ready to buy

[ctownhawk]

ive come to my decision and am in need of some help finding the right place to buy a set of IE3 springs with bilstein sports.

as far as the billy's, bavauto is having a sale for about 365.00 for all 4. is there any place that has them cheaper?

on the other hand, i have no idea where to buy the IE stage 3 springs. i've tried google, and cannot seem to find a set for my 89 325i

[e30polak]

go to bmw2002.com, that's jeff's website

[backtrail69]

BMA can also get the springs.

[ctownhawk]

ah, thanks. apparently i wasnt smart enough to check pages 2 and 3. found them though!

[whiltebeitel]

I really reccomend this setup. I've got used Billies, but it's great. The car looks awesome lowered, but I have to watch out for bumps in the road. The handling is much better, not perfect, but the shocks and springs don't fix everything by themselves. Make sure you go through your control arms and tie rod ends, shock mounts, and you may want to check exhaust bushing/brakets, rear diff mount, and swaybar links while you're at it. Trust me, if you do it like the Bently manual says, it will be worth it. You also don't need to take the front strut housings off if you're smart about it. That'll save you from buying 2 17mm and 2 19mm nyloc nuts.

[ctownhawk]

what all would i have to buy accompanied with the springs/shocks? i do plan to overhaul my suspension. new sway bars, anything the needs fixing. i was hoping that in order to do a drop i would just need to purchase the springs/shocks, but whiltebeitel makes it sound like i will need to purchase other "goodies".

[StereoInstaller1]

CABs.

[MikesJo]

rear shock mounts, control arms, tie-rods, control arm bushings, sway bar links and sway bar bushings, subframe bushings.

[whiltebeitel]

It's a "while you're there..." thing, because it's a PITA to change the other stuff at a later time. I would suggest, if you can afford it, to get all the sway bars, anything with a ball joint or rubber bushing that is starting to noticiably dry-rot or crumble or tear, camber plates, whatever you plan on installing suspension-wise, and getting it all over with at once, preferably with a some frosty beverage, good friends, plenty of tools, and even more time.

I will eventually install sways, m3 control arms and camber plates, but i cannot afford it. I did notice my upper strut bearings and rear shock mounts are getting old and dry-rotting. I saw the snow had taken it's told on my swaybar links, too. Jack your car up and look really closely at everything, check all the rubber boots, pinch them, squeeze them, if the crack or otherwise act funny, even a little bit, they should be replaced.

We own cars that are old enough to warrant this attention to detail, otherwise, you'll end up with something like this:

[ctownhawk]

seems like if i wait, anything that would need replacing asap would get even more deteriorated. im thinking i will replace as i go, instead of saving up for a few more months and getting everything done.

[whiltebeitel]

I don't blame you, and that's what I'm doing, but I really wish I had everything all at once. Taking off the front struts, make sure you get some PB blaster, even WD-40, and liberally spray the penentrant as you work on the front suspension. Don't wait until you have the springs off to soak it, you'll want to let it soak, and if you compress the stock springs enough, you can get the upper strut mount out from under the fender without getting it off the lower control arm or tie rod, which makes it easier to get the strut collar off. I got a friend to help me out, one person bracing the strut tube, the other with a big pipe wrench, leaning into it, and it was a lot easier than it could've been. I waited to use the spray until I had everything else off, and it took a 320 lb friend and I all we had to get that one off, the other, a much smaller friend had little trouble getting it loose after soaking it as I went along.
;)

Good Luck!

[ctownhawk]

thanks, ill be sure to lube it up =p