Thursday was #ZedShed (tm) day, and yes it started with bacon and coffee! Got a shout from Lee that a parcel had arrived that needed immediate attention from the team. Purchased for an incredible price direct from Eibach.
We started with the fronts as they are always a little more fun, for want of a better word! The shocks are attached slightly differently to the Z3, in that they use a pinch bolt to hold them at the bottom. Still have the same three bolts on the top though.
As we have been finding with BMW front shocks we can't change the springs in house at the moment using spring clamps, the springs are just too short to be able to get any decent compression. We loaded them in my boot and headed off to our usual high street chain to get them switched. Bit annoying because the manager was in so we couldn't do our usual transaction, so tried another high street chain across the road. Had to leave them with them for a couple of hours, to find out that their spring compressor wouldn't do the job!
Eventually ended up at the exhaust centre who fitted the new exhaust on Rosie, and the guy was a legend. Changed both springs in less than 10 minutes for a small donation of paper
We have a new spring change supplier!
OEM Shock Absorber Label
New springs fitted, ready to be put back on again!
Difference in rear spring heights,
Rear springs in place. These are easy enough, remove the bolt holding the bottom of the shock and press down on the arm. Spring slides out...
Out for a quick test drive to let the suspension settle a little bit. Lee will be along in a bit to tell you the driving differences, but from the passenger seat the car seemed to roll less in corners and the ride was much smoother
Obligatory stance shot. Lee didn't want to drop the car too far various reasons, and I think this is just about right.
Before side shot for comparison.