Springs for my daily: H&R OE Sports vs Sports?

[chrisisono]

Hi r3vlimited! I'm currently dailying my '90 325is, and i'm about to change the tired shocks and springs. I'm looking for a mild drop, but the roads here aren't the best. Would the .3-.4" extra on the Sport springs make that much of a difference, vs the 1" drop on the OE Sports?

[mike.bmw]

I've been running OE Sports (50404-55) for 5+ years on my 318is. Lower than stock, but still plenty of travel and clearance.

A 325i will sit a bit lower in the front than mine due to the heavier engine. (For reference in the event you look at my E30 thread for ride height.)

[82eye]

i'm running billies and the h&r 50406 kit, lowers the car about .75 to 1.5 inch, maybe a touch more. we have bad roads here, it's enough that i bought a skid plate to protect the transmission, i have not installed it yet but will be this spring.

edit: fcp euro and pelican claim different drop heights on the same springs.

[moatilliatta]

Id take a look at H&R cup kit, It'll ride better as its a matched package.

[strickland]

Second vote for adding a skid plate when you lower the car.

[ELVA164]

On my 87 325i daily, I've run Sports and Koni SAs (not a Bilstein guy) for over a decade in the Northeast. It's a great setup. Not uncomfortable, not too low to drive around and worry, never needed a skid plate, etc. I'll post a photo of the car here.

I've been running OE Sports (50404-55) for 5+ years on my 318is. Lower than stock, but still plenty of travel and clearance.

A 325i will sit a bit lower in the front than mine due to the heavier engine. (For reference in the event you look at my E30 thread for ride height.)

It looks like the spring rate is identical to the Sport, but the Sport drops the car another quarter of an inch or so. Would you consider that difference important re: oil pan height with an M42? I'm not interested in adding any agita to my daily life over a quarter of an inch if so.

[88Sedan]

These are OE sports in the front of my car, haven't got around to the rears yet. Koni SA's, GC touring plates. For myself I was actually surprised how much lower it made my car than stock, at least 1". However the weight of a skidplate, steering cooler, subframe reinforcement and a strut brace were all added at the same time. I wouldn't want the car any lower, first drive I scraped the skidplate leaving my driveway.

[Zzyzx85]

These are OE sports in the front of my car, haven't got around to the rears yet. Koni SA's, GC touring plates. For myself I was actually surprised how much lower it made my car than stock, at least 1". However the weight of a skidplate, steering cooler, subframe reinforcement and a strut brace were all added at the same time. I wouldn't want the car any lower, first drive I scraped the skidplate leaving my driveway.

Looks good. Do you have all the spring pads front and rear?

[88Sedan]

As far as I know the rear spring/pad setup is stock with bilstein dampers, the springs are just way sagged.

In the front I am using stock lower spring pad and upper spring pad but I remember the upper one seemed slightly thinner than the old one I removed, but not much. I expected the front to sit about .5" higher but I probably lost that due to the weight I mentioned. I would be working on the rear but stupid CA smog test failed me on the evap test (passed inspection and sniffer).

[e30davie]

I personally found the rear oe sport springs to be pretty good when paired with a thicker sway bar and putting in thinner spring pads. The front ones though I found were too soft and too high, I found some king springs (ausi brand) that are slightly stiffer and slightly lower. and it looks good and feels good. This is paired with koni yellows. Maybe others would disagree if they drove my car, but it feels good to me and is fun to drive whilst being nice on the street. certainly too soft for track things, but in saying that i have taken on the track a few times and its done pretty well all things considered. (just on road tyres, be much different with track tyres)

[MrBurgundy]

H&R race, B8s

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