostly there as I've already done several hundred miles since the install.

So how is it compared to before?

Well, it's not a night and day difference but its not far off, what is apparent (hindsight being the wonderful thing it is...) is that the suspension that came off was factory and quite evenly worn (apart from the blown shock) but worn nonetheless. My Indy said the springs were ok but had sagged a bit however, the shocks were pretty past it.

Initially when the car rolled out of the garage you couldn't even tell that the suspension had been changed, the ride height looked pretty much the same however, a few days and a few hundred miles and its settled in a bit.

Handling is where the biggest improvement is (surprise surprise!) with body roll significantly reduced, turn-in has much more confident feel about it and bumps are handled well with none of the rear skipping about like it did before. The ride is noticeably stiffer than before which stands to reason given the shot suspension that was on there but it certainly isn't uncomfortable at all. I do feel a bit more of the road which I personally consider a good thing given my driving preference. It also doesn't dip/dive nearly as much under hard acceleration/braking which translates to considerably more confident acceleration out of corners. With that said, it does need the alignment doing as it does drift off to the right slightly so I have it booked next week to be aligned with a Hunter, I expect it only to get better!

All in all, I'm pretty happy so far. What do you guys think?
Hi,

Love a facelift in that colour and drop looks perfect.

I've started looking around for suspension as I think mine will need changing soon. Was considering B12 or the FSD\Eibach combo but had also looked at the two you mentioned purely because money is a bit tight at the moment.

I have a 335d on oem M sport with 105K on it. At present it doesn't seem that worn but can I feel it on bigger bumps and pot holes.

Yours must be properly settled in now, how is your new setup on bigger bumps and rough surfaces? Does it bottom out or take them nicely? What about clearance on day to day stuff like drive ways and speed bumps?


Thanks
Kash
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      08-31-2018, 08:46 AM   #12
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Standard M sport springs with Bilstein b4 shocks and new mounts all round, are perfect for a road car. put them on my e91 330d m sport and just done the same on my e91 335d m sport, the best ride and road feel came from ditching the runflats, and dropping the tyre pressure to 35 from 38 psi.
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      10-15-2018, 04:24 AM   #13
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Thumbs up How easy was the fitting?

Hey Guys,
New to this thread thing, but I must say full of useful info. I wish we had people here in OZ as committed to their cars as I have found you all are.I am also very impressed with the parts dealer you all use (Demon Tweeks).Nothing like that over here.Anyways back to the reason at hand. I am interested in doing the same thing to my 330d which is identical to the posts car. I want to install the Vogtland lowering kit also, but am concerned about wheel clearance as it looks quite close on the front.I would really like to know what size rims and tyres you are running on the front. I am running 245/35/18 on the fronts and 265/40/18 on the back. Also did you need any other components other than the purchased kit? Would really appreciate the feedback as I need to do this ASAP, Thanks
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      10-15-2018, 09:39 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by assassinsbrotherhood View Post
Hey Guys,
New to this thread thing, but I must say full of useful info. I wish we had people here in OZ as committed to their cars as I have found you all are.I am also very impressed with the parts dealer you all use (Demon Tweeks).Nothing like that over here.Anyways back to the reason at hand. I am interested in doing the same thing to my 330d which is identical to the posts car. I want to install the Vogtland lowering kit also, but am concerned about wheel clearance as it looks quite close on the front.I would really like to know what size rims and tyres you are running on the front. I am running 245/35/18 on the fronts and 265/40/18 on the back. Also did you need any other components other than the purchased kit? Would really appreciate the feedback as I need to do this ASAP, Thanks
Hi there,

My car is running the stock rims and tyre sizes - 225/40/18 fronts and 245/35/18 rears. With the drop there is absolutely no rubbing or fouling of the arches even at full lock and with hard cornering but I have not yet added any spacers.

As for anything else replaced in addition to the kit, I replaced all of the top and bottom mounts, bump stops and shock covers.
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      10-15-2018, 09:58 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirleeofroy View Post
Hi there,

My car is running the stock rims and tyre sizes - 225/40/18 fronts and 245/35/18 rears. With the drop there is absolutely no rubbing or fouling of the arches even at full lock and with hard cornering but I have not yet added any spacers.

As for anything else replaced in addition to the kit, I replaced all of the top and bottom mounts, bump stops and shock covers.
stock is 255-35-18 rears..is it not?
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      10-15-2018, 09:59 AM   #16
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all my three cars e46/e90/e92 have this size from factory,,sold e46 though
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      10-15-2018, 10:10 AM   #17
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My next big job........suspension! One of my rear shocks has a slight oil misting according to the MOT advisory sheet. I can't find any evidence of any parts having been replaced in the big pile of receipts belonging to the car so I assume it's 138,000 miles/12 years old.
I don't want it stiffer and not much lower than it's current stock m sport set-up so what to go for..........
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      10-15-2018, 11:29 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sirleeofroy View Post
Hi there,

My car is running the stock rims and tyre sizes - 225/40/18 fronts and 245/35/18 rears. With the drop there is absolutely no rubbing or fouling of the arches even at full lock and with hard cornering but I have not yet added any spacers.

As for anything else replaced in addition to the kit, I replaced all of the top and bottom mounts, bump stops and shock covers.
Thanks for the feedback. You guys are so lucky over there with obtaining parts.Here in OZ all they are concerned with are there"flippin" Toyotos and Skylines. They would not know a decent car if it knocked them over! Could you give me any more info on the extra parts you needed and a supplier?I do not trust anyone over here Cheers my friend. Also I ditched the RFTs and have been running Zentino Gredge Semi slick street legal and I average about 40k per set.They are fantastic in the wet and unbelievable on the dry roads.No road noise what so ever. Only cost $130Aus and less for you guys.They have a re-inforced wall so I can also drive to the repairer on a flat and atleast get it repaired and not have to replace the whole tyre.Can not speak highly enough about this tyre.Had 3 sets now.

Last edited by assassinsbrotherhood; 10-16-2018 at 12:03 AM..
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      10-17-2018, 05:04 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rasa bmw View Post
stock is 255-35-18 rears..is it not?
Indeed they are, my mistake.
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      08-30-2019, 05:52 PM   #20
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Bit of a thread revival. I was just wondering how the vogtland coilovers were performing? I just haven't got round to sorting my worn out suspension yet but it is on the to do list.
Anybody give some feedback on them?
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      09-02-2019, 03:08 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nomiS330d View Post
Bit of a thread revival. I was just wondering how the vogtland coilovers were performing? I just haven't got round to sorting my worn out suspension yet but it is on the to do list.
Anybody give some feedback on them?
Wow, didn't realise it was over a year ago I had these fitted! Where does the time go......

The suspension kit is holding up well, for a relatively cheap kit I certainly have no complaints. The car is planted, corners well and doesn't roll about however, there are a couple of things to note:

This kit should not be considered as a replacement for stock suspension as its low and hard. In fact, since having the kit on, there are things I definitely have to keep an eye out for, eg: the drive at my new house has a bit of a hump as you get on the drive as it slopes down a little, if I don't come at it at a jaunty angle, it scrapes .. With the front being as low as it is, parking forward into a space with a kerb used to be ok as the bumper would sit above the kerb, not anymore. I reverse park everywhere I can so not really an issue but I did find out the hard way once..

With the kit being notably harder than stock, you definitely feel everything, and I mean pretty much everything. It's not crap coilover hard but it's not a million miles off. Now, this is fine when its just me in the car as I don't mind but every now and then I will have someone riding with me and I can tell it's not the most comfy ride for them.... My GF doesn't mind though so... Meh.

Now I'm in no rush to change the suspension as I am happy with it but when I come to change again in the future I will likely install what I originally wanted which was the Koni FSD shocks and some lowering springs but maybe 10mm higher than I have right now.

I was also looking at the KW DDC but £2600 is a big chunk of change so really depends on how long I intend on keeping the car and modding it, we shall see!

https://www.kwsuspensions.co.uk/shop...HcUuA../58/DDC
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      09-03-2019, 01:27 AM   #22
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Hmmm, thanks for the response and the full and frank assessment. The too low and hard ride sounds like a PITA I couldn’t live with.
Quality oem replacements is the way I’ll be going if I am going to keep the car. I keep looking at E46 M3’s though so I’ll have to make my mind up.
Thanks.
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