[phinole]

Originally Posted by radm

I didn't get the shockware yet. I was told to do it step by step in case I don't like something so I know the culprit. So far I don't feel the need, despite the lower cost compared to the spring install.

What Dinan products do you have?

I have the Stage 1 (non-MPPSK) and FreeFlow Exhaust. I love them both and highly recommend either.

[radm]

Originally Posted by phinole

I have the Stage 1 (non-MPPSK) and FreeFlow Exhaust. I love them both and highly recommend either.

Thanks. Now you make me think about it!

[jinxremoved]

Originally Posted by phinole

I was worried that using new springs and lowering the height by 1" would make the car look "slammed" and ghetto, but I like the look of your car with the Dinan springs. It doesn't look overdone.

Did you also purchase the Dinan Shockware software to accompany the Dinan springs? I've been thinking about upgrading the suspension on mine and I'm very pleased with the two Dinan products I already have.

Thanks.

I don't have shockware and the Dinan springs don't make the car look slammed. I have the springs, the bump stops, and the sway bars. The car is now much more predictable and most of the body roll is gone. The only downside is increased road noise.

[F32_6o4]

Can somebody who has H&R springs as their suspension please tell me their daily driving experiences... I'm debating on whether I should get coilovers or springs. Mind you that I do plan on selling my vehicle 2-3 years. Therefore, an investment on coilovers may not be necessary.

I feel like all I've read are the cons(Riding H&R springs on a speed bump can be hell apparently???) I'd like to hear the positives to the springs :\

If you can recommend other springs that can fill my stock gap but doesn't sacrifice too much performance it'd be great.

[FutureHendr1x]

after some research i ended up settling on the AC Schnitzer springs, the HnR springs seem to not ride very well after some miles..

[F32_6o4]

Originally Posted by FutureHendr1x

after some research i ended up settling on the AC Schnitzer springs, the HnR springs seem to not ride very well after some miles..

did you get any bump stops with it? or the ride is fine.

[F30RiK]

Can you confirm this is the right part number as another member posted a different one for the front (335xdrive sedan 2013)

He posted 31332225377 for the front

Originally Posted by Jadar

Correctoooo
You can also purchase them separately on your own from a bmw online parts sites save yourself some cash.
F30 only
Front Bump Stop #33536784122
Rear Bump Stop #33536762722

[Musashi]

Just did it; a transformative experience! Waited until having a full summer with it, all R&D issues ironed out (which eliminated H&R as contenders due to low performance and spring rate). Had everything installed (sways, springs, handling kit + ER charge pipe) two days ago.

Everything Dinan_Engineering or JamesNoBrakes say in their comments/review is accurate. They were also helpful with spec requirements and instructions.

• Car dropped 17-18mm;
• Old sways 12.5mm to 18, and 22 to 25 higher grade;
• Car hugs the road;
• Accelerates faster (0-60 coming up, was 4.5 before);
• 10-20Km/hr min gain in cornering speed around 100-140 km/hr. Stable cornering, flat on apex, quick curb exits, no roll. Under-steering was the concern prior; now, tyre temp, grip and learning over-steering limits;
• At speed, a bit noisier esp frontal or angled wind effect (strong gusts), harmonic resonance sound of the spring system. In my case, it was noticeable with 40+km/hr gust winds;
• Stiff suspension. For the first time, felt the need to drop to Comfort mode on iffy roads, or be cage rattled. It works!!;
• Iffy bumpy roads with deformations are now silly shaking in sports mode, so must now be driven slower and in Comfort mode. I LIKE THAT, as at least I have options;
• Smooth roads? A bliss;
• Steering is direct, sensitive and Q4 2014 ZF, relatively light. Pre-upgrade, understeering and Michelin 235 fronts increased steering resistance significantly - though not as bad as the artificial 340i feel. The upgrade eliminated the resistance and the variable steering is back to light/Variable steering;
• Bad roads? I used to avoid them before, will not change. Anything that forces slowing down on a road is smart anyway;
• Alignment close to Dinan recommendation, though -1.38Deg rear and not -1.5. Will see how wear evolves;
• Throttle response improvement - slight, ER does its job.

These work with the Dinan Shockware Adaptive program, installed a year ago. The upgrades eliminate any considerations I may have had towards the 340i, as I exceeded specific cornering benchmarks that I noted when driving 340i M Performance Demos. 340i would also require suspension upgrades.

Driving it, I understood the trade-off design philosophy of the OEM springs. Lower spring settings, even 18 mm, is more uncomfortable but multi-fold sporty. Noisier- not much, but noticeable with frontal and side winds, or some iffy highway surface. Drivers uninterested in driving dynamics would find it too connected, too sporty. BMW could have offered a better option, but there may have been no R&D interest in the F3x chassis. At least Dinan did that homework. Yet, clearly, some lessons were incorporated in the 340i, which I suspect mainly Adaptive Flash, a stiffer ZF rack and the rear multi-link change. Yet R&D is not easy- some known brands offer generic products, springs bottoming out or spring rate ill-suited to Adaptive M. For example, although lower, I scrape less the lip in one particular location, as the car does not bounce up or down anymore. So higher, softer BMW OEM spring was worse in that aspect than the lower Dinan.

[gt-[r]]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Just did it; a transformative experience! Waited until having a full summer with it, all R&D issues ironed out (which eliminated H&R as contenders due to low performance and spring rate). Had everything installed (sways, springs, handling kit + ER charge pipe) two days ago.

Everything Dinan_Engineering or JamesNoBrakes say in their comments/review is accurate. They were also helpful with spec requirements and instructions.

• Car dropped 17-18mm;
• Old sways 12.5mm to 18, and 22 to 25 higher grade;
• Car hugs the road;
• Accelerates faster (0-60 coming up, was 4.5 before);
• 10-20Km/hr min gain in cornering speed around 100-140 km/hr. Stable cornering, flat on apex, quick curb exits, no roll. Under-steering was the concern prior; now, tyre temp, grip and learning over-steering limits;
• At speed, a bit noisier esp frontal or angled wind effect (strong gusts), harmonic resonance sound of the spring system. In my case, it was noticeable with 40+km/hr gust winds;
• Stiff suspension. For the first time, felt the need to drop to Comfort mode on iffy roads, or be cage rattled. It works!!;
• Iffy bumpy roads with deformations are now silly shaking in sports mode, so must now be driven slower and in Comfort mode. I LIKE THAT, as at least I have options;
• Smooth roads? A bliss;
• Steering is direct, sensitive and Q4 2014 ZF, relatively light. Pre-upgrade, understeering and Michelin 235 fronts increased steering resistance significantly - though not as bad as the artificial 340i feel. The upgrade eliminated the resistance and the variable steering is back to light/Variable steering;
• Bad roads? I used to avoid them before, will not change. Anything that forces slowing down on a road is smart anyway;
• Alignment close to Dinan recommendation, though -1.38Deg rear and not -1.5. Will see how wear evolves;
• Throttle response improvement - slight, ER does its job.

These work with the Dinan Shockware Adaptive program, installed a year ago. The upgrades eliminate any considerations I may have had towards the 340i, as I exceeded specific cornering benchmarks that I noted when driving 340i M Performance Demos. 340i would also require suspension upgrades.

Driving it, I understood the trade-off design philosophy of the OEM springs. Lower spring settings, even 18 mm, is more uncomfortable but multi-fold sporty. Noisier- not much, but noticeable with frontal and side winds, or some iffy highway surface. Drivers uninterested in driving dynamics would find it too connected, too sporty. BMW could have offered a better option, but there may have been no R&D interest in the F3x chassis. At least Dinan did that homework. Yet, clearly, some lessons were incorporated in the 340i, which I suspect mainly Adaptive Flash, a stiffer ZF rack and the rear multi-link change. Yet R&D is not easy- some known brands offer generic products, springs bottoming out or spring rate ill-suited to Adaptive M. For example, although lower, I scrape less the lip in one particular location, as the car does not bounce up or down anymore. So higher, softer BMW OEM spring was worse in that aspect than the lower Dinan.

Great to hear that there is this much improvement on the car. I have the springs, just waiting for the bump stops to get here next week so I can install it on my F30

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by gt-[r]

Great to hear that there is this much improvement on the car. I have the springs, just waiting for the bump stops to get here next week so I can install it on my F30

UPDATE AUG 18. Baby girl born 4.5 lbs; car 0-60 sub 4.5. Michelins wore out to 7/32 rears, 30,000 kms, outer edge 6 due to more aggressive cornering.

Now testing custom made FRONT 3d continuous fiber CCB brakes (technology exceeding what Brembo has and superior in any M3/Porsches that I drove) for future 3 series production. The effect of removing 15 kgs of rotor mass on acceleration and steering, plus having unparalleled linear braking has given me a new appreciation for this platform. 150-200 lbs sprung weight equivalent removed, have no words to describe the effect it has.

[Mkswoosh]

New to the club. So where should I purchase this Dinan and ride kit at?

[Littlebear]

Hello BMW Experts!

I am running Dinan springs with Billy B8s & 440i sway bars, Konig 17" 17lb flowform wheels.
It finally handles!

Murf

[Mkswoosh]

Originally Posted by Littlebear

Hello BMW Experts!

I am running Dinan springs with Billy B8s & 440i sway bars.
It finally handles!

Murf

Looks great. Did you get the ride kit too for dinan springs?

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by Mkswoosh

Looks great. Did you get the ride kit too for dinan springs?

Thanks MK,
Yes, I got the ride kit, from the classifieds here. But with Bilsteins I can't even use the front bumpstops, so I only have the rears in.

Murf

[Mkswoosh]

Originally Posted by Littlebear

Thanks MK,
Yes, I got the ride kit, from the classifieds here. But with Bilsteins I can't even use the front bumpstops, so I only have the rears in.

Murf

If you don't mind me asking. I'm in research mode to decide what route to go with. Originally, I just wanted springs and a sway. Not planning on tracking and it's a daily with two little kids in the back. i want to get rid of that stock ride height and would prefer it to be a little bit stiffer. But family persisted to go with coils and same with people on the forum. What made you go with this route instead of any of the coilovers?

Also, I didn't even know it was possible the 440i sway bars fitted. What was your reason getting that over any other aftermarket sway bars?

[Littlebear]

Hi MK,

The good with coilovers is getting matched spring & damper rates, with adjustable ride height.

I think Bilstein, Dinan, & the other better companies try to match their product to car also, often down to the individual model. IMHO, Bilstein match my needs (NYC & north to mountains) very well (I often have liked the 'action' of Konis a little better, but I've broken too many of them). I don't have to fiddle with settings, & Billies never need a rebuild, which even Olins do.

So for this car I tried a couple of springs. My car came stock & I wanted as little drop as possible (snow & dirt roads often) & to keep a good cruising ride, so I got a set of M-sport springs from the adds here. Fronts were OK, but the rears were too soft. Dinan springs only dropped me another 1/4", firmed up the car nicely, & they seem right on with the B8s. Some may prefer a softer shock, but not I!

To try & keep a nice ride, I didn't want too big sway bars (Dinan bars are bigger). I liked the 'factory max' on my E46, & so went with them on this car. The table I used is in this thread, then I found them in a junk yard (I got the biggest '440i/335i M-Sport' F: 25/22.2mm, R: 15mm):

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...light=sway+bar

I think I went moderate on spring rates, moderate on sways, & heavy on shocks. YMMV!
And, of course, I couldn't find Olins for even twice what I paid....

Murf

[Alpine-F80]

I just did springs (+ bumpstops) this weekend with a mechanic buddy on my RWD 335i, took us about 6 hours. Granted we were bs'ng along the way, but anyone that claims it's a 1-3 hour job without having done it before is full of it.

Aaaanyway, here she is, as others have said the ride quality hasn't been compromised from stock at all, we'll see how long that lasts for, but I'm very happy with these! Really looks so much better with the wheel gap closed up.

[ssmuff]

Looks great everyone! I will most likely go with these springs for my 328i! Will this bottom out the rear with passengers and luggage in the trunk? OR, with the stiffer spring does it not settle as much with the added weight?

[anotheran]

Originally Posted by ssmuff

Looks great everyone! I will most likely go with these springs for my 328i! Will this bottom out the rear with passengers and luggage in the trunk? OR, with the stiffer spring does it not settle as much with the added weight?

Dinans are stiffer AND linear (what most ppl seem to forget) so it won't just bottom out with passengers and luggage.

[EDWYER]

Originally Posted by fate_f30

Unfortunately I'm not mechanical handy like most of you so I was curious to see what my Dinan approved dealership would charge me for parts and labor for the Dinan spring set up. I almost sh^t my pants when I saw the estimate. Thoughts???

What a joke.

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by ssmuff

Looks great everyone! I will most likely go with these springs for my 328i! Will this bottom out the rear with passengers and luggage in the trunk? OR, with the stiffer spring does it not settle as much with the added weight?

Hi Ssmuff,
I haven't driven enough on the Dinan springs yet, but I think they are much better than the base & the M-sport springs, for handling loads, or luggage loads.

Murf

[Littlebear]

Hello BMW Experts!

When using Dinan springs with Bilstein shocks, is it recommended to use the bump-stops (Dinan or regular) in the rear?
I have heard the front Bilsteins have bump-stops internally, and with the fat rod can't use external bump-stops anyway. Are the rear Bilsteins the same in this way, and might using the external rear bump-stops cause an unwanted loss of travel?

Murf