[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by Andy198712

Thanks

I’m wondering if I’m better doing that or switching out to some used m sport springs…..

I tried to get a look in there with the whee at full lock but there’s not much room in there. Might measure the wheel centre to the wing, take the wheel off then jack up the suspenion to that same measurement and see what shock travel I have left (if any)

That will work, but it's going to be tricky to tell because the bumpstops are progressive. Basically they can still travel for a bit while compressing, but your spring rate is increasing exponentially. M sport springs will definitely do the trick though if you just want a safe bet for a good ride quality

[Andy198712]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

That will work, but it's going to be tricky to tell because the bumpstops are progressive. Basically they can still travel for a bit while compressing, but your spring rate is increasing exponentially. M sport springs will definitely do the trick though if you just want a safe bet for a good ride quality

Yeah I think you’re right.

I kinda wanted to keep the new springs in there but maybe I should cut my losses and get the M sport springs. Although used.

Unsure in the world of variables of new ones for a sensible price! Although loathed to put a old spring on my newer parts

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by Andy198712

Yeah I think you’re right.

I kinda wanted to keep the new springs in there but maybe I should cut my losses and get the M sport springs. Although used.

Unsure in the world of variables of new ones for a sensible price! Although loathed to put a old spring on my newer parts

If you aren't excited about going back to stock springs, get the e30 perches and spring pads and z4 rear bumpstops. It will sit in a similar fashion to stock (car is level with slightly more wheel gap up front) and ride well.

[Andy198712]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

If you aren't excited about going back to stock springs, get the e30 perches and spring pads and z4 rear bumpstops. It will sit in a similar fashion to stock (car is level with slightly more wheel gap up front) and ride well.

Cheers I appreciate your help!

[Tambohamilton]

You're aware that you have to get the correct spring for your car, right? A spring for a 318i is not the same as for a 335i. E91s have different rear springs from e90s.

M-sport and sport springs are identical.

Best to think of the bump stops as BMW calls them; auxiliary springs. They're engaged at ride height, by design. An SE car only has something like 70mm of bump travel, and a sport/M-sport only 55ish (from memory). If you fit lowering springs without changing the aux springs, it won't end well; you'll be well into the aux spring at ride height, resulting in a really harsh feel.

You could probably improve your ride by fitting E36 M3 front bump stops (likely similar to mini ones), and whatever the recommended Z4 rear ones are.

But I'd recommend going for M-sport springs correct for your car, with the correct bump stops. If you want to lower the front a little, I'd look for lowering perches combined with e36 M3 bump stops.

Nothing will turn it into a magic carpet, short of ££££ investment, but a near-stock combination should get you somewhere decent. Again, if you want to lower while retaining ride quality, you have to do something to preserve bump travel.

[steifan]

Didn't read all the springy business but if you go down the strut/shock replacement route Koni Special Active "red" (formerly "gold" FSD) might be for you. Haven't tried them myself but I'm probably getting them for my "other Bavarian brand daily driver car" as I'm running Bilstein B8 on the three other cars. People seems to be happy with them, they cost almost as much as Bilstein B6/B8, Koni Sport etc. but should offer good comfort. Unsure if other brands has a similar product.

[Tambohamilton]

I have special active. Not overly impressed. Will likely go koni yellow next time... whenever that is.

[Andy198712]

Okay so I fitted the E30 upper spring seats and the 10mm rubber pads that fit in these. And Mini Cooper bump stops

Before this I was hard sat on the bump
Stops

After a good bit of driving I can confirm this is a lot nicer now, not magic carpet ride but it’s a BMW not a Volvo.
I’ll double check the right hieght now things have settled in.
It has raised the front a smidge as it now doesn’t scrape on a speed bump by my house.
Handles rougher roads and small bumps alot better at 20-30mph which is really lacked before

[steifan]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

I have special active. Not overly impressed. Will likely go koni yellow next time... whenever that is.

Why not overly impressed? Poor ride quality? Or too soft? Would be interesting to know

[Tambohamilton]

I'm not really experienced enough to know exactly, but I'd say too soft. Feels like the wheels are out of control. No grip on rough roads, crashes on medium impacts, etc.

Also, pay attention to the marketing speil; only the rears actually have the special damping. And if I remember rightly one of the supposed Dyno graphs is upside down. Been a long time since I read it though.

Honestly I think comfort and control could be improved by a good conventional shock, but I don't have much to compare with.

[whyzee125]

Originally Posted by steifan

Why not overly impressed? Poor ride quality? Or too soft? Would be interesting to know

I'm not sure if it's the same for ever platform, but the general consensus is that they really don't do what they're designed to do on this platform. They blow through travel super fast as there's just zero compression damping causing a really crashy and abrupt bottoming out effect every time a large bump is encountered. Koni yellows are great shocks but nobody seems happy with the Special Actives on here.

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

I'm not sure if it's the same for ever platform, but the general consensus is that they really don't do what they're designed to do on this platform. They blow through travel super fast as there's just zero compression damping causing a really crashy and abrupt bottoming out effect every time a large bump is encountered. Koni yellows are great shocks but nobody seems happy with the Special Actives on here.

I've had the Koni active with eibach springs for 4 years. I bought them straight from Koni, they were supposedly valved to the springs. I suffered for 1 year with a "crashy" ride on big bumps. Then I decided to go the "Fat Cat Motorsports philosophy"... I shortened my bump stops. I installed the stiffer polyurethane bump stops on the left with my original install. But then I cut them off from the blue line down while still on the shocks.

And the problem was solved. The ride became really sweet, no more crashy ride, I can't complain about them. They do need suspension travel and that can be given with aftermarket SHORT bump stops. And from testing them them I do believe both the front struts and rear shocks have the "Koni active" system.

I live in NYC, my front strut mounts aren't getting destroyed unlike the 3 or 4 that went bad with the Bilstein HD's and their silly internal bump stops.

[Andy198712]

Bump for a few people currently looking into this

E30 upper spring seats and thicker rubber spring locator pads, mini bump stops and I have some shock travel back