front drop on H&R sports WAY too low

[taiden]

I put some 29664 H&R sports on my 85 318i.

I ended up with a 2.25" drop in the front, and a 1.25" drop in the rear.

From my brief research, it should be a 1.25" drop in the front.

Any idea as to where my 1" of ride height went?

My spring pads are still there. The only other thing is my front sway bar is disconnected at the moment, but I don't think this would account for 1" of ride height.

www.h-r.com/bin/29664.pdf << spring spec sheet

[Exodus_2pt0]

What was you're ride height before/after?

That would give you a good idea if it is just defective springs or something else.

[LJ851]

Doesn't make sense, are the springs new?

[taiden]

The springs are not new, but I have never in my life seen a car sag 1.0" over time.

Not sure what you are getting at with before/after measurements and it having to do with defective springs. The drops I listed were found by taking the difference between stock ride height and dropped ride height.

It's incredible how much more the front is dropped. I have all my spring pads installed.

[taiden]

Also the free length is exactly what free length is on the spec sheet. I measured everything during install.

[CW325]

Maybe your car just sat higher than usual on the stock springs..? Post pictures of how they look now

[taiden]

That's certainly possible.

Sorry it's too dark for pictures. But from center of the wheel (where the rondel center is), following a vertical line to the fender, here is my ride height in inches.

front: 13.0"
rear: 13.5

Early wheel arches

Left and right heights are within 0.5" of each other, but the numbers above are averages. The variance in left to right heights are identical to the variance in heights on stock springs.

[Exodus_2pt0]

If you measured the ride height before, and after, you would know exactly how much the springs dropped your car.

Comparing specs doesn't say much on a 20+ year old vehicle.

[taiden]

If you measured the ride height before, and after, you would know exactly how much the springs dropped your car.

This is what I did.

[CW325]

Assuming your on stock wheels, how much gap Is there between the tires and fender?

[taiden]

Alright here is my measurement sheet.

                        front      rear
ride height stock       15.25"     14.5"
            H&R         13.00"     13.5"
            difference  2.25"      1.0"


free length stock       14.25"     9.5"
            H&R         10.75"     8.0"

[taiden]

Assuming your on stock wheels, how much gap Is there between the tires and fender?

Hard to say because it's so far tucked that from the outside edge of the tire to the fender is almost 45° from vertical, but my measurements should give you an idea. Measurements were taken from the center of the wheel, straight vertical to the fender.

[mlytle64]

87 325 before H&R sports


same car after H&R sports. drop was almost exactly as advertisted, about 1 in.

[taiden]

That's what I was hoping for, but were they the 29664?

[taiden]

I hate posting these pictures because they are misleading. The front looks much lower in person.