advice on springs for E36
advice on springs for E36
Author
Discussion

scottbm

Original Poster:

105 posts

211 months

Sunday 5th October 2008
quotequote all
i already have bilstein shocks which i inherited. I want to lower my car by maybe 40mm and need it hard as it is only for track.
ANY HELP OR IDEAS????

iguana

7,307 posts

284 months

Monday 6th October 2008
quotequote all
You need custom springs made t your specs fella, regular items like Eibach, H&R etc are fine for fast road & occasional track but nout hard enough for hardcore tracking

Ideally you need coilovers as harder springs are far easier & cheaper to obtain & its worth selling on the billys & going that route really.

For custom sprinsg I'd speak to Falkners

weed

211 posts

265 months

Monday 6th October 2008
quotequote all
It depends on your
1,skill/experience.
2,on how much you want to compromise the streetability of the chassis.
3, the tyres you will be using.

If you are a novice, then a set of boutique springs like H&R or Eibach may be fine but add a larger front anti sway bar.

If you have a lot of track experience,the Bilstein sport/sport spring combo may not be enough.

It order for this chassis to do exactly what a good driver wants, you need:

A good sized front anti sway bar...24mm to prevent the body roll from pulling the outside front tyre on to it's side wall.

You'll need front springs in the 350 to 500 Lb/inch range and rear springs on the factory positions at around a minimum 700 lbs per inch .

The Bilstein sport is not valved to handle spring rates that high so they will need to be replaced or revalved.

Then you'll need brake pads and decent fluid to reliably slow the faster chassis.

You may also need camber plates to help keep the front tyres squarely planted on the tarmac.

If you don't want to sacrifice street comfort then use the off the shelf springs, but at least add a larger front anti sway bar the keep the front tyres firmly planted and to preserve steering response. The Bilsteins are valved to handle the commonly sold *sport springs* but not springs approaching *racing* stiffness.

Street handling vs track handling is a best *have your cake and eat it scenario*

m

kusee pee

1,021 posts

227 months

Monday 6th October 2008
quotequote all
Best solution this side of coilovers is H&R Race springs. They won't be as hard as you might be able to get via coilovers but they're much harder and lower than normal H&R or Bilstein. They're often only available from overseas but are a good buy IMO.