[Momir13]

Putting some b6s on the car soon, was thinking of doing springs but want a minimal drop.

Is it possible for me to use the M sport springs instead of the other minimal lowering springs like hr and acs?

Thanks guys.

[DL335D]

If you are going to instal lowering spring such as eibach or H&R I think you need B8s as they are made for lowering springs.

[Momir13]

Thanks for the response ,

That's why I asked

As from reading the forums there's tons of conflicting Info

Some claim b6 are fine for anything that's not over a 20mm drop some say they work fine for over. Etc

It has left me very confused.

Some drop their x drives without touching the shocks at all it seems ....
so how would that work at all if the b8s are required for a drop ???

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Momir13

Thanks for the response ,

That's why I asked

As from reading the forums there's tons of conflicting Info

Some claim b6 are fine for anything that's not over a 20mm drop some say they work fine for over. Etc

It has left me very confused.

Some drop their x drives without touching the shocks at all it seems ....
so how would that work at all if the b8s are required for a drop ???

You have an interesting setup since DHP is a fairly rare option. Don't know how accurate my perception is, but I think of it as having intelligent adjustable sway bars. I have a standard suspension on my 335ix but I upgraded my sway bars to H&R. Mine would be considered a non-intelligent passive sway bar system.

Do you also have the adaptive suspension option? Again I think of that as having intelligent adjustable shock absorbers. The shocks all have a wired connection back to a computer brain that makes adjustments on the fly.

How did you come to the decision to install Bilstein B6 Shocks? What characteristics were you looking for in a shock upgrade? What other shocks have you considered, if any? (B6's lead me to assume that you don't have an adaptive suspension.)

You mentioned wanting a moderate drop springs upgrade. I'd recommend Eibachs. They get rid of most of the BMW reverse rake inherent in xDrive where the front gap is larger. Eibach drops 0.8" in front and 0.6" in rear. Also Eibachs are only 10% firmer than stock so more control without teeth rattling. Eibach springs are a great choice with an xDrive whether the suspension is standard or adaptive.

Keep the adaptive shocks, if you have them. If you have the standard suspension, you may want to consider the Eibach springs with, in no particular order, a) adjustable Koni Yellow Sport, b) Bilstein B8's, or c) Koni Special Actives.

I've got H&R sway bars, Eibach Springs and Koni Special Active Shocks. They all work well together. Koni even tested their Special Actives with Eibach Springs. Koni developed SA technology with McLaren to have a valve at a frequency that provides cornering control and a valve that operates at a frequency to control rough roads.

Hope this helps!

[Momir13]

Cheers for the detailed response man.

Quick run through

DHP at least in the older f30s means you get the electronic dampeners and sport variable steering, that's it I believe.

Next they make b6s for the adaptive dampeners they have both versions, the b4 are identical to the stock ones.

FCP euro is on back order and I guess that's the norm now since they're no longer in production or something???

So I may be stuck going with the kw actives.

Spring wise I was hoping to just use the standard m sport springs off a rwd.

I've found evidence of people doing that on here but never with pics or much detail.

So just trying to see if I can get more details on what x drive dropped on m sport springs looks like, if it's on b6s even better

Reason I'm switching shocks/struts is my front left one is leaking

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Momir13

Putting some b6s on the car soon, was thinking of doing springs but want a minimal drop.

Is it possible for me to use the M sport springs instead of the other minimal lowering springs like hr and acs?

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by Momir13

Thanks for the response ,

That's why I asked

As from reading the forums there's tons of conflicting Info

Some claim b6 are fine for anything that's not over a 20mm drop some say they work fine for over. Etc

It has left me very confused.

Some drop their x drives without touching the shocks at all it seems ....
so how would that work at all if the b8s are required for a drop ???

Originally Posted by Momir13

Cheers for the detailed response man.

Quick run through

DHP at least in the older f30s means you get the electronic dampeners and sport variable steering, that's it I believe.

Next they make b6s for the adaptive dampeners they have both versions, the b4 are identical to the stock ones.

FCP euro is on back order and I guess that's the norm now since they're no longer in production or something???

So I may be stuck going with the kw actives.

Spring wise I was hoping to just use the standard m sport springs off a rwd.

I've found evidence of people doing that on here but never with pics or much detail.

So just trying to see if I can get more details on what x drive dropped on m sport springs looks like, if it's on b6s even better

Reason I'm switching shocks/struts is my front left one is leaking

Springs from RWD M-Sport package cars will fit, but you don't know if they'll be the same spring rate as your existing ones. If you know the spring rates, and are comfortable with them, then using RWD M-Sport springs is a perfectly valid way of lowering. The springs used for "M-Sport" varies though depending on the car chassis and configuration.

You can use very mild lowering springs with Bilstein B6 passive dampers. I wouldn't recommend springs that lower more than 0.5" in the front due to the B6 struts' internal bump stops. They'll already be engaged at static ride height if you go lower and don't have much travel. The rear passive B6 dampers can be used with lower springs, since they use an OE style bump stop, which you can swap for F8x ones or cut yourself.

B6 damptronic front struts don't use internal bump stops (since they're not monotube), and use the OE style ones instead, so you can use lowering springs with them.

Beware people just saying things "they heard" without any confirmation or detailed research. There's a lot of that on the forums and is what's leading to the conflicting info you're saying you've seen. I've actually taken B6 struts apart and measured my damper travel before bump stop engagement, and am running custom bump stops in my existing B6 bodies.

[Momir13]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Springs from RWD M-Sport package cars will fit, but you don't know if they'll be the same spring rate as your existing ones. If you know the spring rates, and are comfortable with them, then using RWD M-Sport springs is a perfectly valid way of lowering. The springs used for "M-Sport" varies though depending on the car chassis and configuration.

You can use very mild lowering springs with Bilstein B6 passive dampers. I wouldn't recommend springs that lower more than 0.5" in the front due to the B6 struts' internal bump stops. They'll already be engaged at static ride height if you go lower and don't have much travel. The rear passive B6 dampers can be used with lower springs, since they use an OE style bump stop, which you can swap for F8x ones or cut yourself.

B6 damptronic front struts don't use internal bump stops (since they're not monotube), and use the OE style ones instead, so you can use lowering springs with them.

Beware people just saying things "they heard" without any confirmation or detailed research. There's a lot of that on the forums and is what's leading to the conflicting info you're saying you've seen. I've actually taken B6 struts apart and measured my damper travel before bump stop engagement, and am running custom bump stops in my existing B6 bodies.

Hey you had some great insights .
so if I have the adaptive b6s I shouldnt worry about switching bumpstops if I only lowered the car on m3 springs? Since the lowering was minimal about 10 mm in front after the B6 adaptives raised it slightly and 8mm in the back

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Momir13

Hey you had some great insights .
so if I have the adaptive b6s I shouldnt worry about switching bumpstops if I only lowered the car on m3 springs? Since the lowering was minimal about 10 mm in front after the B6 adaptives raised it slightly and 8mm in the back

If you have the ability to do so, I'd run a bump stop travel test, particularly for the front, since there usually isn't much travel there. You're probably fine in the rear with that amount of lowering.

You'll first need to measure the ride height when the car is just sitting on the ground. I recommend measuring form the center of the hub to the fender. Then put the front of the car on jackstands (or really you can just put the one corner you'll be measuring in the air), take off the wheel, disconnect the sway bar end link, and then using a jack, jack up the knuckle/rotor assembly till the hub to fender measurement is the same as when the car was on the ground. Then you'll be able to pull the dust boot up and measure how much damper travel you have before bump stop engagement.

You can see me doing this in the video below. For just the front, start at 0:28, and then 3:35.

Originally Posted by Index

0:00 Intro
0:28 Ride height pre-measurements
0:57 Under the hood work before raising the car
2:26 Jack points and raising the car
3:13 Removing the wheels
3:35 Stock bump stop travel
4:57 Front wheel well hardware disassembly
6:01 Front strut removal
8:07 Front strut disassembly
8:42 Front strut reassembly
10:12 Front strut installation
11:53 Front wheel well hardware reassembly
12:50 Rear wheel well hardware disassembly
13:27 Rear camber arm overview
14:38 Rear damper removal
15:05 Rear damper disassembly
15:56 Rear damper reassembly
16:33 Rear spring removal
17:14 Rear spring installation
17:28 Rear damper installation
18:24 Rear camber arm reassembly/fastening
21:03 Rear wheel well hardware reassembly
21:35 Putting the wheels back on
21:48 Lowering the car
21:54 Reassembling things under the hood
22:56 Torquing the wheel bolts

[Momir13]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

If you have the ability to do so, I'd run a bump stop travel test, particularly for the front, since there usually isn't much travel there. You're probably fine in the rear with that amount of lowering.

You'll first need to measure the ride height when the car is just sitting on the ground. I recommend measuring form the center of the hub to the fender. Then put the front of the car on jackstands (or really you can just put the one corner you'll be measuring in the air), take off the wheel, disconnect the sway bar end link, and then using a jack, jack up the knuckle/rotor assembly till the hub to fender measurement is the same as when the car was on the ground. Then you'll be able to pull the dust boot up and measure how much damper travel you have before bump stop engagement.

You can see me doing this in the video below. For just the front, start at 0:28, and then 3:35.

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

If you have the ability to do so, I'd run a bump stop travel test, particularly for the front, since there usually isn't much travel there. You're probably fine in the rear with that amount of lowering.

You'll first need to measure the ride height when the car is just sitting on the ground. I recommend measuring form the center of the hub to the fender. Then put the front of the car on jackstands (or really you can just put the one corner you'll be measuring in the air), take off the wheel, disconnect the sway bar end link, and then using a jack, jack up the knuckle/rotor assembly till the hub to fender measurement is the same as when the car was on the ground. Then you'll be able to pull the dust boot up and measure how much damper travel you have before bump stop engagement.

You can see me doing this in the video below. For just the front, start at 0:28, and then 3:35.

Beautiful man! This is excellent advice )))