Time for new suspension me thinks!

Mike Trident

Mike Trident

Dedicated Member
British Zeds
Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Points
29
Location
Liversedge West Yorkshire
Model of Z
2.0 ltr Roadster
Well, I have owned my Z3 for a month now and although I love it generally, I had my first high speed run in it at the weekend. What a disappointment! not really the cars fault, I guess it's time for new suspension all round as I felt totally disconnected from the road and more like riding a boat. Staying in one lane was quite difficult.

Please tell me that with new shocks and springs it will be better lol.
 
Either suspension, bushes or tyres mate. I had the 3.0 Z3 and that stuck to the road like glue. The set up i had was Bilsteins and Apex Lowering Springs and it had on Conti Contact Sport Tyres
 
Mine was the same when stock .added the strut brace first which helped with the roll but went on to lower again like @billz with Apex springs and Sach sportsline dampers.
Tyres do have an impact but if no tramlining they should be ok.
Not had any issues with tramlining on my zed to be honest on he third set of tyres due to wheel changes and all have behaved running uniroyal rainsport 3's all round now.
It may just be tired dampers a good start point.
 
If you want to keep it pretty much standard then obviously OEM replacement shocks & springs. If you don't mind dropping 30mm on the ride height then I would recommend the Eibach Pro springs which you can get off eBay (German sellers) for around the £150-£170 mark. Shock wise Sachs/Boge from GSF and the likes are straight OEM replacements. Upgrades to these would be the Bilstein B4, or if you want sportier shocks the B6.

You will also want to consider new shock top mounts as these have a limited life as well - the rears suffer more.

Before you start you do need to make sure as well is that all the rubber components on the suspension are in good shape too. The Z3 rear end in particular gets floppy after all those years, so a thorough visual inspection underneath is recommended.
 
ive gone for eibach -30mm springs and bilstein b4 and its like night and day.

still understeers but thats inherent in the z3 i think. plus no camber adjustment upfront to help.
 
@GazHyde I've got springs to fit in a couple weeks time, with no time to have a check around the rear end before then.
Was thinking of ordering some rear shock mounts incase they need doing.
What else is cheap and worth doing while I'm at it?
 
The only other items in there that are easily accessible are the anti roll bar bushes and drop links. Would be worth giving your diff bush a good look over as they are prone to failing at this age.
 
Mike Trident said:
Well, I have owned my Z3 for a month now and although I love it generally, I had my first high speed run in it at the weekend. What a disappointment! not really the cars fault, I guess it's time for new suspension all round as I felt totally disconnected from the road and more like riding a boat. Staying in one lane was quite difficult.

Please tell me that with new shocks and springs it will be better lol.
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My thoughts are always start with the cheapest option,and that would probably be the ARB bushes drop links and maybe the diff bush and while your underneath you can check the others.but you sometimes can't tell how shagged they are just by looking.made a big difrence to mine and I thought my suspension was shot 3 years later it's still ok
 
My Z3 used to tramline and be very squirrelly under braking. I feel the Z3 is very sensitive to tyres. I have rebuilt my suspension and it is well planted now on Pilot Sport 3 all round, however when I swapped my standard wheels back on with some almost new Triple-A tyres from China it felt nervous again. Back to back comparison, Same size wheels / tyres / car / road and driver. No tramlining on PS3's, Pulling / Darting and Tramlining on Triple-A's
 
miller1098 said:
Doesn't seem to matter what sort of tyres are on mine ,so far.
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Mine too but has had everything else done too so most componants add a little. When i fitted the last set the garage owner advised it was down to radial tyres alot of the time as they find the road grooves and pull the tyre around abit.
 
That's why I think it's always best to start off with the cheapest stuff unless of course you are due a new set of tyres
 
Same issue for me last week. Needing tires anyway so started there with a new set of Cooper CS 5 Ultra Touring tires and the difference in handling is night and day on a Z3 1998 1.9L with 153,000 miles. Shocks will be replaced in June.
 
As @miller1098 says cheapest bits first. Rollbar bushes and drop links, then the bushes on the front control arms, polybush are easiest to refit.
Tyres should be assymetric type as the directional tyres ( ones that have rotation direction on the sidewall ) tend to make the car follow contours (tramlining).
After that shocks and springs,

Enjoy the zed and they do handle well so can be sorted.
 
I will be going with the Sachs/Boge replacement shocks and new springs. I don't think it's rollbar bushes as I am talking about high speed straight line motorway. I just think it's tired shocks and springs. I don't want to put a fortune into it simply because as far as insurance companies go it's just an old banger that would be written off in an instant should some clown damage it.
 
I'd check your control arms particularly the outer ball joints... if there is any downward compression they're shot...

Just changed mine and it made a huge improvement for £8 each.. or £80 for a new control arm complete...
 
it's just passed an MOT with no advisories, surely they would have commented on anything like that.
That's why I am thinking shocks and springs as they may well "look" ok but not work very well.
 
Mike Trident said:
it's just passed an MOT with no advisories, surely they would have commented on anything like that.
That's why I am thinking shocks and springs as they may well "look" ok but not work very well.
Click to expand...

Nope it not something that mot test particularly looks at unless there completely knackered e.g. all suspension wear unless its leaking, so unless the gator is split open most don't notice... There should be no downward movement, put a lever bar between the top of the ball joints and the suspension strut.. if the balljoint can be levered down it is shot..look at the bottom of the control arm.where the ball joint is...

They are very susceptible to wear and make the whole car feel imprecise and vague.
 
Talking of suspension I have had changed front bottom lollipop bushes,bottom ball joints new front tyres non of which made a huge difference just each time a slight improvement.
Only did them as advisory on last MOT slight play ( not a fail )
Still wanders a tad nothing bad but i think it's the character of the car I had one almost new in 98 and as I recall front felt vague back then.
Recently had rear shocks done harder ride does not lean as much so worth while doing.
I now have been told the diff bush looks a little worn so have bought a powerflex bush
Anyone know of a garage in the Hertfordshire area who can fit it for me don't really want to chance a garage that's never fitted one before.
Any help would be grateful on the bush where how much to fit.
Many thanks.
Tracy.
 
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