[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Dustin335i

Hey man-
Thanks for your response. It certainly sounds like you've done your research, and I respect the hell out of that! In thinking about your last thought regarding bumpstops; which brand or measurement bumpstops have you had the most success with?

I did have my bumpstops carefully cut down slightly. The Indy shop who did my suspension work is a drift-car/Nissan specialist, who prides himself on his suspension work.... so I trusted him to cut mine to where he felt they would ride best for me.

I used the OE and "Dinan" bump stops when I had the adaptive dampers. The OE ones engage much sooner and turn the spring rate progressive as they do. Due to that (and slightly lower springs) street comfort isn't quite as good. I can see how cutting down the bump stops by 3/4"-1" or so would make things better.

I need to optimize the bump stops on my current setup with different dampers. I'll find a weekend soon to measure how much travel I have before engagement (I want at least 3/4").

Originally Posted by johnung

Really great stuff! Thanks for posting!
I'm curious where I can find the Eibach spring specs? I've got a 2015 335i xDrive with non-adaptive suspension. I've got Eibach xDrive spring kit installed which I really like. But the only specs I've heard is that they are 10% stiffer than stock as opposed to my second choice which would have been the Dinan xDrive spring kit which is supposedly 30% stiffer than stock. Curious if you have actual numbers comparing stock vs Eibach, and maybe even Dinan? Thanks in advance!

You can use Eibach.de's online catalog to look up what they recommend for your vehicle and the PNs. Then use their TUV testing document to see the spring specs, drawings, load tests, and cycling tests.

I haven't found a good database for OE (or any other mfg) spring specs unfortunately. Since ACS rebrands Eibach springs though, you can look at ACS' TUV documentation and the Eibach one side by side and easily figure out which Eibach springs ACS is using where and therefore get their specs.

[henkinc]

Instead of cutting down the bump stops with Eibach why did you not go to Dinan (3/4 inch drop) with their special bump stops (with springs on top) which seems to me best of all worlds and Dinan engineers carefully for BMW cars.
I have a 2014 335Xi with adaptive suspension (hence close to your 540xi) and am thinking about the Dinan route. Might be few hundred$ more but small general difference after labor accounted for.
Thanks.

[henkinc]

Sorry - I meant your 340Xi...

[Dustin335i]

Originally Posted by mark_tdot

Lowered my xdrive on eibach's last week.

I used the RWD version though - part no. E10-20-031-02-22

Hey man; I'm having the weirdest issue going on since I lowered my '16 340i M sport x-drive with adaptive suspension.

I'm thinking this through; I have to ask- does your car have adaptive suspension (electronic dampening control struts)?

[Dustin335i]

Originally Posted by alec.sharp

I just lowered my 335i xdrive on the RWD eibachs after being inspired by Tdot. Test fit the new wheels yesterday aswell.

Do you have adaptive suspension (edc struts, electronic dampening control struts)?

I'm experiencing a weird issue an Independent bmw shop is trying to diagnose....

[bmw22915]

Originally Posted by Dustin335i

Hey man; I'm having the weirdest issue going on since I lowered my '16 340i M sport x-drive with adaptive suspension.

I'm thinking this through; I have to ask- does your car have adaptive suspension (electronic dampening control struts)?

Want to try to explain this issue??

[Dustin335i]

Originally Posted by bmw22915

Want to try to explain this issue??

Hey man, thanks for replying.

I took my 340i, Adaptive Suspension, M sport, X-drive into a tuning shop to have the Eibach Sport installed on Wednesday. When I first saw the car, it looked great. It looked clean. I was impressed. I pulled out of the shop, and noticed my brake pedal was extremely soft, and went to the floor, before I stopped. I was very surprised, and almost drove out into traffic before the car stopped. It's the sensation you get after you do a brake job, and the car doesn't want to stop, until you pump the brakes a few times. I thought little of it, and drove home. The next day, the issue was still there. I drove carefully all day. The car's suspension seemed GREAT, but the braking was obviously wrong.

I called the shop and reported the issue, and they told me they didn't touch the hydraulic braking system at all, and there's no way this could be their fault. I just bought the car 4 weeks ago from a BMW dealer as a CPO car, and it's been flawless. I've put 1500 miles on it, and the braking as been excellent. This shop who inspected my car and lowered the suspension couldn't promise they wouldn't invoice me for looking at the brakes, as they claim they didn't touch the system, so it must be something else. Basically; they said it wasn't their fault.

This frustrated me a lot. I bled the brakes myself in my garage yesterday, using a single person, cheap bleeder. I got some air out of the system, but it still wasn't right. I took it to an independent BMW specialist this morning (saturday). He hooked up a pressure canister to the master cylinder reservoir and forced fluid into the system, and carefully bled all 6 bleed points. (there are two bleed nipples on each of the two front brake calipers, 1 on each of the rear). The system got better after his work.... but it's still not right. My brake pedal travels too far down before braking the car properly. It's safe now, but it's not right. The system is 80% right maybe. The bimmer specialist wants me to come back Monday; saying he will hook up a diagnostic took, and run a special bleeding procedure that takes more time... He's convinced he can get the system perfect, and apologized to me twice. He treated me VERY well.

I'm sitting here scratching my head, wondering what the first shop (who supposedly only lowered my car) could have done to my brake system. I think it's possible a rookie technician accidentally undid a brake line and it bled out. He was afraid to tell the shop owner, so he just topped off the system with more fluid, without bleeding it. How else could air get into the system, causing this issue?? Do you have any thoughts??

[FaRKle!]

Brakes have nothing to do with EDC or lowering springs. None of the calipers or lines need to be removed to do springs.

The indie mechanic will probably run the ISTA bleeding procedure where the various valves pulse to loosen any bubbles and force them out. It's not very long of a procedure.

[zole2112]

Originally Posted by johnung

For sway bars I was considering H&R and Dinan. Three hole adjustment on Dinan front bar is just marketing. Dinan told me that the other two holes are meant for other model cars. So glad that I went with H&R. $250 less than Dinan for the set. H&R is a German engineering company. I first used their sway bars in the 80's on VWs. Quality is amazing. I'll post a photo of the H&R 28mm front bar next to the stock bar that was removed from the 2015 335i Xdrive. The stock bar feels light as a feather like it is hollow. The H&R is solid. No comparison! Installation is not a driveway job. You need a lift because the front subframe needs to be removed and dropped to the floor. The front sway bar actually mounts to the top of it. Find a tech who knows what they are doing. But don't believe ridiculous labor estimates. It's about 2.5 hours to swap the front bar.

I've had the sway bar in and out about 3 times already on my 2013, I loosened the rear bolts on my front subframe and removed the front and middle bolts and was able remove and replace the sway bar easily without actually dropping the subframe. It was on a lift each time, I wouldn't do it on jack stands. I am going to install and H&R front this summer, the other bar I tried was not correct for my car sadly.

I used the front sway bar instructions on the Dinan website.

[henkinc]

Hey Dustin - we have similar cars. Mine is 2014.
Why did you pick the Eibachs? Are they progressive or linear springs? How do you find the ride and the handling now? I believe these have 0.8 in lower in Front and 0.6 in in Rear. Correct?

I find the Dinan spring and bump stop correction logically appealing, but Dinan does not have progressive springs. Is the spring/shock matchup ok with your adaptive suspension and Eibachs? To my surprise, some RWD owners berate the Dinan spring match to their stock shocks and some have even thrown the adaptive shocks away out of frustration with ANY springs. I always thought Dinan took an excellent system approach. (My Dinan stage 1 performance kit is flawless, for example.)

Thanks.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by henkinc

Hey Dustin - we have similar cars. Mine is 2014.
Why did you pick the Eibachs? Are they progressive or linear springs? How do you find the ride and the handling now? I believe these have 0.8 in lower in Front and 0.6 in in Rear. Correct?

I find the Dinan spring and bump stop correction logically appealing, but Dinan does not have progressive springs. Is the spring/shock matchup ok with your adaptive suspension and Eibachs? To my surprise, some RWD owners berate the Dinan spring match to their stock shocks and some have even thrown the adaptive shocks away out of frustration with ANY springs. I always thought Dinan took an excellent system approach. (My Dinan stage 1 performance kit is flawless, for example.)

Thanks.

Originally Posted by henkinc

Hey Dustin - we have similar cars. Mine is 2014.
Why did you pick the Eibachs? Are they progressive or linear springs? How do you find the ride and the handling now? I believe these have 0.8 in lower in Front and 0.6 in in Rear. Correct?

I find the Dinan spring and bump stop correction logically appealing, but Dinan does not have progressive springs. Is the spring/shock matchup ok with your adaptive suspension and Eibachs? To my surprise, some RWD owners berate the Dinan spring match to their stock shocks and some have even thrown the adaptive shocks away out of frustration with ANY springs. I always thought Dinan took an excellent system approach. (My Dinan stage 1 performance kit is flawless, for example.)

Thanks.

Attached are the comparison photos- Eibach springs vs stock during installation on my 2015 335i xDrive. Hope this is helpful!

[Dustin335i]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Brakes have nothing to do with EDC or lowering springs. None of the calipers or lines need to be removed to do springs.

The indie mechanic will probably run the ISTA bleeding procedure where the various valves pulse to loosen any bubbles and force them out. It's not very long of a procedure.

I agree with you that brakes shouldn't be disturbed at all during a suspension job. I'm just trying to figure out what the first shop could have possibly done to my car!

[Dustin335i]

Originally Posted by henkinc

Hey Dustin - we have similar cars. Mine is 2014.
Why did you pick the Eibachs? Are they progressive or linear springs? How do you find the ride and the handling now? I believe these have 0.8 in lower in Front and 0.6 in in Rear. Correct?

I find the Dinan spring and bump stop correction logically appealing, but Dinan does not have progressive springs. Is the spring/shock matchup ok with your adaptive suspension and Eibachs? To my surprise, some RWD owners berate the Dinan spring match to their stock shocks and some have even thrown the adaptive shocks away out of frustration with ANY springs. I always thought Dinan took an excellent system approach. (My Dinan stage 1 performance kit is flawless, for example.)

Thanks.

Hey Man; I went with Eibachs because of my previous success running these springs in my 2 different e92 335i's. They are progressive; so when you head into a turn hard, they respond really well. But, they very forgiving on normal roads, normal traffic driving. I've had H&R Sports before, and the Eibach Sports perform great, as well... but are more forgiving. Plus, the ride height drop from the Eibach's (I went with the RWD spring version) is just the right amount, in my opinion. My struts are responding great with the Eibach's so far. I'm really, really happy with the current setup. It's just barely stiffer than the OEM M-sport suspension when driving slow; but you can absolutely feel the difference in performance when you hit the twisties hard. It's a night and day different from my previous X-drive M-sport springs!

[maku]

I lowered my BMW 340i xDrive with adaptive suspension by Eibach Pro-Kit springs:
E10-20-031-05-22

That's how the car should leave the factory

[Dustin335i]

Originally Posted by maku

I lowered my BMW 340i xDrive with adaptive suspension by Eibach Pro-Kit springs:
E10-20-031-05-22

That's how the car should leave the factory

I totally agree this is how they should have left the factory! Your ride looks SICK.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by zole2112

I've had the sway bar in and out about 3 times already on my 2013, I loosened the rear bolts on my front subframe and removed the front and middle bolts and was able remove and replace the sway bar easily without actually dropping the subframe. It was on a lift each time, I wouldn't do it on jack stands. I am going to install and H&R front this summer, the other bar I tried was not correct for my car sadly.

I used the front sway bar instructions on the Dinan website.

Originally Posted by zole2112

I've had the sway bar in and out about 3 times already on my 2013, I loosened the rear bolts on my front subframe and removed the front and middle bolts and was able remove and replace the sway bar easily without actually dropping the subframe. It was on a lift each time, I wouldn't do it on jack stands. I am going to install and H&R front this summer, the other bar I tried was not correct for my car sadly.

I used the front sway bar instructions on the Dinan website.

That's great to hear that you didn't drop the subframe. I'm only reporting what I saw when two dealer techs were working on mine. They said that no way it was coming out from the side so they dropped the subframe which didn't take them much time at all, maybe because they do it a lot? Their tone of voice made it sound like it wasn't possible. I'd definitely recommend the H&Rs.

I just received a Wiechers strut tower bar today. It's beautifully made. Don't think the polished aluminum look matches well in the engine bay so I'm getting it powder coated in a gloss black. That should complete my suspension. Put Michelin pilot Sport 4S 245/40-18 summer tires on this afternoon. Amazed on the short drive home. Cornering was sick! Anxious to drive it more tomorrow

[henkinc]

Also, what is the Eibach model # you used? When you go from Comfort to Sport do you get a better spring-shock compatibility in a damping sense or only tighter handling than with the stock adaptive setup? I find the stock setup not only has lean but the springs and shocks are not matched as well as they should be. A progressive spring might fix this nicely.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by henkinc

Also, what is the Eibach model # you used? When you go from Comfort to Sport do you get a better spring-shock compatibility in a damping sense or only tighter handling than with the stock adaptive setup? I find the stock setup not only has lean but the springs and shocks are not matched as well as they should be. A progressive spring might fix this nicely.

I'm not sure if your question was directed at me. The Eibach spring kit part number that I used on my 2015 335i xDrive is (E10-20-031-06-22). Mine is the standard suspension, not the adaptive.

[xpro]

I have the same question.

The online catalogue list E10-20-031-05-22 part for 340ix/330dx/335dx.
The Eibach PDF list E10-20-031-06-22 part for the same 340ix/330dx/335dx.

The difference in those springs are the spring height and the payload.

I'm unsure now which is the correct spring for my 16' 335xd



You can see the 05-22 is 35mm/25mm drop and the 06-22 is 20mm/15mm drop

[johnung]

Originally Posted by xpro

I have the same question.

The online catalogue list E10-20-031-05-22 part for 340ix/330dx/335dx.
The Eibach PDF list E10-20-031-06-22 part for the same 340ix/330dx/335dx.

The difference in those springs are the spring height and the payload.

I'm unsure now which is the correct spring for my 16' 335xd



You can see the 05-22 is 35mm/25mm drop and the 06-22 is 20mm/15mm drop

Must be a mistake in the documentation. I know that the 06 part number that I installed is meant specifically for xDrives. So the 05 must be the part# for RWD. The drops that you listed confirm that. Since you have an xDrive the 06 should be correct for your car.

Having said that, some of the forum guys have gone ahead and installed the 05 part# on their xDrives because they like look of the drop. If you do that you have to be concerned about the dampers and bump stops, that they still have enough travel since you just took away about 1.5" of travel with the lower springs. For example my Koni Special Active xDrive dampers aren't designed for that much drop. Koni told me that the milder drop of the Eibach 06 spring kit is fine. Been driving on them fine for 9 months.

I can't recall if you have the adaptive suspension instead of standard dampers like mine. I've read several guys who installed the 06 Eibachs without issues. I don't know the caveats of installing the lower 05 Eibachs with adaptive dampers.

Suggest you call Eibach and point out the documentation mistake and discuss your particular options. Hope this helps!

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by xpro

I have the same question.

The online catalogue list E10-20-031-05-22 part for 340ix/330dx/335dx.
The Eibach PDF list E10-20-031-06-22 part for the same 340ix/330dx/335dx.

The difference in those springs are the spring height and the payload.

I'm unsure now which is the correct spring for my 16' 335xd



You can see the 05-22 is 35mm/25mm drop and the 06-22 is 20mm/15mm drop

Either kit is correct. Just depends on how much drop you want. Both the front springs in those two kits have the same spring rate. The -06-22 will probably be more comfortable over bumps since there's more damper travel before engaging the bump stops due to taller ride height. I've ran both the front spring from the -06-22 and -05-22 and that was my experience (until I cut down the bump stops with the -05-22 front spring).

Originally Posted by johnung

Must be a mistake in the documentation.

The mistake is they forgot to list the -06-22 kit under 335dx on the online catalog. The 435dx has both kits listed under it.

[xpro]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Either kit is correct. Just depends on how much drop you want. Both the front springs in those two kits have the same spring rate. The -06-22 will probably be more comfortable over bumps since there's more damper travel before engaging the bump stops due to taller ride height. I've ran both the front spring from the -06-22 and -05-22 and that was my experience (until I cut down the bump stops with the -05-22 front spring).




The mistake is they forgot to list the -06-22 kit under 335dx on the online catalog. The 435dx has both kits listed under it.

The reason I'm confused is that when I rang Eibach they said to go with 06 as the they are a bit stronger due to 1095kg payload vs 1050kg on the 05's.

The combo i'm going with is Bilsteins B6 with either Eibachs but The Bilstein recommends max drop on the B6's is 30mm, which is why I think the 06 might be more suitable.

Has anyone got a photo of the Eibachs 06 fitted? The photo in the previous post is with the 05's and they look totally sick, altough very similar to ACS springs.

Judging by what people say about ACS springs being a bit lower then Eibachs, more I think is they might be based on the 05 eibach model.