The Cabrio Suspension Thread

[phenryiv1]

Hi i need some helps i just install bilstein b8 eibach pro kit + e90 drop hats...i dont see my car lowering has much! The seller told me i have to wait 1000 km to see the results..any ideas ??

Should not take more than 10-20 miles for it to settle.

Pictures?

[phenryiv1]

One more question for you, I swapped out my steering rack for a Z3. Ever since my steering has felt light. Especially at highway speeds. Do you see the same thing?

Glad to hear no rubbing or bottoming. With 8" wide wheels I was a little worried. I didn't see a single e30 at the Vintage, besides mine, with anything wider than 7.5". I tracked down every one to see who was running what.
Maybe one or two were slammed. But I think they were on air. That's way beyond what I want for a cruiser.
For now I'm gonna see what happens with the springs and tophats. My camber is at 0.2-0.3 right now. If it doesn't go any worse than 1.5, maybe I'll leave it. I just put Monroe struts/shocks in so I'll see what happens. I've had a skid plate waiting in the garage for a while.

Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk

My steering felt light after the e36 rack install but it was because both camber and toe were off. Now that I have them both where I want them the car has very predictable steering with what feels like appropriate effort.

[NeverEnough02]

Z3 rack is linear which means it is really touchy on center while a lot of the other racks are progressive so they are less touchy on center and grab more as you steer more. Z3 is better for autocross and not dongreat for highway. A good alignment should help you out though.

[parkerbink]

I got my '92 with H&R 50404.55f the part number does not come up, I called HR and they said they are oem replacements with no change from stock but the car sits lower and feels pretty firm on 4 year old KYBs. I got the Koni Sport front inserts today finally and don't want to take the struts apart twice, anyone know the actual data on these?



The ones in back are blue, I can't see the part number on them but know he got them in a set from Pelican.

[Taiontrack]

Is anyone running ASTs on their convertible? IF so, feedback?

[fporro]

ran into this about oem M Technic springs ...

BMW Germany got back to me, front springs are 3686 newton at 140mm and rear springs are 5151 newton at 122.83mm.

F=Kx

K (spring rate) for the front is 26.32 n/mm or ~150 in/lb and rear is 41.94 n/mm or ~240 in/lb.

Too bad H&R springs doesn't provide their spring rates, its hard to know if whats floating around on the internet is correct. Considering the H&R's are progressive, it would be interesting to know if the initial spring rate is less than OEM.

[Chrisv006]

Bilstein sports, H&R coup springs, e90 drop hats, Ireland engineering street camber plates, new bushings, new brakes/pads, e38 style 5's with adapters.

https://imgur.com/gallery/cgBu3

[Mixedbyjairo]

I got my '92 with H&R 50404.55f the part number does not come up, I called HR and they said they are oem replacements with no change from stock but the car sits lower and feels pretty firm on 4 year old KYBs. I got the Koni Sport front inserts today finally and don't want to take the struts apart twice, anyone know the actual data on these?



The ones in back are blue, I can't see the part number on them but know he got them in a set from Pelican.

I'm running the rear set of H&R 50404 with koni yellows

[Bearmw]

I randomly inspected my rear shock mounts the other day and found both completely broken. A few years ago I replaced them using "heavy duty" stock type rubber mounts along with the bolt on reinforcement plates. The plates apparently did there job and the sheet metal was uncompromised but the rubber on each mount was completely torn. I think I may have done them in while hitting a good bump while coming down a mountain road at a good clip but I'm not sure. In any case I am going to replace them with IE urethane mounts. Lesson learned: the rubber ones aren't up to the task for my driving style.


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[IronJoe]

Definitely need some help/suggestions here folks.

I have sort of a unique situation. Car is a 1989 cabrio with full E30 M3 suspension/5lug/S14/etc out of my '88 henna M3.

The set up I had on the Henna car was H&R Race & Bilstein sport with the old school 15mm drop hats (not e90 hats). This setup was absolutely perfect on the coupe, handled amazing, but on the vert with the added weight and lower rigidity has made the car very crashy and uncomfortable.

What I realistically need is a moderate lowering spring made for a 4cyl cabrio... which I cannot find. I see a 6cyl cabrio sport spring but I'm afraid the reduced weight of the S14 will result in a reverse rake.

Thoughts?

Ride height as it sits with no top/windows/interior currently installed. With the top & full interior it rides pretty low in the rear.
P1010040 by IronJoeT16S, on Flickr

[phenryiv1]

Definitely need some help/suggestions here folks.

I have sort of a unique situation. Car is a 1989 cabrio with full E30 M3 suspension/5lug/S14/etc out of my '88 henna M3.

The set up I had on the Henna car was H&R Race & Bilstein sport with the old school 15mm drop hats (not e90 hats). This setup was absolutely perfect on the coupe, handled amazing, but on the vert with the added weight and lower rigidity has made the car very crashy and uncomfortable.

What I realistically need is a moderate lowering spring made for a 4cyl cabrio... which I cannot find. I see a 6cyl cabrio sport spring but I'm afraid the reduced weight of the S14 will result in a reverse rake.

Thoughts?

Ride height as it sits with no top/windows/interior currently installed. With the top & full interior it rides pretty low in the rear.
P1010040 by IronJoeT16S, on Flickr

You should be able to use H&R Sport rear springs from a 4 or 6 cylinder. The rear weight differences are negligible so either will work and while I cannot recall with 100% certainty, I believe that there is only one rear spring from H&R for all verts. Up front you can run whatever 4 cylinder spring you want but the Race will create rake when paired with a Sport cabrio rear.

[robrez]

Definitely need some help/suggestions here folks.

I have sort of a unique situation. Car is a 1989 cabrio with full E30 M3 suspension/5lug/S14/etc out of my '88 henna M3.

The set up I had on the Henna car was H&R Race & Bilstein sport with the old school 15mm drop hats (not e90 hats). This setup was absolutely perfect on the coupe, handled amazing, but on the vert with the added weight and lower rigidity has made the car very crashy and uncomfortable.

What I realistically need is a moderate lowering spring made for a 4cyl cabrio... which I cannot find. I see a 6cyl cabrio sport spring but I'm afraid the reduced weight of the S14 will result in a reverse rake.

Thoughts?

Ride height as it sits with no top/windows/interior currently installed. With the top & full interior it rides pretty low in the rear.

I'd run a combination of H&R sedan/coupe front springs (50406) and H& R vert/ix rear springs. Start there, it might be just right. If not, you can add e90 drop hats to lower the front a tad, or add thicker rear springs pads to raise the rear. If I hadn't scored a set of Dinan vert springs, that's what I'd be using. Even with my Dinan vert springs, I ended up adding thicker rear spring pads because I was getting a little reverse rack after I moved the battery to the trunk, the hard top on and the spare tire. I'd stay away from 4 cylinder springs, they're too soft. I'm running a Strong Strut rear brace in addition to a Mason X-brace and a front strut bar. Together, they firm up ride appreciably.

[dc318icabrio]

I have a 91 318i cab that I am trying to refresh the suspension on. Front is completely shot, rear is ok. I am not interested in coilovers, extreme lowering, stancing or having a super-firm ride. After reading up on it, the closest to stock seems to be h&r cab springs + bilstein sports, with a very mild drop in ride height. Can anyone confirm? I'd also install a subframe brace from garagistic down the road, to fix cowl shake. Assuming h&r+billy sports are the way to go, where is the cheapest place to get this setup? I plan on refreshing all the suspension components as well.

[mattdk318i]

Is this Thread 10 Years old already? WOW!

Got a new vert a few years ago 1992 Laguna. Will post pics soon.

[Mike36]

Definitely need some help/suggestions here folks.

I have sort of a unique situation. Car is a 1989 cabrio with full E30 M3 suspension/5lug/S14/etc out of my '88 henna M3.

The set up I had on the Henna car was H&R Race & Bilstein sport with the old school 15mm drop hats (not e90 hats). This setup was absolutely perfect on the coupe, handled amazing, but on the vert with the added weight and lower rigidity has made the car very crashy and uncomfortable.

What I realistically need is a moderate lowering spring made for a 4cyl cabrio... which I cannot find. I see a 6cyl cabrio sport spring but I'm afraid the reduced weight of the S14 will result in a reverse rake.

Thoughts?

Ride height as it sits with no top/windows/interior currently installed. With the top & full interior it rides pretty low in the rear.
P1010040 by IronJoeT16S, on Flickr

I corrected the rear height issue with larger (10mm) spring pads.