E39 suspension upgrade
Discussion
I am contemplating replacing the, probably original, and somewhat tired, suspension on my 2001 530 Sport. I am also contemplating changing the car, but that is a function of whether I can find anything else I like as much for a sensible cost compared to tweaking the old one – just drove a very nice B3… tempted… also considering a total change of type, but that is another story.
Does anyone have any experience of aftermarket suspension for the E39? Is it best to fit new OE kit, or should I seriously look at Eibach, KW or whatever? Polyurethane bushes…? The car will be used for the usual road duties, and will never go near a track; obviously, I don’t want a tea-tray ride when just trundling around, but I don’t want it going all floaty when tackling a B-road with enthusiasm (but limited skill).
If aftermarket is the way to go, are there any opinions on longevity of such kit? Having started to spend money on upgrades, I will probably keep the car for a while, and maybe upgrade further – there are plenty of options, after all (including the CA supercharger kit… mmmmm!). It has only done 80,000, and is in generally good order, and is a manual, which I like (most of the time), and manual 'boxes are becoming hard to find in decent cars.
Cost is a secondary consideration, although obviously the more it costs the more seriously I will consider another car; I tend to assume that upgrade costs must be written off, and can’t be considered to add anything significant to the value of a 9-year old car…..
All thoughts gratefully received.
Does anyone have any experience of aftermarket suspension for the E39? Is it best to fit new OE kit, or should I seriously look at Eibach, KW or whatever? Polyurethane bushes…? The car will be used for the usual road duties, and will never go near a track; obviously, I don’t want a tea-tray ride when just trundling around, but I don’t want it going all floaty when tackling a B-road with enthusiasm (but limited skill).
If aftermarket is the way to go, are there any opinions on longevity of such kit? Having started to spend money on upgrades, I will probably keep the car for a while, and maybe upgrade further – there are plenty of options, after all (including the CA supercharger kit… mmmmm!). It has only done 80,000, and is in generally good order, and is a manual, which I like (most of the time), and manual 'boxes are becoming hard to find in decent cars.
Cost is a secondary consideration, although obviously the more it costs the more seriously I will consider another car; I tend to assume that upgrade costs must be written off, and can’t be considered to add anything significant to the value of a 9-year old car…..
All thoughts gratefully received.
Hi NLB,
Eibach Pro or H&R springs all round and replace the shocks with newer versions of the ones you have. My last two cars, I've run this way, and I'm more than beyond happy with the results. When people who have no clue about cars can't tell the difference in ride quality then it's a winner, although I might be at most 20% down on OEM ride quality as I run 19's on my E39 Touring with the H&R's. It doesn't sound like you need to go to urethane bushes etc, although if they are due a change, you 'may' want to consider them as some report sharpening up of the car/steering/suspension and others say they're too hard.
A full suspension kit fro Eibach would also give you those matched shocks at the same time. Things like KW coilovers are great, two E39 owners like myself who are modifiers swear they're better than original ride quality, and you can set the supension to what suits you. downside is they are expensive £875-1000 for the V1 type, then you'll need fitting and setting up. I think their big dealer in East London, towards Thurrock I think, will include that in their pricing.
Sounds you've got a peach of an E39 there, manual 530i of which I know two forum members at least looking for one (another forum!) low miler and if you refresh the suspension as you say, you could sell it quickly or as I suspect, you'll think wow at the difference and just keep it!
Hope this helps - Cheers, Dennis!
Eibach Pro or H&R springs all round and replace the shocks with newer versions of the ones you have. My last two cars, I've run this way, and I'm more than beyond happy with the results. When people who have no clue about cars can't tell the difference in ride quality then it's a winner, although I might be at most 20% down on OEM ride quality as I run 19's on my E39 Touring with the H&R's. It doesn't sound like you need to go to urethane bushes etc, although if they are due a change, you 'may' want to consider them as some report sharpening up of the car/steering/suspension and others say they're too hard.
A full suspension kit fro Eibach would also give you those matched shocks at the same time. Things like KW coilovers are great, two E39 owners like myself who are modifiers swear they're better than original ride quality, and you can set the supension to what suits you. downside is they are expensive £875-1000 for the V1 type, then you'll need fitting and setting up. I think their big dealer in East London, towards Thurrock I think, will include that in their pricing.
Sounds you've got a peach of an E39 there, manual 530i of which I know two forum members at least looking for one (another forum!) low miler and if you refresh the suspension as you say, you could sell it quickly or as I suspect, you'll think wow at the difference and just keep it!
Hope this helps - Cheers, Dennis!
Hi I am not sure about E39's but I have a E46 compact.
I have replaced the standard SE spec suspension with Bilstein B8 shocks and Apex springs. I have also had poly bushes fitted.
The car handles much better than before. It feels a lot more sporty and does not roll much or bottom out on b-roads. It does feel slightly stiffer around town than before but there is not too much difference, I still think it is comfortable enough. The car also looks better which is a nice bonus. So I would definitely recommend this set up.
Eibach springs are also supposed to be good.
Eibach ARB's would be a good idea, I decided to compromise and just polybush the standard one to save a few pennies.
As I said this is for an E46 compact but it might give you a few ideas. It was a bit like getting a new car when I had it done.
Cheers
I have replaced the standard SE spec suspension with Bilstein B8 shocks and Apex springs. I have also had poly bushes fitted.
The car handles much better than before. It feels a lot more sporty and does not roll much or bottom out on b-roads. It does feel slightly stiffer around town than before but there is not too much difference, I still think it is comfortable enough. The car also looks better which is a nice bonus. So I would definitely recommend this set up.
Eibach springs are also supposed to be good.
Eibach ARB's would be a good idea, I decided to compromise and just polybush the standard one to save a few pennies.
As I said this is for an E46 compact but it might give you a few ideas. It was a bit like getting a new car when I had it done.
Cheers
Thanks gents. Sounds good so far.... As the trade-in I have been offered against the B3 is best described as "not a lot", I think I will end up going this route. For the cost-to-change, I can go the full Eibach-coilovers, brake upgrade etc. route, and still afford to spend two weeks buzzing round Italian backroads this summer (which, of course, I was going to do anyway).
The car is a manual 530 Sport, with aluminium interior trim and cloth seats (which, personally, I much prefer to leather - not a popular view I know), and it has only done a fairly modest mileage. It is what many on here would consider to be "poverty spec.", but it is what I like, and suits me well, so I think I will hang on to it and tweak things. The temptation to go the whole way and supercharge it is definitely there... Would still cost beans compared to some of the bank-account stretching stories one reads on here.
The car is a manual 530 Sport, with aluminium interior trim and cloth seats (which, personally, I much prefer to leather - not a popular view I know), and it has only done a fairly modest mileage. It is what many on here would consider to be "poverty spec.", but it is what I like, and suits me well, so I think I will hang on to it and tweak things. The temptation to go the whole way and supercharge it is definitely there... Would still cost beans compared to some of the bank-account stretching stories one reads on here.
Edited by NLB on Thursday 3rd June 19:48
Hi NLB
My Touring is what I jokingly call 'totally poverty spec' - but I like it in that theres less to go wrong! Plus my Touring is Ex Police so was a 'working' car rather than a 'cosseting' E39!
I personally prefer the leather's in my cars, so I found a minter Touring Sport set and now have those in. I'm getting bit of an itch to sell these off and perhaps do a re-trim on another set I have in something 'really nice' - so just getting ideas together. Some of the E39's came with the Alcantara sports seats which are nice as well.
There's not many supercharged E39's (or BMW's for that matter) around - there's a few, but not many, I only can recall of one E39 from another forum I'm on which had this done, but of course then comes the feedback that you may as well get an M5 or supercharge a 540i.
I've had the good fortune to go in a Supercharged Stage 5 Dinan E39 Touring over in the USA, 427 bhp at the rear wheels and it was simply awesome! although this owner was ultra fastidious, and he'd changed and uprated everything, you could perhaps get 385-410 bhp with less of the tweaks and mods he'd done. Then of course, you look at the amount you need to spend to achieve that, and some E39 M5's produce 410 in standard form!, spend the funding on that and you'll see 475-500 bhp quite easily and spending more gives you 500+ and spending silly amounts sees those 620bhp figures!
Don't know of you are on any more specialist forums etc, but there are a few places in the UK who know how to do these types of conversions well
in addition, other well rated brands come in for coilovers and brakes etc etc.
Good luck with you plans! I'm excited for you here in that you'll be doing something a little different
Cheers, Dennis!
My Touring is what I jokingly call 'totally poverty spec' - but I like it in that theres less to go wrong! Plus my Touring is Ex Police so was a 'working' car rather than a 'cosseting' E39!
I personally prefer the leather's in my cars, so I found a minter Touring Sport set and now have those in. I'm getting bit of an itch to sell these off and perhaps do a re-trim on another set I have in something 'really nice' - so just getting ideas together. Some of the E39's came with the Alcantara sports seats which are nice as well.
There's not many supercharged E39's (or BMW's for that matter) around - there's a few, but not many, I only can recall of one E39 from another forum I'm on which had this done, but of course then comes the feedback that you may as well get an M5 or supercharge a 540i.
I've had the good fortune to go in a Supercharged Stage 5 Dinan E39 Touring over in the USA, 427 bhp at the rear wheels and it was simply awesome! although this owner was ultra fastidious, and he'd changed and uprated everything, you could perhaps get 385-410 bhp with less of the tweaks and mods he'd done. Then of course, you look at the amount you need to spend to achieve that, and some E39 M5's produce 410 in standard form!, spend the funding on that and you'll see 475-500 bhp quite easily and spending more gives you 500+ and spending silly amounts sees those 620bhp figures!
Don't know of you are on any more specialist forums etc, but there are a few places in the UK who know how to do these types of conversions well
in addition, other well rated brands come in for coilovers and brakes etc etc. Good luck with you plans! I'm excited for you here in that you'll be doing something a little different
Cheers, Dennis!
I owned a 530 sport a few years back and looked into suspension upgrades. I found that unless you went for silly super stiff adjustable stuff there wasn't anything out there for the Sport models. It's adifferent story if you have an SE but in standard trim the Sport is already very good. My advice would be to source OE parts through GSF or Eurocar parts.
In response to the last two posters,
If you read the original posters question, you'll be able to see that he's looking with more bias to uprating the performance of the suspension in order to enjoy his car better. Standard suspension for owners and enthusiasts just doesn't provide enough control when in spirited use,it'll be wallowy and boat like - exactly the characteristics he's NOT looking for.
Suggest reading and understanding a little more prior to posting!!
Cheers, Dennis!
If you read the original posters question, you'll be able to see that he's looking with more bias to uprating the performance of the suspension in order to enjoy his car better. Standard suspension for owners and enthusiasts just doesn't provide enough control when in spirited use,it'll be wallowy and boat like - exactly the characteristics he's NOT looking for.
Suggest reading and understanding a little more prior to posting!!
Cheers, Dennis!
Thanks to all.... I really do wonder whether I would be best sticking with OE stuff, Dennis, even though my overall wish/intent is indeed as you say. I am very unlikely to ever actually get around to really serious mods (supercharger etc.), I just want it to be "better", which is a hard term to define. If I do go the serious aftermarket route, I would be depressed if it turned out too stiff (I remember my former boss' M635 - lovely, but rode much too firmly for me....).
In short, the OP is vacillating. The OP is good at that. Added to the "just buy an M5/M3/Alpina/etc." option... Oh dear. I will do some more research, talk some more to the aftermarket suppliers, look further at costs, etc., and see how things go. In the meantime, it has to go to Le Mans next week, so no fiddling right now.
Thanks again chaps.
Luke
In short, the OP is vacillating. The OP is good at that. Added to the "just buy an M5/M3/Alpina/etc." option... Oh dear. I will do some more research, talk some more to the aftermarket suppliers, look further at costs, etc., and see how things go. In the meantime, it has to go to Le Mans next week, so no fiddling right now.
Thanks again chaps.
Luke
Hi Neil,
It's your choice of course!
I guess you need to look at what kind of ride you really want? - If you want the ultimate in comfort, then yes, get all round new OEM spec suspension. If you want to 'tighten' up the car to 'sharpen' it's responses, then upgrade it to OEM BMW Sport suspension. If you want to just 'push' the sport suspension to perhaps 10-15% more, then get high quality Eibach or H&R springs/suspension with the added advantage it'll probably also be cheaper. You have a 530i Manual and judging you say you like driving and enjoy it, I'd have thought OEM standard suspension probably will make you think 'golly gosh, I knew I should've gone for sport suspension' at the first few corners
Seeing as your evaluating/dithering! .. from what you've updated with, I'd say go for the OEM Sport Suspension setup. Don't be tempted to put on a used set, go for brand new all round.
Seems like a good 'middle ground' for you !
Cheers, Dennis!
It's your choice of course!
I guess you need to look at what kind of ride you really want? - If you want the ultimate in comfort, then yes, get all round new OEM spec suspension. If you want to 'tighten' up the car to 'sharpen' it's responses, then upgrade it to OEM BMW Sport suspension. If you want to just 'push' the sport suspension to perhaps 10-15% more, then get high quality Eibach or H&R springs/suspension with the added advantage it'll probably also be cheaper. You have a 530i Manual and judging you say you like driving and enjoy it, I'd have thought OEM standard suspension probably will make you think 'golly gosh, I knew I should've gone for sport suspension' at the first few corners
Seeing as your evaluating/dithering! .. from what you've updated with, I'd say go for the OEM Sport Suspension setup. Don't be tempted to put on a used set, go for brand new all round.
Seems like a good 'middle ground' for you !
Cheers, Dennis!
Hi Dennis.
It is a Sport (see first post), so I certainly wouldn't put anything lesser than Sport-spec. stuff on. Thanks for the advice; I will do some further proper research after Le Mans, and do something (even if that is buying an Alpina, of course). I won't dither for ever, and I certainly won't be tempted to put anything other than brand-new bits on.
Regards,
Luke
It is a Sport (see first post), so I certainly wouldn't put anything lesser than Sport-spec. stuff on. Thanks for the advice; I will do some further proper research after Le Mans, and do something (even if that is buying an Alpina, of course). I won't dither for ever, and I certainly won't be tempted to put anything other than brand-new bits on.
Regards,
Luke
Hiya!
Now I feel like bit of a pleb for not remembering to scroll to the top and see the car is a Sport! DOH!
I've offered before and will do again, if you'd (or anyone else for that matter) like to have a drive with me in my car to 'feel' and evaluate my setup you are more than welcome. I think the high quality brands do spend quite a bit on R&D to manufacture and specify their products to increase performance but not at the expense of a serious loss in ride quality. I'll always 'uprate' my future BMW's (and anything else of similar or better prestige!) for this level of upgrade. I'm just hoping that the much higher priced high quality coilover kits will do the same - I've been almost 'drummed' into being told this by two enthusiasts I know who have the KW V1 kits on their E39s! I want to take a ride in each of their cars to satisfy myself though!
Cheers once again! Dennis!
Now I feel like bit of a pleb for not remembering to scroll to the top and see the car is a Sport! DOH!
I've offered before and will do again, if you'd (or anyone else for that matter) like to have a drive with me in my car to 'feel' and evaluate my setup you are more than welcome. I think the high quality brands do spend quite a bit on R&D to manufacture and specify their products to increase performance but not at the expense of a serious loss in ride quality. I'll always 'uprate' my future BMW's (and anything else of similar or better prestige!) for this level of upgrade. I'm just hoping that the much higher priced high quality coilover kits will do the same - I've been almost 'drummed' into being told this by two enthusiasts I know who have the KW V1 kits on their E39s! I want to take a ride in each of their cars to satisfy myself though!
Cheers once again! Dennis!
I've upgraded my E39 suspension with the Eibach pro kit and Bilstein B8 shocks Eibach anti roll bars a couple of years ago. Car is absolutely heroic when on a blast but driving locally at low speed it just annoys the hell out of me, so much so I've recently ordered a set of KW street comforts and I'm eagerely awaiting they're arrival!
kavman0 said:
I've upgraded my E39 suspension with the Eibach pro kit and Bilstein B8 shocks Eibach anti roll bars a couple of years ago. Car is absolutely heroic when on a blast but driving locally at low speed it just annoys the hell out of me, so much so I've recently ordered a set of KW street comforts and I'm eagerely awaiting they're arrival!
That really sums up the majority of aftermarket "performance" suspension systems. I've been in many cars with trick suspensions, poly bushes etc. They corner well on smooth surfaces but are hardly drivable on real world roads.You would have to spend a great deal of money and more importantly spend many hours setting up an aftermarket system to be genuinely better than the way the car came from the factory.
pp
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