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<E36><M3> H&R Spring "Tuning" Technique

Friends,

Like many of you out there with E36 M3s, I had to do something about this 
car's understeering characteristic.  (Opinion time: I think BMW let the 
marketing and legal folks work a little too late one night when they were 
setting front spring and strut damping rates on the '95 model...)  Anyhow, 
based on comments made about the H&Rs and Eibachs, I purchased and 
installed a set of H&Rs.  

I found that the 13% increase in rear spring rate (335# to 380#), 74% 
increase in front working spring rate (115# to 200#), and lowered ride 
height effectively eliminated the understeer.  Now I don't have to work 
hard to keep up with this black four door Jetta that I occasionally meet 
on my Sunday morning drive to the beach!   

Nonetheless, I was not pleased that -- for me -- the rear springs lowered 
the car too much, and felt like there was a weight shift to the rear when 
cornering.  (I'm sure these H&R springs are just right for the performance 
objective they were seeking, this is just about my preference.)  With the 
stock springs, it felt like the weight shifted to the front when 
cornering.  On my previous car I was easily able to achieve a near perfect 
front/rear weight shift balance (what is the physical explanation and 
correct terminology for this???) by running the securing nut up or down 
the bolts as needed that linked the two spring ends to the wheels.  But, 
alas, there's no plastic mono-spring on the M3.

Roland Graef at H&R Springs mentioned that there's different thickness 
upper rear spring pads available from BMW, and I can use them to "tune" 
the rear height and handling to my preference.  A call to the nearest 
dealer revealed they're available in 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 mm thicknesses.  My 
car (10/94 production) had 5 mm pads as original equipment.  I replaced 
the 5 with a 10, then added one then another (total of 3) to the rear.  
The second and third had to have the center cut out to fit over the first. 

Although I haven't arrived at the "perfect" height and front/rear weight 
shift balance (balance being most important), I'm getting close.  Using 
these pads is the solution I was looking for!

I wanted to pass this spring pad related information along to others just 
in case it might be helpful.

Cheers!

Michael Wylie
Novato, California
1995 ///M3,  with all four wheels on the ground now, where they belong!

P.S. A friend graciously allowed me to drive his new 528i.  I sure would 
feel good having my family in this car, it feels secure, massive, and 
responsive!