Moderate lowering springs/shocks?

[oldcarman]

Is it possible to go to a spring shop and have some springs custom made to your spec? We have a fellow in the street rod club that builds suspensions for many of the cars built and can tailor build to suit the owners driving requirements. JIM

 

[Alan W]

Okay.. have reply back from Eibach.. they do not make 20mm lowering springs for a Z3 Roadster, only the M

So the eBay seller gave me a bum steer and I will be contacting them

Its a shame as 20mm would have been perfect for me..

 

[Gundun]

...Its a shame as 20mm would have been perfect for me..

Yep, same here, thanks for going through the hassle of asking around mate
I'd like to think they made a mistake and they had good intentions, but I had already pictured the situation where you work your bum off a whole day or spend a few grand by a garage to fit them, only to find out it's too low for you and have nowhere to take it from there...

 

[Gundun]

Small update as I stumbled upon these ones that promise -20mm at the back and -35 at the front (I could do with it)
https://www.lowtec.de/en/bmw/z/z3/3254/lowtec-sport-springs?c=284

 

[stevov]

get the eibach pros with the thickest rear spring pads will lower rear approx 20 mm. The eibachs are a progressive spring as opposed to the BMW stock linear spring.The progressive spring actually give a better more compliant ride as well as being firmer. Another option which works for the smaller engined zeds is fitting lowering springs rated for the 3.0 ltr as they won't drop as much due to the lower weight especially at the front. I know this works as I did it on mine.

 

[oldcarman]

Good to know @ stevov? Have been following this with interest as I don't want to drop my car to far due to roads around me! JIM

 

[stevov]

Glad to help mate. I lived in Canada for 23 years 69-93. I have fond memories of deep woods logging roads. Sat my test in a 73 grande

 

[oldcarman]

Glad to help mate. I lived in Canada for 23 years 69-93. I have fond memories of deep woods logging roads. Sat my test in a 73 grande

Must have been on the west coast by the sounds of the inclines!! Nothing even close to that in Manitoba or Saskatchewan! The dog ran away and we could still see it three days later!! JIM

 

[stevov]

East coast actually. New Brunswick. Not as massive forests as the west coast but plenty of forestry roads to keep amused.

 

[oldcarman]

If we weren't raising our Granddaughter we'd be living in Nova Scotia! We just love it there and have some best friends living there. Didn't realize NB. had such inclines though. JIM

 

[5harp3y]

honestly, 30mm isnt low or non compliant

feels like a lot of faffing around for 10mm when there are dozens of manufacturers making decent, cost effective 30mm springs

 

[Gundun]

I'd like to recover this thread as I might have had a revelation.
Looking for the reference of the infamous "sport" springs that are nowhere to be found, not even on Realoem, I might have had an idea.

If all I wanted is just the car lowered from 10 to 15mm, wouldn't just be enough to use modified spring plates at the front and thinner spring pads at the back?
Standard spring pads are 22mm, if I mounted 10mm thick ones my car would be 12mm lower right away.
Furthermore there are modified spring plates such as [url=THESE]http://www.ebay.de/itm/Tieferlegungs-Federteller-BMW-Z3-R-C-E36-Roadster-1-9-118PS-Bj-7-98-1-03-2WD-/351635404319[/URL] that might pull the trick.

Besides I am very happy with the ride quality and I do not wish for a harsher one.
Thoughts?

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Went from 10mm thick spring pads on the back of mine to 5mm thick, lowered the car by around 10mm just by doing that, something to do with the rear suspension layout. If I was prepared to run the car without the pads at all it would go even lower, but don't like the idea of metal-to-metal contact, could be noisy and cause a lot of wear.

 

[Antm72]

Spring pads are normally only 5mm as standard so if you have 22mm fitted its going to be lifting the car alot!
Not sure how you mod the front to do the same but changing the rears will make the difference you are looking for.

 

[Gundun]

Spring pads are normally only 5mm as standard so if you have 22mm fitted its going to be lifting the car alot!
Not sure how you mod the front to do the same but changing the rears will make the difference you are looking for.

For the front it's the easiest: there are deeper spring plates to swap with the originals

I can't bet on it but I have the feeling the restylings are generally higher than the pre. I saw the upper pad (the one with the stop bumper that looks like a titty ) is 22mm thick, the lower pads I've seen them vary quite a bit (5-10-15mm)

I am not sure I can replace also the upper one as I haven't seen different versions than the standard, but I've seen there are companies that make them in PU so in principle it can be done.

As for the front, deeper spring plates should do, I just don't know if I need to equip stoppers as well...

 

[the Nefyn cat]

As you say, the top rear spring pad seems only to be one thickness, looked for a thinner one when I did mine, but the lower comes in several thicknesses, cost less than £10 over here for the pair.

 

[Gundun]

As you say, the top rear spring pad seems only to be one thickness, looked for a thinner one when I did mine, but the lower comes in several thicknesses, cost less than £10 over here for the pair.

That seems to be correct, with the top being 22mm (a lot) thick.
As for the lower, I even found PU stackable ones made to find the best fitment. If 5mm less on the pad give a 10mm drop in ride height I would say it's good enough for me.

Here in Belgium shiny red/yellow springs or coilovers will most likely give me troubles at MOT.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Should maybe have said earlier, if your beam bushes are as knackered as mine were before I went the polybush way then they will make a difference to the ride-height. I had about an inch (25mm) up and down movement on the old ones, and that translates to a lot more movement at the wheel. Fitting the new bushes and keeping the beam in the same position all the time had the effect of lifting the back end quite a bit, so a bit pointless messing about with other stuff if your bushes are the same.

 

[Dickymint]

I want to replace the springs on mine at some point but want to have the same ride height and firmness that the Sport springs give so I think my only option is to have them made but do they have the specs to make them? as it would be pointless using my old springs as a pattern... also the front shocks have extra parts to then so not sure what I'd do there

 

[Bozzy]

I want to replace the springs on mine at some point but want to have the same ride height and firmness that the Sport springs give so I think my only option is to have them made but do they have the specs to make them? as it would be pointless using my old springs as a pattern... also the front shocks have extra parts to then so not sure what I'd do there

You can still buy sport shocks and springs from BMW,I enquired at Sytners in Nottingham a while back BUT if I remember right it's over 2 grand.