Hello everybody,
I have had my '89 325i for about 5 years and am finally looking at upgrading the suspension. I am pretty set on Ground Control and spoke with Jay who was very helpful and recommended 440lb/in front and 610lb/in rear in the quote he sent me. I am just looking for some additional opinions based on my intended use and hopefully feedback from people who have tried various setups. I am on my 3rd oil pan and I really would not like to trade that problem for blown shock towers.
Current setup:
I bought the car with Spax S003028 springs and unknown shocks. I have no idea the spring rate of these and couldn't find anything. The handling I found to be great on smooth roads but the ride height is too low for Chicago. The oil pan is about 3.5" from the ground. I can't go down any street with speed bumps, can't go up probably 30% of curb cut driveways, and as previously mentioned have lost 2 oil pans due to poor road conditions. The first one was on Lake Shore Drive which in certain spots has bumps that raise up from the freeze-thaw cycle that are about an inch high, and this last one was going around a double parked car where I didn't see an 8 foot gap where they had removed the top layer pavement to be repaired later, also about a 1inch sharp bump. The springs are probably too soft for this ride height but I'd still want it higher for street use.
Use case:
Car is primarily a street car, and I live in Chicago. I only drive it in the summer to keep it rust free. 99% of my driving is in city limits where roads are not good. I also autocross and track the car maybe 10 times a season, driving to autocross events and trailering it to the track. I run 200tw tires but would be open to track only tires eventually when I am better at actually driving. I'd like to have height adjustability so for street driving I'd probably be at the highest setting and I'd lower it for HPDEs.
Will this spring rate beat me up excessively or damage the chassis in street use? I don't expect it to ride like a Cadillac or anything and know compromises have to be made one way or another, so any additional feedback would be much apprecaited before I pull the trigger.
I have had my '89 325i for about 5 years and am finally looking at upgrading the suspension. I am pretty set on Ground Control and spoke with Jay who was very helpful and recommended 440lb/in front and 610lb/in rear in the quote he sent me. I am just looking for some additional opinions based on my intended use and hopefully feedback from people who have tried various setups. I am on my 3rd oil pan and I really would not like to trade that problem for blown shock towers.
Current setup:
I bought the car with Spax S003028 springs and unknown shocks. I have no idea the spring rate of these and couldn't find anything. The handling I found to be great on smooth roads but the ride height is too low for Chicago. The oil pan is about 3.5" from the ground. I can't go down any street with speed bumps, can't go up probably 30% of curb cut driveways, and as previously mentioned have lost 2 oil pans due to poor road conditions. The first one was on Lake Shore Drive which in certain spots has bumps that raise up from the freeze-thaw cycle that are about an inch high, and this last one was going around a double parked car where I didn't see an 8 foot gap where they had removed the top layer pavement to be repaired later, also about a 1inch sharp bump. The springs are probably too soft for this ride height but I'd still want it higher for street use.
Use case:
Car is primarily a street car, and I live in Chicago. I only drive it in the summer to keep it rust free. 99% of my driving is in city limits where roads are not good. I also autocross and track the car maybe 10 times a season, driving to autocross events and trailering it to the track. I run 200tw tires but would be open to track only tires eventually when I am better at actually driving. I'd like to have height adjustability so for street driving I'd probably be at the highest setting and I'd lower it for HPDEs.
Will this spring rate beat me up excessively or damage the chassis in street use? I don't expect it to ride like a Cadillac or anything and know compromises have to be made one way or another, so any additional feedback would be much apprecaited before I pull the trigger.
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