installing e90 drophats

[bad_azz_bmr]

I was wondering if it is possible to swap out drop hats without having to fully disconnect the strut housing from the control arms? Would lifting the car up and unbolting the single strut bolt drop it enough to swap out the hats?

[kronus]

Yup, there is enough room. However, if you have stock springs, you will need to compress them.

[Balleristic31]

I had to undo the sway bar too, but yea i didnt have to remove the whole assembly.

[Dude]

I had to undo the sway bar too, but yea i didnt have to remove the whole assembly.

Yup do this so you can drop it all the way down, then unbolt it from the top.

[B_Peterson]

I have a similar question. If i use the 15mm drop hats from this website:

http://www.diversemotorsports.org/

do i have to remove the whole assembly?

If so where can i buy e90 drop hats?

[iamsam]

i got my E90 drop hats from pelican. Look in the drop hats sticky for PN...

[ethrtyiS]

you can get e90 spring plates from any bmw dealer, bavauto, or getbmwparts.com.
part number is: 31-33-6-764-093

[Frog]

Take pics, and post a DIY!

[ethrtyiS]

there really is no need for a diy. if you follow instructions on how to replace shocks/lower the e30 then it's litterally a swap out and that's it. just make sure when you drop the car to align it the best you can and go drive so it'll pop in place.

[talltorontoguy]

just make sure when you drop the car to align it the best you can and go drive so it'll pop in place.

What do you mean by this? Aligning the drop hat / spring plate correctly with the spring? Driving it pops what into place? (I'm doing the job on my car now)

[talltorontoguy]

Job done. I installed dinan fixed camber plates and wanted the drop hats to offset the added 10mm height the camber plates provide, so there's about a 5mm net drop I guess.

For others doing the same thing, the bolts that attach the camber plate to the strut mount protrude downwards through the mount with a nut on the end. CHECK FOR CLEARANCE. In my case, the ends of the bolts were scraping against the top of the spring plate. This caused grinding/popping when turning, steering was also pulling / not returning to center.

I had to redo the entire job and cut a few mm off the bolts to provide clearance. (I could have used additional washers between the spring plate and mount but didn't want to sacrifice any ride height.)

I was able to do it without removing the struts by undoing the swaybar link and 3 top nuts and lowering the strut. Then used a spring compressor and was able to wiggle the new drop hat and mount and camber plate in there.

Be careful where you put the spring compressor as it could get in the way when you are trying to get the mounts/drop hats off/on.

This was on H&R sport springs with billy sport shocks.

TTG

[ethrtyiS]

glad to hear it went successfully. i didnt have much of a problem, besides the typical stuck joints. the first ~5 miles or so there was a bit of grinding/popping, only because it was settling it. other than that, the only sounds i get no is when my lip hits every driveway/speed bump/dip.