E34 Standard springs with Bolstein HD combo

[bimmerman]

Hi guys, i've recently ugpraded my E34 with Bilstein (made by Eibach) springs while retaining my Boge normal shocks. The car looks darn good and handles like a go-kart but the ride is killing me. Well, it's not exactly harsh or bone jarring unlike modded Wiras but on our fine Malaysian roads it does not feel very BMW anymore.My question is, what if I go back to stock standard springs but use Bilstein HD absorbers instead? Will I get back my magic carpet ride while retaining much of the good handling and body control?

 

[erica34]

i suspect you'd prefer the ride on stock springs with HD shocks compared to that on eibach springs... i believe most bits of that magic carpet ride will return...

 

[bimmerman]

Looks like you're my only friend around these parts Eric :cry:

Either that or everyone else in this forum is doing the limbo and trying to outdo each other trying to go lower. 25mm lowering...30mm lowering...40mm lowering...70mm lowering!!! Limbo-low, how low can ya go???

Guess nobody really knows if standard springs will work with hard shocks cos nobody wants that magic carpet ride anymore. :dunno:

 

[ngkm]

Got friend.... but I haven't played with my e34's springs before.
Only play-play with Honda's early in life.
Before swapping to eibachs for my civic, I did swap the shocks first (at that time, it was just released - monroe sensatrac). It improved my ride quite a bit - I could take the sweeping corner near makro on the MRR without losing it (which I did in the stock setup).

After swaping to eibachs - car too lowered liao - mud guard kept bottoming out over speedbumps. eventually out grew the civic.

btw - where you buy your springs lah?

 

[bimmerman]

Originally posted by ngkm@Apr 15 2005, 05:31 PM
Got friend.... but I haven't played with my e34's springs before.
Only play-play with Honda's early in life.
Before swapping to eibachs for my civic, I did swap the shocks first (at that time, it was just released - monroe sensatrac). It improved my ride quite a bit - I could take the sweeping corner near makro on the MRR without losing it (which I did in the stock setup).

After swaping to eibachs - car too lowered liao - mud guard kept bottoming out over speedbumps. eventually out grew the civic.

btw - where you buy your springs lah?

You want my springs or not Mr. Ngkm. It's Bilstein by Eibach Federn. On an E34 it's still quite acceptably comfy and you won't scrape bottom over speed bumps if you slow down but in return you get go kart cornering abilities. But that's not my cup of tea lah bro. I prefer the old man magic carpet ride instead of max cornering abilities. Might want to downsize from 17 to 16 inch rims if still not comfy enough.

I've lowered a Sentra B14 with HotBitch springs before and that's really ridiculously hard and ridiculously low. You sacrifice every bit of comfort for handling. Not so with the Bilstein springs.

 

[E34EuroTouring]

Hi Bimmerman,

What size rims are you using with the Eibach ?.

I had Eibach Prokits with Bilstein sports in my 89 E34. Then I had BBS RK 18inch rims and Yoko AVS Sporta tires. Car looks damn nice lowered, especially with a Zender bodykit. But for normal road, the ride is a bit unconfortable. So I later changed to 17 inch Mparallel replicas. That does the trick for me.

While the front really hangs well, I would have preferred the rear springs to be stock. Lowered rear with Bilstein sports is not for going over speed bumps. Only half rebound and a short rebound distance. Stock springs do almost full rebound and rides better.

If you use 15 inch rims, it should be no difference as the sideway is long enough to take the absorbed force. Return to the stock springs and keep the Bilstein.

PS: I think Bilstein Sports is 20% stiffer than HD. The HD maybe about 5%-10% stiffer than stock Boge but you can hardly feel the difference there.

 

[bimmerman]

Thanks for your input Captain America.

I'm on 225/45/17 now. The springs are made by Eibach for Bilstein and it's marked Bilstein by Eibach Federnstadt. Im using these springs with my regular Boge shocks. High speed sweeping corners and highway cruising above 120KPH is fantastic! Not one complain!

But It's the low speed ride that irritates me. I'd say the car is no longer BMW comfortable but has become something like Perdana comfortable. Yup, i'm really a fussy old fart when it comes to ride quality. I feel the ride is now out of character with the E34 as the E34 is a somewhat of a passenger and luggage cruiser and not a all out sports car. I only have 150bhp anyway!

So you reckon stiff shocks with original springs will do the trick for me then huh? I think so too because I want a pliant but controlled ride instead of the stiff but badly dampened ride i'm getting now. So what you're saying really makes perfect sense to me.

 

[E34EuroTouring]

Bimmerman,

What sort of tires are you using ?. What brand/model ?. It could make a lot of difference to regular road ride comfort.

The other thing you can simply try is to lower your tire pressure 2 or 3 PSI less. Normally People use 30 or 32 PSI up front and 29 psi rear. This could solve your problem right away. The car is Ok even with 26 PSI up front. Pls note these are cold pressures. ie measure them with a good tiremeter in the morning before you even move the car!.

The other way if you want to improve ride confort while keeping the current spring setup is to choose a tire that is softer compound like a Treatwear of 160, 180 or 200. My Yoko 509 is nice and soft at 160 treadwear. Very grippy and confortable for normal use.
Michelin tires are rather soft too, though I have not tried them on my BMW, did so in my Accord previously.

Since you are using 17s, you might try 225/50/17 with higher profile. I have the Bridgestone G3 on this 50 profile and its ride confort is perfect.

 

[bimmerman]

I did try lowing the tire pressure to 28psi cold but it did not improve the ride quality. It only made tires scrub and lose traction. As for tires, they're Firenza Exploding Tries. But I know i need to change them soon as these tires are just inferior.

My feeling is that the Perdana like ride quality is down to the suspension not having enough play to downplay our roads. It's not uncomfortable in any way but it's just not very BMW like which irks me. I'm looking to regain that magic carpet ride and only 205/65/15 can do it if I don't change suspension. But it'll stay on 17".

 

[ALBundy]

Bimmerman, you should be using 235/45/17. That could be one reason.

I have used Bilstein Sport shockers with standard springs and also together with Bilstein Springs which I believed is similar to yours.

Hard absorbers with soft springs (original) will make your car "skip" on the highway, not my cup of tea. In fact after I replaced the ori springs with the bilsteins, the ride was much better and last year I replaced the Sports with HD and I am quite happy with it. Well, it aint no magic carpet ride but its acceptable to me and wifey aint complaining as she used to.

Pussy aka formerly Blackcat, has the Eibach Springs coupled with the Boge shocks with 16inch rims and that was the best ride I ever had on an e34. I supposed if you want more comfort then you may have to sacrifice the look.

Rgds

 

[bimmerman]

As always Mr. Albundy, you answered my question right on the dot!!!

1. Standard springs with sport shocks - bad skippy handling
2. Sport springs with sport shocks - sporty but no magic carpet ride
3. Sport springs with original shocks - good ride!

So since i'm already on bilstein springs and boge shocks, I should be experiencing the same ride qualities as Pussy except I'm on 17 and he's on 16 so mine is slightly crashier over uneven surfaces.

Changing my tires to 235/45/17 will imporve on the ride a little more and if, it's still not good enough then it's back to original springs and bilstein HD shocks.

Like that?

 

[ALBundy]

The HD shocks is 15% firmer than the Boge Gas. So, you may still end up with something firmer than pussy's ex ride. Well, I would change the tires first before changing the rims. As I said, its to you to decide.

As for me, I think I can live with a little compromise on the ride quality as I do sometimes like to take a few corners in an uncompromising mode :nyehehe: :nyehehe:

 

[bimmerman]

Was carrying 3 big blokes in my car today and the ride seemed a lot better than usual. Fully laden with passengers and luggage it does not seem to go much lower and a bit of the magic carpet ride returns. When I'm driving alone, it stiffens up and becomes a sports car. Hey! I can live with that! A dual personality car that transforms itself according to load.

Come to think of it, it's not so bad after all considering the car just refuses to roll, pitch or dive when I take the car sideways at the Jalan Duta skidpad. Not even with a heavy load! It just feels very fidgity when I encounter mid-corner bumps and uneven patches when unladen. Maybe the trade off in ride quality is worth it huh? I mean the car just handles amazingly!!! Feels like i'm in supercar territory minus give and take 400bhp.

Just that the longivity of my Boge shocks will be questionable with these springs as they work extra hard to dampen the extra rebound forces. But then I could switch to Bilstein regulars instead of the HD when they kaput right?

I'm going to try the Pirelli Dragons first since they can still be found at RM420 a piece somewhere in Shah Alam and see if the ride improves further. If it does then I think I can live with the ride quality with 4 on board. Just that I have to really slow down at speed bumps and parking ramps which I still find irritating.