330i non sport want to upgrade susp.

[uly]

I own a 2001 330i with the non sport pacakage. I want to lower the car a little bit (a sport drop) I was looking at the H&R sport springs or the sport springs that BAS offers. My question is, is it necessary to get sport shocks? ex. Bilstein or Koni. According to the H&R and BAS these springs work fine with the stock shocks. I will also upgrade my wheels to 18".

[VT325XI]

I have received a set of H&R springs from http://www.turnermotorsports.com out of the Boston, MA area. They were the best price around at $230 shipped overnight to my house. I have also bought a lot of other items from them. I am having them installed on 26 Feb 2002. I know Marvel will say I should do it. But I am suffering here in VT from the winter and cannot work in the cold for very long in the garage. Anyways the dealer said they do all kinds of custom lowerings for Porsche cars and will give me a good deal on the install as it is their first 325Xi they are lowering. I plan on having some comparison pics of the before and after. I looked up the specs in my new Bentley manual on the differences. Basically it will be about 1/4" lower than your car with the non-sport package. But it will not be as low as the sport package. I am keeping the OEM shocks and sway bar as the Xi has a fatter sway bar than the non-sport package. What you might want to try is checking out H&R springs and the UUC Swaybarbarian that Marvel has installed on his 330i. You can even get the adjustable end links for it to tighten it up further. Good luck on your search.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: VT325XI on 2002-02-22 21:36 ]</font>

[uly]

Thanks, so basically the difference between my car and your car(sport option) is the springs right? the shocks and all the other suspension components are the same correct? You see my main thing is that I want to drop my car a little with the sport springs H&R or eibach, uuc or bas, but I dont want a bouncy ride.

[VT325XI]

Actually my struts are different than yours, mine actually have less travel. According to the Bentley manual which I highly recommend you get before doing any work. Also found online at previously mentioned website.

The reason why mine has less travel is due to the front drive axle which passes through the lower section of where your strut is.

[VT325XI]

According to Bentley the ride heights for the E46 are assumming we both have 17" wheels...

Front wheels
Std suspension=23.77 inches.
Sport suspension=23.19 inches.
AWD suspension=24.44 inches.

Rear wheels
Std suspension=22.44 inches.
Sport suspension=21.81 inches.
AWD suspension=23.11 inches.

Now the H&R springs subtract 1.2 front and 1.0 rear on both our cars. So mine will be lowered almost as much as the sport suspension in the front and rear. And actually lower than your car currently is now. If you do the same yours will be setup lower than the sport package BMW sells.

[uly]

thanks, so basically if im going to drop it even with the sport drop i should get the sport shocks to go with it.

[VT325XI]

It all comes down to a matter of cost. You could even look into the Bilstein coliover package for your car. This includes adjustable height coils and nicer shocks and struts. Marvel has the installation in his garage section. It looks like another alternative. I am given less affordable options with my Xi. An equivalent package goes for $1399 for H&R coilovers vs $899 for the Bilstein coilovers.

[uly]

I just saw something very interesting for those who want to lower there cars without changing the springs. BMP offers a hat kit for aftermarket and stock springs that will lower the car an additional 1/2" inch without changing the springs. I saw someone post it on my330ci.com message board. there 159.00 for a set of 2.