Bloomin BMW springs

[Neil_Sc]

After all this crummy weather we have been having I had the wheels off the car last week to give them a good clean, lucky I did as I found part of the spring loose in the suspension arm on the drivers side!

No symptoms or knocking noises, just luck I found it quickly.




So this week I ordered a set of Eibach Pro springs. I didn't want to drop the car at all, as I was happy with the msport stance, but I didn't want to pay BMW spring prices when I could get a better set of Eibach springs so the Eibach it was.

Installation was pretty easy and the job was completed on the rear in 1 hour 30 minutes.

1. Chock the front wheels, release hand brake and put in gear
2. Loosen wheel bolts on both rear wheels
3. Jack up the rear of the car via the subframe mount just forward of the differential
4. Put both sides on axle stands
5. Remove both rear wheels
6. One side at a time, undo the lower shock bolt (18mm), I used plenty of penetrating fluid (Bilt Hamber Ferrosol).
7. The suspension drops down when the bolt is removed, gently push down on the arm and removal of the spring is a piece of cake
8. Attach suspension mounts to new spring and install
9. With the trolley jack, jack up the suspension to aid reinstallation of lower shock bolt
10. Do not fully tighten the lower shock bolt, this should be done when the wheels are back on the ground and the suspension is under tension
11. Repeat on the other side
12. Reattach wheels and tighten wheel bolts
13. Jack up the car once more and remove axle stands and drop the car to the ground
14. Torque wheel bolts
15. Torque lower shock mount bolts to 100 nm


It looks like the intact spring wasn't far from corroding through too, this showing the bottom of the spring



New spring installed..



Now a quick before and after, at the moment without the spring having fully settled the ride height on the rear is pretty much identical...

Before...



After...





Been on a test drive and no clunks or noises. I shall do the fronts with in spring with a little warmer weather.

[Dino D]

I'll be interested to hear how the ride and handling compares with the original set-up once you have a few miles under your belt on the new ones.

[Neil_Sc]

I understand these springs are progressive in that they are more gentle at lower speed and more firm at higher speed, on my 5 mile test drive they seemed absolutely fine, I can't tell if they are any better yet as I'm not sure it's me wanting them to be better more than actual performance gain.

We shall see in the coming weeks and especially when I get the fronts changed out.

[big - dave]

Hi chaps.
The fitting of eibach springs is THE route to go down if your rears have broken.
Both my rears had snapped at both the top + bottom.
Fitted the eibach full set [front + rears] back in the summer + the car is now, way better than before.
It is slightly firmer + lower than before, [ car is a 330i touring [Sport]], BUT better for it...
Enjoy...

[Smallend]

Please can you post the details of the springs?
Also, ballpark prices?
Thanks

[mmm-five]

How much has this added to your insurance premium?

I know the problems I had when I tried to explain to my insurer that the springs on my M5 were not 'lowering' springs as they had the same ride height as standard and could be said to be simple replacements just as pattern springs from a factor would be. They weren't having it and added 10% to the policy.

[Neil_Sc]

They are the Eibach Pro spring kit, got them from this company...

http://www.eibach-suspension.co.uk/

Seemed to be good, they delivered them next day as promised and the kit cost £130.

[big - dave]

mmm-five said:

How much has this added to your insurance premium?

I know the problems I had when I tried to explain to my insurer that the springs on my M5 were not 'lowering' springs as they had the same ride height as standard and could be said to be simple replacements just as pattern springs from a factor would be. They weren't having it and added 10% to the policy.

Your having a laugh,, right.??
There just a replacement item.
I think your ins co are taking the proverbial...
Never even contemplated telling mine about them...
I wouldnt re-fit a BMW spring if its likely its going to fail,, again as ive heard of numerous rear coils breaking...

[mmm-five]

big - dave said:

Your having a laugh,, right.??

Unfortunately not - but I wasn't with them for long, as I sold the M5 and got a Z4MC.

Their argument was it was 'non-standard' unless I could show it was a pattern/OE part and had the same spring & compression rates (or some crap like that).

The original call was to tell them I'd removed the H&R lowering springs & unknown dampers for genuine Bilstein stuff (of similar performance to the standard M5 set-up) that had been sourced by a mate in the in industry through his contacts (spent a lot of time getting custom specs sorted).

Some insurers wouldn't touch a 'modified' M5, others wouldn't touch an M5 parked in my postcode - so the choices were limited, hence the desire to remove the 'lowered' suspension.
The Z4MC is cheaper than the M5 to insure

BTW - I'm sure you'll find on the Eibach website that your Pro Kit springs lower the car by 10-20mm - so are in fact 'lowering springs' - it's up to you whether you inform your insurance or not.

PS - I'm not saying the insurance companies are right in what the do either, but it's their rules we're supposed to play by if we want them to pay out in the event of a claim (our fault or not).

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 26th January 11:44

[-Z-]

I would be tempted to get some sandpaper and rub off the Eibach branding, how would they ever know after that? Assuming you weather them so they don't look brand new