What are my options for slight slammage on an m42 car?

[Jb325is]

Guess the title is the question... Picking up a dirt cheap 318is this week, after a year of trying to buy it from a landscaping company storage lot :/

My biggest concern is the monster wheel gap.. What are my options with the m42? It's going to be my DD since I lowered my e34 too much to drive daily.. I want to pretty much do that to this car. Will I be happy with H&R race or Vogltands? If not I'll just get some GC sleeves and cut the strut housings, but that would really defeat the purpose of the DD

Basically, if you've got a 318 and it's pretty low post some pics plz thanks

[RedHoodRidah]

This is mine on GC's with modded front struts. 375lb front and 400lb rear if i remember correctly. Daily driven in some not so good streets if you have been to Rhode Island. No problem if you have the experience on driving a lowered car as you do already I assume.

[TwoJ's]

Nice wheels.

[DCColegrove]

I would recomend H&R Sports for a daily driver.
( shit breaks when you get too low and too stiff on the street.)

[Jb325is]

This is mine on GC's with modded front struts. 375lb front and 400lb rear if i remember correctly. Daily driven in some not so good streets if you have been to Rhode Island. No problem if you have the experience on driving a lowered car as you do already I assume.

Thats about what i'm looking for.. So did you just cut the perch off the strut housings or did you actually shorten them.

I'm with you on the red/gold


If not the Ground Controls I was thinking about h&r race.. Are vogtlands pretty low on e30's? I know they are on e34's

[z31maniac]

I'm of the opinion the E30 track kit is a pretty good setup for a DD.

375/lb front 475/lb rear, koni adj, shock mounts, camber/caster plates (even though Vorschalg's are much nicer) throw in there CAB bearings and you have a good, IMHO, suspension setup for an aggressive street car that gets occasionally auto-x'd or track'd.

[FLUTE007]

i vote h&r race with billy sports. i drive everyday with that and love it.

[RedHoodRidah]

I just cut the perch on the strut housings but going to be shortening the struts soon.

Your e34 looks amazing great stance especially with the rs's. I sold my wheels and have borbet type e's for now until I find some rs's or rm's.

[KenC]

i vote h&r race with billy sports. i drive everyday with that and love it.

Ditto. My M42 is riding on such and I wouldn't want to go any lower. However, I live in a large city, and I'm not the most careful driver.

[318isbmw]

Ditto. My M42 is riding on such and I wouldn't want to go any lower. However, I live in a large city, and I'm not the most careful driver.

Same here for the time being. Love the setup and planning right now to get some gc's with same ratio cuz I love the setup but want lower.
Ken your city sucks for roads, it ate my rieger lip the day I put it on at funk's shop

[Danny]

Same here

:D

[NOMAD]

I just cut the perch on the strut housings but going to be shortening the struts soon.

Your e34 looks amazing great stance especially with the rs's. I sold my wheels and have borbet type e's for now until I find some rs's or rm's.

So you didn't have to shorten the strut tubes and reweld? I figured this was the case but most seem to go with shortening the tubes, at least those who post.

I was thinking of the coilovers option. I have Billy sport fronts and don't want to shorten tubes. Would I be ok just cutting the perch off and using it as the sleeve perch?

I'm planning on tying out Vogtlands first.

[RedHoodRidah]

So you didn't have to shorten the strut tubes and reweld? I figured this was the case but most seem to go with shortening the tubes, at least those who post.

I was thinking of the coilovers option. I have Billy sport fronts and don't want to shorten tubes. Would I be ok just cutting the perch off and using it as the sleeve perch?

I'm planning on tying out Vogtlands first.

Yes its ok to just cut the perch and slide the sleeve over and let it sit on the weld around the strut housing. Only downfall to that is that you can't go lower due to the strut housing not being shortened obviously. I got the idea off a member from here which is in the DIY coilover installation thread. My fronts are turned all the way down with the cut perch and I wouldn't want to go any lower since my oil pan is about 1.5" off the ground with no skid plate. My rears have about half inch to go down. I will be going with the shortened struts just to change the stance for everytime I get new wheels.

Those wheels I had on there were 15x7 with 215-45's I believe and the fronts rubbed when fully turned.

One other thing I was thinking about was lets say someone is not planning on running coilovers...If you cut the perch weld it further down and get shorter shocks would'nt that be a good way to go lower?

[Teaguer]

Racing Dynamics progressive green springs with Bekkers drop hats in front :






For what you are after I believe just going with any nice name brand springs coupled with drop hats in front and no spring pads in rear will give you the look you want and still give a decent ride.
Plus its cheaper and easier than going with a name brand coil-overs .

Oh and here is stock height the day i bought it :


:D

[NOMAD]

Redhood-
I think the spring perch would get in the way with regular springs.
What offset were those wheels? Where did they rub? The splashguard?
I plan on running 15x7 et20 with 205/50/15 azenis I have.

I may consider this then because I like the ability to change spring rates. I'd probably have the perch set a little higher than yours and tune out movement with spring rate and sways.

But yeah, that pan is bout the same height as the front i-lip I have.

Teaguer -
Nice stance too! What rear wing is that?
Scrape your lip much? :D