Refreshed suspension, front sits too high now, options?

[Vincent Brick]

I just completed a full suspension refresh with Koni SA, Sachs upper mounts, new spring isolators, just about everything in the front except I retained my mystery lowering springs because I really liked the height it was at. Once complete the front sat obviously too high, so I immediately bought the E90 drop hats, but it still sits 1/2" higher than it was and I am looking for options to try and bring it back down.

Does anyone know if any of the available camber plates for stock springs drop more than the E90 hats? Does anyone know of front springs that slam as low as the KWs which appear to be NLA, or other really low linear rate front spring? I've been researching spring options and continue to do so, but hopefully someone more up on what is commonly available can chime in.

Goal for the car is simply low daily driver on a "budget" but without skimping with cheap China junk. If I could go back in time I would have just got GC, but initially thought it was excessive for my needs both in performance and expense. Thanks for your opinions.

[SmokeE30]

cut a coil and test drive

[noahsense]

The most obvious thing is that it might take a week or so for the suspension to settle. Also worn front strut mounts can be compress by ~2cm so new mounts will increase front height.

[Vincent Brick]

I keep looking at the car and before/after pics and I really can't tell if the front is higher, the back lower, or both. I figured the springs might settle into the new rubber pad some, and I did camber/toe kit in the rear at the same time so that could be effecting it. It just looks funky too me.

I may take the front lower spring pads out, but I don't think that will do much, or I may go with a slightly thicker pad in the rear to not tuck so much and get its rake back, not sure yet. Or I might just get a GC setup, or I might just stick it out until I replace it with an S2000, we'll see.....


Here's how it currently sits, I probably shouldn't be trippin' on it. Before is in my sig. Tires are same size but the old ones had blockier sidewalls

[noahsense]

Refreshed suspension, front sits too high now, options?

It looks good- these cars shouldn't have any rake. Some people get hung up on the rear arches but the ass-high alternative looks funny. The bottom of your car and the roof are parallel to the ground which is a good sign.

[TimeMachinE30]

Looks pimp to me. Certainly things will settle a bit.

[djjerme]

Just start dating more fat chicks.


Problem solved.


But in all seriousness, the lower arches are always going to make the front look a little higher, and give it that "reverse rake" look. Unless you want to start with an earlier diving board chassis, you'll eventually get used to it.

Or maybe not.

[cWalk3r]

You can always buy thinner spring pads for the front and thicker ones for the rear. That will even things out. That's what I did with my e30 vert.

[iwantspeed]

what most likely is the issue is that the old strut bearing mount was collapsed and the new mount is physically taller

[iwantspeed]

old vs new
the old mount is really smashed and the new one is noticeably taller.


old
2.344


new
2.517


difference is .173 thousands of an inch

[AndrewBird]

So a little over a 1/8". The rubber on the old mount probably flexes a lot more than the old one causing more of a drop. I bet over the next few months the new mounts will settle more.

[estoguy]

I think it looks fine. The new components will eventually settle in. As the others said, they do compress over time.

[Vincent Brick]

Yeah I didn't measure but figured right away it was totally the mounts collapsed, and I had replaced missing spring isolators up front. I've gotten used to it now, and though I do wish it was a little lower, I feel this is as low as I can go without spending considerably more money (not feeling cheap China coilovers), and it is nice not scraping all the time anymore. Thanks for the reassurance that it looks alright.

[dishwab]

I think it looks great, maybe throw another extra spring pad in the rear but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it

[FireFight]

Just start dating more fat chicks.

Problem solved.