[murphius1118]

Anyone running this suspension setup and can provide some feedback regarding performance, drive-ability, overall comfort, handling improvements, etc...??

I have a complete set of Bilstein B8's sitting in my basement and ready to pull the trigger on the Eibach Pro-Kit. I'm looking for moderate lowering and associated performance & handling gains of a progressive spring set up. No track time...simply daily street driving on suburban roads. I'm not considering coilovers so please refrain from that sales pitch

[Kailec]

+1 I'm interested too...

[wal-dog]

I would think that would be a great set up. I've got Koni yellows on H&R sport springs and like it.

[cola.p]

From my experience, I had used B8+Eibach for several months. I was quite too harsh and stiff for daily driving. B8+H&R Spring would be better ride quality. More comfort than B8+Eibach but it's a bit lower (Sping K rate of H&R is lower than Eibach).

If you don't have B8, I will suggest coilovers. You can choose your own comfort or sport ride.

Budget solution -> BC BR (very good)
More expensive -> Bilstein B16 PSS10 (Great)

[jhnmdahl]

I'll chip in late to this, having just installed Bilstein B8 + Eibach's springs (E10-20-031-06-22) on a 340ix. The car came with almost every option but had a standard suspension (168 lb/in front and 486 lb/in rear), while the Eibachs stiffened it about 20% to 194 in/lb and 542 in/lb (it is far more than the 10% stiffer that people keep repeating, unless you're upgrading from a sport suspension). The car felt underdamped to me before any work, so I also installed Bistein B8 shocks at the same time. Plus, more than one person on here has done Eibach springs only, and commented that they regretted not doing shocks at the same time due to it being underdamped.

Installation went smoothly, and I'd recommend a pass-through socket set with universal sockets (Craftsman has a decent 58 piece one that can be found for $50) for things like the reverse Torx-head bolts and sway bar link removal if you don't already have one. Predicted drop of .8 inches in front and .6 inches in back appears to be about what I observed.

Driving, the car no longer feels floaty and bouncy, and feels more agile. I don't care about "stance" or having a "sick look" as much as not scraping the ground like I did with my 330XI with H&R springs, and I'm pretty pleased with the Eibachs. The upgrade is exactly what I had hoped for - nothing extreme that would keep people from wanting to ride in my car, but turned it into a sporty sedan that handles well so it no longer feels like a Lexus.

Other options -
Dinan is a bit stiffer at 225 in/lb front and 668 in/lb at the rear with about .7" drop front and rear, but I don't think I need additional stiffness or drop after driving the Eibachs.
H&R (28832-1) drops about 1.5 inches in the front and in the rear, and although they don't have linear spring rates they use a 54SiCr6 spring steel that is quite stiff - starting about 15% stiffer than factory standard springs (about the same as Eibach) and becoming quickly progressively stiffer. Almost certainly more than I want given they have to compensate for the substantial drop in height with additional stiffness.
Sport springs (BMW) are about halfway between the Eibachs and the standard factory suspension, and not hard to find used due to other people upgrading. I figured I didn't want to go through all the time and expense of putting in a new suspension for such a potentially minor improvement, and I'm glad I didn't.

John

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by jhnmdahl

I'll chip in late to this, having just installed Bilstein B8 + Eibach's springs (E10-20-031-06-22) on a 340ix. The car came with almost every option but had a standard suspension (168 lb/in front and 486 lb/in rear), while the Eibachs stiffened it about 20% to 194 in/lb and 542 in/lb (it is far more than the 10% stiffer that people keep repeating, unless you're upgrading from a sport suspension). The car felt underdamped to me before any work, so I also installed Bistein B8 shocks at the same time. Plus, more than one person on here has done Eibach springs only, and commented that they regretted not doing shocks at the same time due to it being underdamped.

Installation went smoothly, and I'd recommend a pass-through socket set with universal sockets (Craftsman has a decent 58 piece one that can be found for $50) for things like the reverse Torx-head bolts and sway bar link removal if you don't already have one. Predicted drop of .8 inches in front and .6 inches in back appears to be about what I observed.

Driving, the car no longer feels floaty and bouncy, and feels more agile. I don't care about "stance" or having a "sick look" as much as not scraping the ground like I did with my 330XI with H&R springs, and I'm pretty pleased with the Eibachs. The upgrade is exactly what I had hoped for - nothing extreme that would keep people from wanting to ride in my car, but turned it into a sporty sedan that handles well so it no longer feels like a Lexus.

Other options -
Dinan is a bit stiffer at 225 in/lb front and 668 in/lb at the rear with about .7" drop front and rear, but I don't think I need additional stiffness or drop after driving the Eibachs.
H&R (28832-1) drops about 1.5 inches in the front and in the rear, and although they don't have linear spring rates they use a 54SiCr6 spring steel that is quite stiff - starting about 15% stiffer than factory standard springs (about the same as Eibach) and becoming quickly progressively stiffer. Almost certainly more than I want given they have to compensate for the substantial drop in height with additional stiffness.
Sport springs (BMW) are about halfway between the Eibachs and the standard factory suspension, and not hard to find used due to other people upgrading. I figured I didn't want to go through all the time and expense of putting in a new suspension for such a potentially minor improvement, and I'm glad I didn't.

John

Good info and impressions! It's always nice to see a calculated approach with specs/numbers to achieve functional ride/handling goals.

Where did you see the spring rates for your OE front/rear springs? The data I've seen said the 340ix came stock with 143lbs/in front and 426lbs/in rear springs and with the adaptive M suspension 174lbs/in front and 518lbs/in rear.

I've never seen then numbers for the Dinan kit before, but those spring rates are about equal to the 335/340i RWD M-Perf springs front and rear. With those rates the car might be close to a pitching frequency regime...

[dsc888]

Originally Posted by jhnmdahl

I'll chip in late to this, having just installed Bilstein B8 + Eibach's springs (E10-20-031-06-22) on a 340ix. The car came with almost every option but had a standard suspension (168 lb/in front and 486 lb/in rear), while the Eibachs stiffened it about 20% to 194 in/lb and 542 in/lb (it is far more than the 10% stiffer that people keep repeating, unless you're upgrading from a sport suspension). The car felt underdamped to me before any work, so I also installed Bistein B8 shocks at the same time. Plus, more than one person on here has done Eibach springs only, and commented that they regretted not doing shocks at the same time due to it being underdamped.


John

Thank you for your balanced and concise write up! I am in the EXACT same boat as you with a 2017 340ix and don't want to slam the car due to snow here in New England and steep driveways I need to negotiate often.

Seeing that you are in Minnesota, how do you like the B8s thus far? Some mentioned that they are too stiff.

And what bumpstops did you use in the rear? I think the Bilsteins B8s have built in stops for the fronts but believe you needed to buy shorter ones fo rate rears.

Based on your experience, I think I might have found the perfect solution without having to go to coilovers. Thanks.

[jhnmdahl]

Originally Posted by dsc888

Thank you for your balanced and concise write up! I am in the EXACT same boat as you with a 2017 340ix and don't want to slam the car due to snow here in New England and steep driveways I need to negotiate often.

Seeing that you are in Minnesota, how do you like the B8s thus far? Some mentioned that they are too stiff.

And what bumpstops did you use in the rear? I think the Bilsteins B8s have built in stops for the fronts but believe you needed to buy shorter ones fo rate rears.

Based on your experience, I think I might have found the perfect solution without having to go to coilovers. Thanks.

I didn't add different bump stops to the rear (edit: I reused the original bump stops in the rear), but given the modest drop and higher spring rate I'm not too concerned. Farkle did a nice job pointing out which BMW ones Dinan marks up and resells for F30 lowering kits, so I'd start there if you're concerned about bottoming out.

Regarding the B8s, they're the same valving as the B6s, but with a shorter length of travel so shortened springs don't risk unloading with extreme suspension travel. I think those complaining about bounciness in the Eibachs likely kept their old shocks, as the car feels way less bouncy now, but not overdamped.

I swapped a couple sets of wheels, one with run flats and one without, and the ride isn't unkindly harsh but is noticeably harsher with the runflats. So, in short, I'd recommend the Eibachs, but also recommend new shocks (I've heard good thing about the Konis too, but haven't tried them) and non-runflat tires to go with them. I'll be on all non-runflats as soon as the original all seasons wear out and I rotate between summer/winter wheels and tires.

John

Edit: I'm on the original BMW sport package 18" wheels. If you're on 19" wheels, I'd expect the ride to be somewhat harsher. But given that the Eibach spring rates are less extreme than most other offerings, I still think it's the right package for me. And if not, a new set of springs is maybe $250 - the same price as a single front shock, and a couple hours' time.

[jhnmdahl]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Good info and impressions! It's always nice to see a calculated approach with specs/numbers to achieve functional ride/handling goals.

Where did you see the spring rates for your OE front/rear springs? The data I've seen said the 340ix came stock with 143lbs/in front and 426lbs/in rear springs and with the adaptive M suspension 174lbs/in front and 518lbs/in rear.

I've never seen then numbers for the Dinan kit before, but those spring rates are about equal to the 335/340i RWD M-Perf springs front and rear. With those rates the car might be close to a pitching frequency regime...

Farkle,

I believe it was from an Eibach vendor, but I certainly don't have an accurate means of measuring rate myself. I'll take it from you that stock iX springs are softer than RWD - that was certainly the case with my E46. Thanks for the additional info,

John

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by jhnmdahl

I didn't add bump stops to the rear (nor did the original suspension have them)

This is really shocking to me. RealOEM says you should've had rear bump stop PN 33536850537 with your car. Does this mean you also didn't have any dust shield/boot/cover around the top exposed part of the rear shocks?

Originally Posted by jhnmdahl

Regarding the B8s, they're the same valving as the B6s, but with a shorter length of travel so shortened springs don't risk unloading with extreme suspension travel. I think those complaining about bounciness in the Eibachs likely kept their old shocks, as the car feels way less bouncy now, but not overdamped.

I'm not sure if the B8s for the F3x have the same valving as the B6s, but it's definitely a probable reality given how lazy they were with tuning (they only have a few PNs across the entire F3x range vs tuning for each config). One thing I expect is different is the internal bump stops in the front strut. The B6 ones are pretty long, but soft, and I found that with Eibach springs I was already compressing it .5" at static ride height. I ended up trimming them by .5". The B8s probably have a shorter and stiffer internal bump stop.

[jhnmdahl]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

This is really shocking to me. RealOEM says you should've had rear bump stop PN 33536850537 with your car. Does this mean you also didn't have any dust shield/boot/cover around the top exposed part of the rear shocks?

I remembered the dust boot was definitely there so went to look again, and of course you are correct - it is held in position by a somewhat dingy bump stop.

To summarize other corrections, the new springs at 194 and 542 in/lb are significantly stiffer than the stock xdrive springs at 143 and 426 in/lb (30-35%), and 20% stiffer than stock rwd springs at 168 and 486 in/lb. They are about 10% stiffer than M sport springs, which sit squarely between the stock rwd spring rate and the Eibach spring rates.

After driving on the new suspension for a week, I do feel more road flaws, but not harshly. The added confidence I have in the planted feeeling the car now has more than makes up for any minor negatives, and I’m very glad I made this modification to my daily driver. It’s simply more fun to drive.

Thanks again to Farkle for the added info. Hopefully this helps the next person considering Eibachs have confidence in their purchase.

[Evo400]

Eibach and Bilstein both have their own B12 kit. Which is exactly what you're asking for. Its a combo of B8's and Eibach Springs.

I have actually just ordered the B12 set from a supplier in Germany.

Altough the kit supplies 06-22 springs, the seller insisted that I should go with 05-22 which is some 15mm lower and it will make the car look level as both spring kits have the same size rear springs.

I will report when I get them fitted in a few days..

[xpro]

Also some more findings in Eibach Springs.. Especially for the X drives.

Eibach now have two sets of springs available for 335xd.

E10-20-031-06-22 20mm/15mm lowering
E10-20-031-05-22 35mm/20mm lowering ( these are the same as ACS springs, hence a bit lower the original Eibachs for Xdrives)

I know ACS say secret ingredients, but its all in the papers, same TUV test, same spring rates, height, material, etc.. Just a different logo!

Take a look below:

If you look Eibach and ACS TUV approvals, you will see those 2 springs are identical and just marketed differently for each brand.





ACS TUV Approval The numbers at the bottom. ACS had a revision where they were using spings -320 up before which rendered the front of the car look higher and then swithced springs to -310 version which is 15mm lower. Same for Eibach, Pre-LCI was spring 06-VA and LCI is 03-VA


Eibach Approval ( the 03-VA is the 05-22 Kit and 06-VA is the 06-22 Kit) See the difference?


Eibach approval for Eibach & ACS ( read bottom right corner, Same springs, different branding)

[G80S58]

was on the Eibach site and they had this P/N for my car 2016 435i xDrive.

E10-20-031-18-22

is this new?

[xpro]

Originally Posted by CRAMAZIN

was on the Eibach site and they had this P/N for my car 2016 435i xDrive.

E10-20-031-18-22

is this new?

18-22 kit is not new.

It consists of the 030-30VA front spring ( this is the same as in the F30 335 X 05-22 kit)

But the rear springs is 031-01HA, slightly different to suit coupe housing, hence the totally different part number as 18-22.

[dsc888]

xpro,

Amazing write up! So if I am reading you correctly, I should purchase the E10-20-031-05-22 for my 2017 340ix so that the front has less wheel gap vs the 06-22 set. I went to Eibach’s website and only the 06-22 set is recommended for my car but if I look up the 05-22 set manually, I see that the 340ix can use it. Interesting!

[dsc888]

Originally Posted by Evo400

Eibach and Bilstein both have their own B12 kit. Which is exactly what you're asking for. Its a combo of B8's and Eibach Springs.

I have actually just ordered the B12 set from a supplier in Germany.

Altough the kit supplies 06-22 springs, the seller insisted that I should go with 05-22 which is some 15mm lower and it will make the car look level as both spring kits have the same size rear springs.

I will report when I get them fitted in a few days..

How did the kit turn out for you? Do you mind sharing the kit number as I am very interested. I didn’t know that you can pick from both sets of springs for the kit to chose different front spring heights. Thank you!

[xpro]

Originally Posted by dsc888

xpro,

Amazing write up! So if I am reading you correctly, I should purchase the E10-20-031-05-22 for my 2017 340ix so that the front has less wheel gap vs the 06-22 set. I went to Eibach's website and only the 06-22 set is recommended for my car but if I look up the 05-22 set manually, I see that the 340ix can use it. Interesting!

I also have a B12 kit to be fitted but with 05-22 springs set.

The online catalogue only lists 05-22 for the 335xd's and for example for 330xd's both the 06-22 and 05-22 are listed, even tho those 2 cars are identical apart from twin turbos.

Im not sure if this is just a glitch in the website or whoever wrote it up, but I also decided to go with 05-22.

What confirmed it to me was the ACS spring part numbers.
ACS always looked a bit a lower and nicer, and thats cause they use 05-22 kit since their revision.
According to ACS all F30 3.0 Xdrives share the same springs.

Theres a couple of photos of guys using 05-22 on their XD's and they for sure look better and tad lower then those using the 06-22.

I'll post pictures of my car as soonest I have the kit fitted.

[FaRKle!]

I recommend people use the Eibach Euro catalog site when looking up PNs and kits as it's much more detailed than the US site.

I'm running the F11-20-030-03-VA front spring from the E10-20-031-05-22 335/340ix kit on my 4cyl xdrive car. Hub to fender measurement is 13-7/8".

The 335/340ix front will sit lower than my car in this pic:

[xpro]

On the same topic, I believe B8 dont come with the blue dust covers or do they?

Has anyone got the part numbers for them?

I would like to re use the OE covers as Bilstein ones are a much better fit according to some photos online.

Thanks

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by xpro

On the same topic, I believe B8 dont come with the blue dust covers or do they?

Has anyone got the part numbers for them?

I would like to re use the OE covers as Bilstein ones are a much better fit according to some photos online.

Thanks

I don't think any F3x B6 or B8 shock/struts come with dust covers. There's no need to change the front from OE and the rear dust cover is attached to the bump stop. My B6s didn't come with any.

The coilovers could possibly come with them for the front (or just have you cut your OE dust covers like other brands do), but definitely not the rear.

[dsc888]

Originally Posted by xpro

I also have a B12 kit to be fitted but with 05-22 springs set.

The online catalogue only lists 05-22 for the 335xd's and for example for 330xd's both the 06-22 and 05-22 are listed, even tho those 2 cars are identical apart from twin turbos.

Im not sure if this is just a glitch in the website or whoever wrote it up, but I also decided to go with 05-22.

What confirmed it to me was the ACS spring part numbers.
ACS always looked a bit a lower and nicer, and thats cause they use 05-22 kit since their revision.
According to ACS all F30 3.0 Xdrives share the same springs.

Thank you for the information! This is great knowledge and I will seriously consider the 05 vs the 06 kit as the lowering is so much better looking BUT I have to think it through as I live in the Northeast (snow) and worry about ground clearance as I also have a front splitter on my bumper. Negotiating steep driveways will also be of a concern BUT that lower ride height is gorgeous!