So many questions! (Coilovers)

[Zreberlcoe]

So I have used the search button r3v several times and have not found 100% clear cut advice for coilovers. My questions here are to the degree of: how I would approach buying coilovers, what spring rate, and what wheels and tires.
I'm trying to research as much as I can and being 17 and inexperienced I only understand some of the lingo and how much I have to save up.

First question:
Where should I start? My car is a 91 325i and I need to daily it and I would like to track and auto-x it as well.
I have looked at ground control and spoke slightly with Lambo about his set up and he said it costed him 1700 for the weld job from them and the whole coilovers set. That would take me quite some time to save. I was thinking since I'm leaning towards a lower price like Megan racing (http://www.meganracing.com/products/...roduct_id=1252) since they're cheaper. But I need to find a shop to do my fabrication for me or find the welder and tools to do it myself which all might just cost more and more money. So any more suggestions on different companies that are still as reputable as ground control?

Second question is instillation. What do I need besides a mig welder, grinder, and something to cut with? I will be replacing the stock springs and shocks so I have yet to do any suspension work in my life. This will be my first upgrade since I've been trying to do as much maintenance as I can to make the car solid, because again it's my daily.

Third question is wheels: I'm in the process of scouting out some 15" IX Basket Weaves. I know already the offset is different so I need spacers if I want to run them now. But any clue on what I would have to do, if anything, with a coilover set up? Would every companies coil over set up be different, therefore different spacers? And what tires should I run? I have a very good choice since I work at a discount tire and can get them for cheaper than usual. I know my dad runs 205/50/15's on his IX.

So any help would be great! Just answer as much or as little as you want and ask for clarification! I typed this on my iPhone through the Tapatalk app. My spending is tight so I want to have this down to a science before I commit.

Thank you so much!

[Cletonius]

Second question is instillation. What do I need besides a mig welder, grinder, and something to cut with? I will be replacing the stock springs and shocks so I have yet to do any suspension work in my life. This will be my first upgrade since I've been trying to do as much maintenance as I can to make the car solid, because again it's my daily.

You should replace all your bushings as well as your CSB and maybe guibo while you're in there. This is a major job, you should consider replacing as much as you can afford while you've got it all apart. I spent something like $1000 on bushings, ball joints, mounts, and all sorts of little bits on top of the $1500 kit from GC. The upside is that now everything (even shifter bushings) is all new down there.

Pull the rear subframe as a unit, it'll be much faster. Disassembly of the subframe assembly is literally a 10 min job once it's on the floor. It'll take an hour in the car, and you won't be able to paint it unless it comes out.

Check out your fuel tank too, they like to rust.

Be prepared for stuck bolts and rust, it may take several days. I had to replace brake and fuel lines when I did my suspension, we found all sorts of rot. I also had to cut a few bolts, so you may want to just suck it up and order all new bolts before you begin. I got all mine from blunt for like $100 shipped. The only thing he didn't have was the diff mount bolt but I got that off McMaster Carr for cheap. It was really nice to use all new hardware when reassembling, made the job go very quickly and I had the piece of mind knowing all the locknuts were new.....

[jlevie]

You have a +20 year old car that probably has a lot of deferred maintenance. I would not be surprised to find that it needs in excess of $2000 in parts to correct past neglect. Do that first, then consider suspension changes.

[EyExR]

I would keep it stock. It's an iX... :nice:

[6SPD]

I just dropped my rear subframe for a full poly bushing treatment, 3.46 diff, and SS brake lines. It was a solid weekend of fun dropping everything down. It's good to get in there and address everything because everything is important

[Cletonius]

You have a +20 year old car that probably has a lot of deferred maintenance. I would not be surprised to find that it needs in excess of $2000 in parts to correct past neglect. Do that first, then consider suspension changes.

Yes and no. If he's going to be doing a suspension overhaul why not just replace the shocks and springs with whatever he wants straight off? I don't think it's wise to do all that work just to have to do it again in a few months when you want to swap springs for something lower.

My car needed a trailing arm bushing and in the end I rebuilt everything under the car and ran all new fuel/brake lines to correct neglect. I went with coilovers right away because I knew I would have to do them later otherwise.