The Cabrio Suspension Thread

[CabbE30]

IE3's 4 corners;
Billy Sports & e90 drophats (no spring pads) front;
koni adj. & spring pads rear.

Revshift poly subframe bushings rear and m3 front cabs.

Ride is great on stock weaves. Suspension is firm and tight but large tires absorb road imperfections.

[phenryiv1]

Red vert is on H&R/Bilstein and blue vert is on GC Coils with Konis. The red car feels inexplicably stiffer over small bumps and transmits more of the roughness of the road. Blue one rides pretty damn well considering it has far less travel, 1" bigger wheels, and 425/750lb springs. And the difference in braking and handling is a joke...

So +1 for Koni's. Superior dampers in every way

I just bought Koni FSD dampers for my e46 convertible or is be buying Konis for the e30. All year I planned to make the swap on the e30 to ditch the Bilsteins but the e46 needs new suspension.

[Vivek]

Lots of people find BS to be "harsh" and I dont think Ive ever seen a post that says "Konis compromise handling".

Must mean something

Red vert is on H&R/Bilstein and blue vert is on GC Coils with Konis. The red car feels inexplicably stiffer over small bumps and transmits more of the roughness of the road. Blue one rides pretty damn well considering it has far less travel, 1" bigger wheels, and 425/750lb springs. And the difference in braking and handling is a joke...

So +1 for Koni's. Superior dampers in every way

[phenryiv1]

This is the droid I'm looking for. Are there convertible specific H&R race springs or can I get one for a coupe?

Coupe or sedan- there are no convertible-specific H&R Race springs. You will only be using the front Race springs.

[LorenzeTorres]

The other option is a set of E30 H&R Race front springs with the rear still on the convertible H&R Sports.

This is the droid I'm looking for. Are there convertible specific H&R race springs or can I get one for a coupe?

[phenryiv1]

Alright fellas, the front height is killing me. Looks like I'm running H&R Sport springs and was wondering if there's anything that will bring it about 1-1.5 inch lower. I want the fender to sit on top of the tire.

Back sits just right and it has some navy colored H&R springs. I have no clue what the hell they are.

Running Koni SA's on all corners
Part numbers are different then what was provided on here but it all worked!
Front: 1210
Rear: 1026 (Mustang)

E90 drop hats will help a bit, though in my researching for my E46 'vert I also found a possible option to lower the front even more. The E90 drop hats are less popular for the E46 because there is a lower option from a company called Supreme Power. They MIGHT work on the E30 to lower it more than the E90 drop hats do.

https://www.supremepower.com/suft015-front-lowering-spring-perch-bmw.html

The other option is a set of E30 H&R Race front springs with the rear still on the convertible H&R Sports.

[LorenzeTorres]

Alright fellas, the front height is killing me. Looks like I'm running H&R Sport springs and was wondering if there's anything that will bring it about 1-1.5 inch lower. I want the fender to sit on top of the tire.

Back sits just right and it has some navy colored H&R springs. I have no clue what the hell they are.

Running Koni SA's on all corners
Part numbers are different then what was provided on here but it all worked!
Front: 1210
Rear: 1026 (Mustang)


IMG_4280 by lorenze torres, on Flickr

[JasonC]

Would love another vert maybe in late summer. Miss tooling around with top down, if I can't find a decent e30 I'm getting a Z3.

Jason yours looks decent. Late model's look nice but an early car with right wheels and color is just as equal.

I was on the fence about a vert. But after owning one, I know I will probably never go without one.

Thanks! I tried my best to keep this car looking stockish but wouldn't mind getting rid of the third brake light and adding a 3 piece Kamei spoiler like I had on my black car, plus a Kamei front lip for the late model. You probably already know my thoughts about how earlies are better looking then lates.

[M-technik-3]

Would love another vert maybe in late summer. Miss tooling around with top down, if I can't find a decent e30 I'm getting a Z3.

Jason yours looks decent. Late model's look nice but an early car with right wheels and color is just as equal.

[JasonC]

Thanks! Although it looks better in pictures than it does on person lol..

[jeffnhiscars]

Nice looking car

[JasonC]

Here's mine with the Bavauto e30 vert springs and Bilstein shocks. Wheel tire combo is 15x8 et20 with 205/55/15. Ride is a little rougher then what I've read about on line. But overall I am happy with it.

[bobdavisnpf]

I'm looking at the Mason Engineering brace online, it looks good and has the clearance I want. Says "front and rear studs measure 36.20" c-c". Measuring on my car, with no brace and wheels on the ground I'm at 36.41". Will forcing an additional 0.21" spread be a problem? I forgot to measure what the spread was with the Dinan in place.

[jeffnhiscars]

I just repositioned my cable by bending the bracket slightly. Have a sparco

[bobdavisnpf]

Anyone else have trouble with vertical clearance over their M20 engine with a strut tower brace? My old Dinan brace was meant for E30, but was very close to the throttle cable bracket, and eventually broke off one of its tabs. It's off now, and I'm looking for a new one with better clearance.