Re: Suspension upgrade

[alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx]

"David W. Reichel" <reichel2@domain.elided> wrote:
> I would like to upgrade the suspension on my 1984 325e.  I am looking 
> for a package "kit" including springs, struts and shocks. I have heard
> of Eibach, H & R, Spax and Maxspeed. and of this group only Eibach 
> seems to stand out.

David,
Eibach (www.eibach.com) and H&R (www.hrsprings.com) are both very popular 
and quality sources of aftermarket springs. About 3/4s of the springs 
re-sold or re-branded come from one of the above two manufacturers. 
I've heard of Spax and Maxspeed among others, but primarily in the context 
of Asian cars' aftermarket.

> I do not want to lower the car in any significant way. 

Good call. Particularly since there is no practical way to adjust for the 
negative camber and toe gains in the rear of the lowered E30s.

> Car has 160,000 miles thus time to replace the suspension and an 
> improvement in handling and ride would be a bonus.  Any suggestions 
> or experiences would be appreciated.

David,
Do realize that any improvement in the handling _will_ come at the expense 
of the comfort. The only way to find out if _you_ will be happy with a 
particular tradeoff is to drive someone else's car first. 
Having said that, springs are primarily responsible for the car's ride 
height. You can gain a lot of feedback and handling by just installing new 
shocks. I had very good luck (110+K miles coupled with stock springs) with 
my E30 Bilstein HDs, but now am in the Koni camp (long story). Either 
manufacturer makes high quality lifetime warranty shocks. Both will be a 
little stiffer than stock. Koni SAs are single (rebound only) adjustable 
and priced on par with Bilsteins. Koni DAs are double (compression and 
rebound) adjustable and are significantly more expensive. 
You can also install E30M3 springs ($50-100 used) to lower the car an 
extra inch. In that case, go with Bilstein Sports or either Koni's.

alex f

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