Drop Hats.....

[SoundByte]

Thanks for the summary. I was trying to get an answer as to whether I should even bother before reading the whole thread...

[delamaize]

I just read though this whole thing. My brain hurts now....
So I have come to a TLDR assessment of all 18 pages of this abortion.

1: about 4 pages of information that say E90 drop hats will work on E30's, gives you 10 to 15mm of drop, depending on the other suspension components.

2: 14 pages of insults, bitching, arguing, and general butthurtness.

[Oojin]

Zreberlcoe I also have IE3s but without the top hats. Still supposed to be a 2" drop in the front but I still have about 4 fingers of gap tire to fender on 225/50/15s. Its the curse of the front struts I believe, to get any lower you're gonna need to modify them via a coilover conversion, or I guess just manually cutting a section and re-welding the stock perch?

[Zreberlcoe]

I'm running Ie3's bilstein sports and IE drop hat's that supposedly drop .5" and no spring pads up front and stacked stock spring pads in the rear and this is what mine looks like. I think there's something wrong because it looks wayyy to high in the front to supposedly have over a 2.5" drop.

Don't mind the subaru, we were bored.




annnnd stock.

[george graves]

The consensus is if you can't get the e90 drophats to work then you shouldn't be working on your car.

Well laa-dee-daa! ;)

I have e90 drop hats, and I'm sure I know how to work on a car. Are mine grinding? I have no clue. If they are, I can't feel or hear it. Guess I'll sell my tools then. I have no business working on a car apparently.

(just messing with ya skifree!)

[SkiFree]

Is there a consensus on these E90 drop hats? Did the grinding issue get resolved? Or the issue with the struts bottoming out?

I see IE sells some drop hats. Are they just E90 drop hats?

The consensus is if you can't get the e90 drophats to work then you shouldn't be working on your car.

Yes the listing on.the ie site is for the e90 hats (selling at dealer list).

[LateFan]

We just did this with no problems. I think putting the new washer in the correct place is a big part of it. If you look at the realoem diagram, it shows that washer right there.

We bought our hats from ECS Tuning. They were pretty inexpensive.

[dpmcdonald]

Is there a consensus on these E90 drop hats? Did the grinding issue get resolved? Or the issue with the struts bottoming out?

I see IE sells some drop hats. Are they just E90 drop hats?

[blue plates]

Richard, you still come off like a douche 7 pages later.

[fuzzysux]

i honestly think that "don't cut your springs" is a general statement and really applies more to springs with certain design characteristics.. such as changes in outer diameter or spring wire diameter. obviously these things will effect either ride quality or actual spring location in its "seat." the front springs on an e30 are a pretty simple standard wire diameter and on most all springs i've seen the last coil is pretty tight.. so cutting off a half coil shouldn't be a big deal at all. it will still seat pretty square on the strut.

now, most people are cheap and don't want to buy a set of hats or lowering springs.. they want the same ride height that you have now.. but by cutting 3 coils off of their stock springs. the stock springs are softer and have more room in between each coil. this, i would suspect.. would lead to bottoming out, etc...

everyone has their own theories, objectives, etc. personally, i'm on H&r and e90 hats and i love it. also i have all new spring seat rubber.. but i also replaced every single rubber bushing in the entire car... i just like a smooth ride.

your car looks great btw! perfect wheel choice/stance!

[richardkeith97]

so i am the seller of the original drop hats. not the e90 ones. i dont sell them anymore because i cant get them in bulk. i have had them on 3 cars with zero issues of grinding. i currently have them with h&r race and half a coil cut off and no spring pads and billy sports. no rubbings. shocks have never bottomed out. i live in new england and have git some huge holes and never had issues. ive been using this set up as a daily drivers for about two years. my zhp is now my dd but thia setup was great and i dont enderstand why some people have issues and some dont. i also dont understand why everyone is telling people not to cut theirs prings? seriously what could happen. over two years and im fine.

[fuzzysux]

figured i would mention this - all of the posts above with rubbing issues - you must have lost the washer as part #8 in the first post of this thread.
part # 31336776760 dimensions 37X2,5MM, one per side, 2.5mm thick. looks like about a $1 part at the dealer each

[Bimmerman4Ever]

IMO I think the H/Rs have enough drop on their own
without worry of fitting the DHs.



definitely an improvement over stock

[fuzzysux]

my experience with these drop hats

That happened to me too when installing these on a customers' when the original guy was selling them. I had to add washers between the hat and bearing to clear them, almost making up the ~10mm drop :(

i have done these to a few of my vert's

had these on eibach pro kit with stock shock, no issues at all, it felt "nicer" too

i just installed these with H&R springs and koni shock, again no issues.

for those of you that might be into the type of ride i am - i installed the factory washer (roughly 2mm) under my new strut bearings to eliminate this grinding as the pics above show.
i also put in all new 3mm rubber spring pads/isolators. i am sure that my entire current setup will settle over the coming weeks and i'll post up a picture with the specs (i changed everything... so it will take a while to work in).

there is a difference in construction - the e30 hats are a thinner stamped steel where the e90 hats seem to be an extruded or stamped thicker aluminum.

to me, it is a no-brainer, $25 for a few more MM, realistically 5-10mm drop.

i can attest to it NOT being a job you want to do by itself, it's not worth the work, BUT if you are replacing springs or shocks, i would certainly add it to the parts list.

i have a full bagged minitruck, my intent for my e30's is to have a responsive every day driver that i don't have to pick my route based on approach angles - but looks and performance are priorities.

[jeffnhiscars]

I have a pair I never installed, from the dealer for $60 .
(BMW Group made in Germany, not cheap made in China crap).

They're just sitting collecting dust,
so I will let them got for $45 free shipping.
P/N 31 33 6 764 093

I hope mine arent "cheap made in China crap" since I bought them from the dealer for $22/pair including the BMW stickers...and no dust