Ok guys help me out a little bit. I have read a lot of posts on what to change as far as mounts and worn items and have a pretty good grasp on those. But I guess I should have paid more attention in auto shop. I am going to lower my car this weekend and replace some worn bushings and shocks, struts. I have my eye on h&r and also eibach springs. My qustion is: how hard is this going to be? I have heard talk about struts being a pain in the you know what. I have a very skilled mechanic friend but is clueless on bimmers and anything about them. Any suggestions would be very helpful. The kit says it will lower the car approx 1.8" in front and also 1.5" in the rear, any caution I need on tire and wheels? I am planning on a set of 17" with a moderate profile tire later after the car rides better.
1990 325i confusion
- Thread starter JacksonP
- Start date
Okay, I just lowered my E30 by myself a few months ago (no pics yet). I had never really done shocks before. Rears you can do with your eyes shut. Just change the upper mount and paper gasket and you're good to go.
The fronts... I undid the swaybar link mounting nut underneath the control arm, and snapped each bolt. Got new brackets and swaybar link. Beauty.
Take note of the order of the washers after you take the upper spring cap off.
When you get the front springs off the strut, there are externally threaded caps that hold the shock inside the strut. These are a M----r F----ker to get off without using a torch and a pipe wrench (unless your caps have a hex head).
You might as well put new upper front strut bearings on.
Be carefull about splitting your dust boots.
Do one tire at a time... if there are problems with re-assembly, you can always check the one that is still together.
I did this job over four evenings when I got home from work. 1 tire each night. It's pretty straight forward. I didn't pay much attention in auto class, but then again, all I ever worked on in those classes was an old Audi 5000.
Hope you have a compressor and Impact gun. Any problems, ask us anything.
OH YEAH! It's probably better if you have the 17's ready to mount... I'm still on 205/50 R15's... Lowered 1.7 at the front, 1.5 at the rear (Intrax springs)... and I'm bottoming out my catalytic sometimes... the heat shield is rattling around now.![[:o]](/images/smilies/redface.png "Embarrassment [:o]")
The fronts... I undid the swaybar link mounting nut underneath the control arm, and snapped each bolt. Got new brackets and swaybar link. Beauty.
Take note of the order of the washers after you take the upper spring cap off.
When you get the front springs off the strut, there are externally threaded caps that hold the shock inside the strut. These are a M----r F----ker to get off without using a torch and a pipe wrench (unless your caps have a hex head).
You might as well put new upper front strut bearings on.
Be carefull about splitting your dust boots.
Do one tire at a time... if there are problems with re-assembly, you can always check the one that is still together.
I did this job over four evenings when I got home from work. 1 tire each night. It's pretty straight forward. I didn't pay much attention in auto class, but then again, all I ever worked on in those classes was an old Audi 5000.
Hope you have a compressor and Impact gun. Any problems, ask us anything.
OH YEAH! It's probably better if you have the 17's ready to mount... I'm still on 205/50 R15's... Lowered 1.7 at the front, 1.5 at the rear (Intrax springs)... and I'm bottoming out my catalytic sometimes... the heat shield is rattling around now.
Rubbing will depend on the offset of the 17's. Must be between ET25 and ET35 (can run ET20 in some instances - I am).
Rears are a piece of weasels but fronts can be tricky for the uninitiated. Lots of little traps but if you post up a question here before you wreck it each time you get stuck should be able to talk you through.
Good luck.
P.S> I'm picking up some H&R's today to raise mine up a touch and get better handling, so could do a write up I guess if you're prepared to wait about 10 days - which is how long it is going to be before I have time to do it.)
Rears are a piece of weasels but fronts can be tricky for the uninitiated. Lots of little traps but if you post up a question here before you wreck it each time you get stuck should be able to talk you through.
Good luck.
P.S> I'm picking up some H&R's today to raise mine up a touch and get better handling, so could do a write up I guess if you're prepared to wait about 10 days - which is how long it is going to be before I have time to do it.)
Thanks for the very useful information guys.
Echo, the photo you have posted in your box is the look I am going for. Even the wheels look identical! I did order my kit, going with eibach pro line springs, and bilstine sport shocks. A long q&a with the helpful guys at nopi brought on the parts decision. Im going to check on the offset before I purchase my wheels (great advice). I will definatly give a report after its all done, I recruited my shop manager where I work to help with everything. He seems to be a bmw genius. He did a front clip conversion from his 95 to a 03? I think, or something like that. I thought it might be wise to lower the car before I purchase the wheels, just in case of needing to go a different size. I may be a little worried about my cat scraping after I change my exhaust now. A turbo might be in my near future and I will be swappping to a race cat and supersprint mid pipe and muffler and would probably cuss down if it got scraped off. These could be thinner than stock, I havent done any research yet.
Anyway thanks for the great help.
Echo, the photo you have posted in your box is the look I am going for. Even the wheels look identical! I did order my kit, going with eibach pro line springs, and bilstine sport shocks. A long q&a with the helpful guys at nopi brought on the parts decision. Im going to check on the offset before I purchase my wheels (great advice). I will definatly give a report after its all done, I recruited my shop manager where I work to help with everything. He seems to be a bmw genius. He did a front clip conversion from his 95 to a 03? I think, or something like that. I thought it might be wise to lower the car before I purchase the wheels, just in case of needing to go a different size. I may be a little worried about my cat scraping after I change my exhaust now. A turbo might be in my near future and I will be swappping to a race cat and supersprint mid pipe and muffler and would probably cuss down if it got scraped off. These could be thinner than stock, I havent done any research yet.
Anyway thanks for the great help.
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