[bmw_solid]

Hi All,

So I purchased a 2010 E90 320d M-Sport 6 Speed Manual back in Feb this year.

I checked ride heights on the Bentley manual and it says:

18" Wheels (Low slung sports suspension which I'm assuming is M-Sport right?):
Front 596mm (arch to rim end)
Rear: 577mm (arch to rim end)

So I checked my ride heights before changing the springs and here's what I found:
Front = 596
Rear - 590?? (My initial reaction was that maybe somebody fitted SE springs as SE at rear axle is 596mm 18" wheels but read on...)

So, I thought lets connect the dots here. I know springs determine ride heights, so I gone and ordered SACHS OEM, yes OEM D3 Rear M-Sport springs (SACHS website deduced D3 are correct for my particular car and Autodoc where I purchased them from). I then successfully replaced the springs yesterday with new BMW upper and lower pads.

The old springs fitted to the car were D4??? I was shocked because:
1) If they were D4, why was the back sitting so high?
2) Why did the car have D4 fitted when D3 is the OEM correct spring?

Maybe the D4s are not the original springs - it could be that the original springs failed at some point?

3) The springs didn't have the BMW barcode white sticker either...they just had "D4" stamped on the coil which I thought was bizarre and am led to believe they are not OEM SACHS or genuine BMW.

So, after fitting them, I drove the car for a little bit and checked ride heights and the rear is the same currently @590mm

Will the springs take time to settle/lower? Will they lower by 13mm to become 577mm? How long?

Finally, when I was torqueing up the camber arm bushing bolt, here's what I found:
LHS: I managed to raise the car to 577mm normal ride height and torqued them up to 100Nm.

RHS: I only managed to lift the car to around 600mm (about 1" lower than LHS) because the car was lifting off the jack stand at this point?

Hoping somebody can confirm what is going on here

And what's the deal with D4 and D3 springs? I been searching a lot but getting varied answers... Do they both give the same ride heights or not? Do they have different firmness characteristics?