M3 E46 Rear Spring Failure

[M3Rod]

I've just had a rear coil spring go on my M3 AGAIN and I'm reluctant to put another set of OEM BMW springs on for fear of having them break in 18 months time. For the cost of two replacement BMW springs I could get a full set of Eibach Pro Kit springs and replace the lot...

Question is, has anyone done this themselves? Are the Eibachs any good? Do they improve the handling? Is it worth the extra in labour to do the lot with Eibachs, or is it better to stick with the two rear BMW springs and run the risk of the rears snapping again?

Cheers

[gmarks1]

I had eibach springs on my E46 330Ci which broke after about 3 years; it seems that these models are just prone to this failure.

Regards, Gary

[Neil.D]

I have fitted springs in the past. Its pretty simple but you needs a spring compressor (obviously). Its just time consuming.
A friend put some Eibach Pros on his E36 convertible. He had 18inch wheels (standard was 17inch) and the ride was awful. The pro's are stiffer but the 'sport' are the hardest right?
As long as you have standard wheels im sure it will look and drive great.

[M3Rod]

I've got 19" alloys and everything is standard on the car. I've heard that the front Eibachs need the front suspension to be 'modified' to allow them to fit. I like the M3 standard just the way it is, and if it's not a 'like for like' swap then I'm inclined to stick with the OEM rear springs and just run the risk of a failure again later...

[fridaypassion]

Standard procedure on all modern cars these days!

[shim]

you can do it without spring compressor

[Paul_M3]

I had Eibach springs fitted to mine on Friday.

Nothing has to be modified to make them fit, it's a straight swap.

The amount that they lower is quite subtle, and I think the car now sits perfectly. There's still an arch gap, just not a huge one.

The ride is very slightly firmer, but not harsh and bouncy like you get with many lowering springs.

The flip side is that there is now less body roll and dive under braking.

I still have my old springs so could easily swap back if I so wished, but the Eibachs will be staying on.

[paulm3]

2 oem rear springs went (same side... one only 6 months old after being replaced!) so i swapped to AST coilovers.. no probs for nearly 3 years until i sold it.

[dan101smith]

I could be talking BS here, but isn't the problem that water sits in the spring cup and rusts through the spring, rather than the spring itself being at fault?

[thehos]

dan101smith said:

I could be talking BS here, but isn't the problem that water sits in the spring cup and rusts through the spring, rather than the spring itself being at fault?

yes you are

[dan101smith]

thehos said:

dan101smith said:

I could be talking BS here, but isn't the problem that water sits in the spring cup and rusts through the spring, rather than the spring itself being at fault?

yes you are

OK. Want to explain it then?

[shim]

my two faild springs seemed to be split low to mid level

they semed to have had there coating damaged by maybe a stone chip and then the rust had got to them and they failed

my guess anyway

either that or the little elf men in my garage borrowed my hack saw and have been busily sawing away every night since christmas

[thehos]

dan101smith said:

thehos said:

dan101smith said:

I could be talking BS here, but isn't the problem that water sits in the spring cup and rusts through the spring, rather than the spring itself being at fault?

yes you are

OK. Want to explain it then?

my spring was in three bits, ie snapped not corroded

[gun12b]

i got two back springs for my e46 m3,bmw parts on these is 2 years GUARANTEE

[bennyboysvuk]

shim said:

either that or the little elf men in my garage borrowed my hack saw and have been busily sawing away every night since christmas

You do realise you can put poison down to deal with them?

[M3Rod]

Well, I've got two new OEM springs to put on the back of the M3 (complete with a 10% discount for being in the BMW Owners Club), and I confirmed with the Stealer that they do indeed come with a 2 year guarantee (although I'm sure that BMW Customer Services will come up with a way to avoid replacing them if they go within that period). Fingers crossed, and if they do indeed go within that period and BMW don't pay out, it'll be Eibach all the way...

[PurpleTurtle]

Just sat in the local main stealers, having the airbag recall done on my E46 M3 Cab.

Service manager has just popped his head out of the office to tell me it's got ANOTHER snapped rear coil - it's on it's third set of OEM springs in 10yrs.

Proper sense of humour failure now. I think I need to be having a look at Eibach. Only trouble is I don't want to lower the car ... presumably Eibach rears with OEM fronts will see the car doing a wheelie, so to speak? I don't really want to change the fronts for no reason.

[simonpa]

Eibach are OK, but tend to be expensive for what they are.
They should be able to supply standard, progressive springs, rather than lowered, non-progressive.

Alternatively, go straight to Faulkner, who only make springs and make a lot of OEM-rebadged, as well as supply the majority of race springs.

ISTR, there was (is?) an issue with the spring mounts not being able to support the bottom of the springs properly, or with the springs themselves not being properly tapered at the bottom, leading to load imbalance on the lower couple of coils of the spring.
We had it happen on an E36, initially.