[xpro]

Hey OP.

Do you remember which part number have you used? It appears there are 2 types available for 335/340 Xdrives as per Eibach catalogue.

E10-20-031-06-22 ( 20mm front and 15mm rear drop)

E10-20-031-05-22 ( 35mm front and 25mm rear drop)

So basically both springs are identical but one with more drop, which would explain why some people are not getting the drop they expected and some do.

As many have said they were not overly happy with Eibach drop, I would guess they went with the 06-22 part number..

[tejula340]

Hi all. Reporting back after almost a year of usage of eibach prokit on stock shocks. The ride is still good but i think the shockers are slowly giving in (car has 45.000 km) and i believe eibachs contributed to it in some way. To strong a spring i guess.
So in march i plan on upgrading brakes as well as shockers.
Can you recommend good shockers to pair them with eibach springs? The springs did 10.000km so they should still be good, right?
Also, if possible, i prefer not to lower my car any further as it is sitting low enough.

Also, you can suggest good brakes as well (i have standard non m brakes (340mm in front)). Maybe brembo?

Thank you!

[tejula340]

Bump?

[rcaso26]

I plan on using Koni Special Active shocks to pair with the eibach springs. Other options are Koni yellows (sport) or Bilstein B8.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by tejula340

Hi all. Reporting back after almost a year of usage of eibach prokit on stock shocks. The ride is still good but i think the shockers are slowly giving in (car has 45.000 km) and i believe eibachs contributed to it in some way. To strong a spring i guess.
So in march i plan on upgrading brakes as well as shockers.
Can you recommend good shockers to pair them with eibach springs? The springs did 10.000km so they should still be good, right?
Also, if possible, i prefer not to lower my car any further as it is sitting low enough.

Also, you can suggest good brakes as well (i have standard non m brakes (340mm in front)). Maybe brembo?

Thank you!

If you have the Eibach moderate drop springs (front 0.8", rear 0.6") on your F30 xDrive, they were a great choice and will last you a very long time.

Any spring drop, even a mild one, will hasten the failure of BMW stock dampers in a non-Adaptive suspension because their internal piston travel just isn't designed for it. The strength of the spring has nothing to do with it. In fact the Eibachs are only 10% stiffer than stock springs so they provide more control without adding harshness as other springs may do that are 30% stiffer or more.

Koni Special Actives are perfect dampers to pair with Eibachs, in fact Koni tested with Eibachs before SA's were released two years ago. KoniSA's were designed with McLaren to provide dual valving for great handling and still be comfortable over rough roads.

Note: ignore if you are told that KoniSA's are only for stock height springs. Koni considers Eibach (-06 part#) mild drop springs to be so mild as to be equal to stock height springs. I heard directly from Koni technical guy and have been driving this combo for two years myself. He also told me to use stock BMW bumpstops which Koni used in all of their testing with Eibach springs.

The brake calipers that you have are excellent with 340mm rotors in front and 330mm rotors in rear. Brake pads are the most important component. OEM pads are mediocre. Best street performance pads are Hawk 5.0, better than OEM in every category. Great bite, instant warmup and very light dust that washes right off.

Replace brake fluid every two years for safety since it picks up moisture over time. At same time labor cost is minimal to upgrade to stainless steel brake lines that provide much more solid brake pedal feel. StopTech makes a great set of lines for only $106.

If you need new brake rotors, Zimmermann are excellent German rotors that are coated against rust and are much lower cost than BMW. Plain rotors are fine. If you would like better bite and better braking in rain Zimmermann also makes cross-drilled front rotors that look great too.

Zimmermann Rotor Part#'s:
150.2903.20 Front 340x30 plain, OR
150.2903.52 Front 340x30 drilled

150.2904.20 Rear 330x20 plain

Please see photos for more details of things that I mentioned.
Hope this helps!

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by johnung

If you have the Eibach moderate drop springs (front 0.8", rear 0.6") on your F30 xDrive, they were a great choice and will last you a very long time.

Any spring drop, even a mild one, will hasten the failure of BMW stock dampers in a non-Adaptive suspension because their internal piston travel just isn't designed for it. The strength of the spring has nothing to do with it. In fact the Eibachs are only 10% stiffer than stock springs so they provide more control without adding harshness as other springs may do that are 30% stiffer or more.

Koni Special Actives are perfect dampers to pair with Eibachs, in fact Koni tested with Eibachs before SA's were released two years ago. KoniSA's were designed with McLaren to provide dual valving for great handling and still be comfortable over rough roads.

Note: ignore if you are told that KoniSA's are only for stock height springs. Koni considers Eibach (-06 part#) mild drop springs to be so mild as to be equal to stock height springs. I heard directly from Koni technical guy and have been driving this combo for two years myself. He also told me to use stock BMW bumpstops which Koni used in all of their testing with Eibach springs.

The brake calipers that you have are excellent with 340mm rotors in front and 330mm rotors in rear. Brake pads are the most important component. OEM pads are mediocre. Best street performance pads are Hawk 5.0, better than OEM in every category. Great bite, instant warmup and very light dust that washes right off.

Replace brake fluid every two years for safety since it picks up moisture over time. At same time labor cost is minimal to upgrade to stainless steel brake lines that provide much more solid brake pedal feel. StopTech makes a great set of lines for only $106.

If you need new brake rotors, Zimmermann are excellent German rotors that are coated against rust and are much lower cost than BMW. Plain rotors are fine. If you would like better bite and better braking in rain Zimmermann also makes cross-drilled front rotors that look great too.

Zimmermann Rotor Part#'s:
150.2903.20 Front 340x30 plain, OR
150.2903.52 Front 340x30 drilled

150.2904.20 Rear 330x20 plain

Please see photos for more details of things that I mentioned.
Hope this helps!

You mention you been driving on the eibach/ koniSA combo for 2 year... so how many miles really you log into the suspension? I'm very interested on eibach/ koni yellow but want to know more on this KoniSA?

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

You mention you been driving on the eibach/ koniSA combo for 2 year... so how many miles really you log into the suspension? I'm very interested on eibach/ koni yellow but want to know more on this KoniSA?

HaHa, I stalked the technical guys at Koni North America in the spring of 2018 after I had researched and had heard that the Koni Special Actives were going to be released in the US. I installed one of the first sets of Koni Special Active dampers on my F30 along with the Eibach springs at the same time. I've got a 2015 335i xDrive.

I've driven over 20k miles on the Eibach/KoniSA combination since then. It's been a real mix of daily driver, city pot hole driving, highway driving and a number of weekend trips. My son and I even did a 3,000 round trip two week long road trip from Philadelphia to Miami, visiting a dozen colleges along the way.

There's nothing like waking up from a nap in the passenger seat to find your 17 year old son having a blast on the beautiful curving country roads south of Charlottesville in the mountainous area of western Virginia. He's my one kid who shares my love of cars. It was a special father/son trip.

The Eibachs and the Koni Special Actives both perform as advertised. The Eibachs have a nice mild drop that gets rid of some of the reverse rake of the BMW xDrive. Front 0.8" drop and rear 0.6" drop. Eibachs are about 10% stiffer than stock springs which is perfect. They provide more control than stock without introducing harshness.

I was trying to get rid of that teeth jarring of the stock suspension when I hit a pothole or a rough road. The thing that drove me out of my mind with the stock BMW suspension was driving on a highway with road seams. Thump, thump, thump over and over like a Chinese water torture.

The technology of the Koni Special Actives really attracted me. It's something that was developed with McLaren. The idea is that shocks when subjected to rough roads deal with a certain frequency, and shocks subjected to sporty curves are subjected to a different frequency. So the Koni Special Actives are designed with two valves that are set to those two different frequencies.

Typically shocks are set stiffly to deal with sporty curves, but drive those same shocks on a rough road and they will rattle your teeth. Shocks are typically set softly to deal with potholes and rough roads. But drive those soft shocks on curvy roads and you'll float all over the place without much control.

The Koni Special Actives are designed to be the best of both worlds and I believe that they have succeeded. I'm even more convinced after 20,000 miles.

The Koni Special Actives work great on xDrives with stock springs or with mild drop springs like the Eibachs (-06 part#).

Note: Ignore Koni instructions to only use KoniSA's with stock height springs. Koni North America tested and approved KoniSA's with mild drop Eibach Springs. After many conversations with Koni, I call it "Koni speak". (For that matter I've seen Bilstein do the same with B6's) They consider mild drop springs of 1 inch or less to be roughly equal to stock height springs.

Also I specifically asked Koni what bump stops to use with the Koni Special Actives with mild drop Eibach springs and they told me to use the stock BMW bump stops. They used the stock bump stops in their testing and even calculated the piston travel with the Eibach mild drop and approved them.

When guys ask about what F30 shocks to use with lowered springs I often recommend Bilstein B8's. But I also recommend Koni Yellow Sport since they are also made to handle lowered springs. B8's are set at the factory so you are stuck if they don't seem perfect to you. Koni Yellows are adjustable on the car by turning a knob so owner's can adjust the ride to suit them.

Farkle! did some great research and graphs comparing various shocks including Koni Yellow Sport and Koni Special Actives. Definitely make sure that you check out his postings. You can really see how and where the graphs of the two products overlap and where they do not.

Hope this helps!

[tejula340]

Thank you sir for the useful answer! Really helped me.


So I would use the following (and please correct me if I am wrong here):

Disclaimer - I am linking to the shop i have no relation with, I am just using this shop to check whether the part numbers are correct.

My car is standard suspension (eibach prokit), rear drive, standard brakes


--->Shockers to buy:

-->for rear:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/bilstein-9350551.html

Here I am worried about the following:
" Suspension: for vehicles with M-technology, for vehicles without electronic suspension control "

My car does not have "M techology" other than MPPSK, so what exactly does this mean? I do have eibach prokit springs and in this case B8 is a fit since the springs are lower than OEM and therefore the shocker needs to be shorter. Correct?

-->For front:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/bilstein-9612700.html

And the same note is here " suspension: for vehicles with M-technology, for vehicles without electronic suspension control "

So the same applies, B8 is a match for eibach prokit springs and standard, nonadjustable suspension control.

And important question here - these B8 will not lower my car, right? The height is dictated by the springs, right? Because currently, my car sits perfectly (I do not want to lower it further).

--->Brakes to buy:
(my car has standard brakes, 340mm front, 330mm rear)

-->front:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7890744.html
2 items pads
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7890874.html

-->rear:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7788615.html
2 items pads
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7789507.html

I see that Brembo brakes are about 30% cheaper than Zimmerman. Are brembo just as good as Zimmerman? Any tests?



Thank you!

[tejula340]

Bump?

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by tejula340

Thank you sir for the useful answer! Really helped me.


So I would use the following (and please correct me if I am wrong here):

Disclaimer - I am linking to the shop i have no relation with, I am just using this shop to check whether the part numbers are correct.

My car is standard suspension (eibach prokit), rear drive, standard brakes


--->Shockers to buy:

-->for rear:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/bilstein-9350551.html

Here I am worried about the following:
" Suspension: for vehicles with M-technology, for vehicles without electronic suspension control "

My car does not have "M techology" other than MPPSK, so what exactly does this mean? I do have eibach prokit springs and in this case B8 is a fit since the springs are lower than OEM and therefore the shocker needs to be shorter. Correct?

-->For front:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/bilstein-9612700.html

And the same note is here " suspension: for vehicles with M-technology, for vehicles without electronic suspension control "

So the same applies, B8 is a match for eibach prokit springs and standard, nonadjustable suspension control.

And important question here - these B8 will not lower my car, right? The height is dictated by the springs, right? Because currently, my car sits perfectly (I do not want to lower it further).

--->Brakes to buy:
(my car has standard brakes, 340mm front, 330mm rear)

-->front:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7890744.html
2 items pads
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7890874.html

-->rear:
2 items
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7788615.html
2 items pads
https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7789507.html

I see that Brembo brakes are about 30% cheaper than Zimmerman. Are brembo just as good as Zimmerman? Any tests?



Thank you!

It look like you got all them right.

Brembo is king on brakes... they basically make brakes for almost all them car companies. If you think you found brembo for cheap.. be sure its brembo and not a fake.

Just one more thing your rotor front and back different.

Front is slotted/ drilled
Rear is blank?

[tejula340]

Thank you - I noticed I linked to sport and non-sport rotots.

The front ones should be https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7624652.html

Regarding brake pads - are the fine?

Is Zimmerman a good brand overall?


And also - regarding bilsten B8 - will it lower my ride? Or is it just the springs that dictate the height of the vehicle?

Thank you !

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by tejula340

Thank you - I noticed I linked to sport and non-sport rotots.

The front ones should be https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7624652.html

Regarding brake pads - are the fine?

Is Zimmerman a good brand overall?


And also - regarding bilsten B8 - will it lower my ride? Or is it just the springs that dictate the height of the vehicle?

Thank you !

Sorry no experience with Zimmerman brake pads.

And yes spring dictates the height and B8 is designed for lowered springs

[kilogram]

Originally Posted by johnung

I was trying to get rid of that teeth jarring of the stock suspension when I hit a pothole or a rough road. The thing that drove me out of my mind with the stock BMW suspension was driving on a highway with road seams. Thump, thump, thump over and over like a Chinese water torture.

The technology of the Koni Special Actives really attracted me. It's something that was developed with McLaren. The idea is that shocks when subjected to rough roads deal with a certain frequency, and shocks subjected to sporty curves are subjected to a different frequency. So the Koni Special Actives are designed with two valves that are set to those two different frequencies.

Typically shocks are set stiffly to deal with sporty curves, but drive those same shocks on a rough road and they will rattle your teeth. Shocks are typically set softly to deal with potholes and rough roads. But drive those soft shocks on curvy roads and you'll float all over the place without much control.

I think what you're talking about is high speed vs. low speed damping. To be fair, most damper manufacturers get the high speed stuff way wrong, and that's why cars with sport dampers tend to porpoise really badly on wavy highways- the high speed damping is so stiff that it just transmits those motions directly into the chassis- there's little to no decoupling of the high speed and low speed stuff.

I'd be interested to see how the Konis work vs. Bilstein. Bilstein is world-renowned for their high speed damping. I've used them on my last two sportscars (MR2 turbo, 350Z supercharged) and the difference on rippled or bumpy pavement is astounding. The same car with coilovers or other sport dampers just crashes over bumps, but my car with the Bilsteins just soaks it up. I think a lot of people shy away from Bilstein because they're usually not adjustable, but they're so good they don't need to be, and to quote the late Colin Chapman, "If you make it adjustable, they will adjust it wrong."

I've got the m-adaptive dampers on my car, but I planned to replace them with the B8 equivalent when they die. It would be nice to have another alternative in Koni.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by kilogram

I think what you're talking about is high speed vs. low speed damping. To be fair, most damper manufacturers get the high speed stuff way wrong, and that's why cars with sport dampers tend to porpoise really badly on wavy highways- the high speed damping is so stiff that it just transmits those motions directly into the chassis- there's little to no decoupling of the high speed and low speed stuff.

I'd be interested to see how the Konis work vs. Bilstein. Bilstein is world-renowned for their high speed damping. I've used them on my last two sportscars (MR2 turbo, 350Z supercharged) and the difference on rippled or bumpy pavement is astounding. The same car with coilovers or other sport dampers just crashes over bumps, but my car with the Bilsteins just soaks it up. I think a lot of people shy away from Bilstein because they're usually not adjustable, but they're so good they don't need to be, and to quote the late Colin Chapman, "If you make it adjustable, they will adjust it wrong."

I've got the m-adaptive dampers on my car, but I planned to replace them with the B8 equivalent when they die. It would be nice to have another alternative in Koni.

You're lucky that you have the Adaptive dampers. Great technology. Drives me a little bonkers when I see people trying to talk guys into scrapping them for standard shocks or standard coilovers.

I'm just careful about recommending Bilstein (when there are KoniSA's or an adjustable Koni Yellow as an alternative) if it's someone with a family daily driver (like I share with my wife) or if they are new to modding. Bilstein's can tend toward the stiffer sportier side and it's important guys who aren't expecting that are not disappointed after spending a lot for it. It's a big parts and labor investment.

I've had Bilstein's on previous personal cars and they were awesome. But I really was looking for the sport aspect and they delivered. These Koni Special Actives are the best for delivering that sport driving aspect while still being the family errand and trip car.

I haven't noticed Koni venturing into Adaptives. Bilstein has Damptronics in B4, B6 and B16 coilovers. I don't recall a B8-Damptronic but I've read that B6's are fine with a mild drop <1" spring like Eibach, Dinan, etc depending on car model. I've been told to avoid the stock replacement B4's for the higher B6 and above with better design and materials.

I know that the focus is in this car segment is springs/shocks/coilovers. But sway bars are mostly ignored because of the labor expense. And yet body roll is the #1 complaint. Body roll on other platforms is usually tackled with upgraded sway bars. If I only had money for one suspension mod, I would upgrade sway bars before springs/shocks.

I've got an H&R sway kit on my car. They are on the heavier end of available F3x bars and they really control the body roll. My car just corners flat and under control. I've had H&R bars on previous cars and I'm impressed with their engineering and testing to choose just the right ratio of front/rear sized bars.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by tejula340

Thank you - I noticed I linked to sport and non-sport rotots.

The front ones should be https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/zim...n-7624652.html

Regarding brake pads - are the fine?

Is Zimmerman a good brand overall?


And also - regarding bilsten B8 - will it lower my ride? Or is it just the springs that dictate the height of the vehicle?

Thank you !

For street use, I'd definitely go with the perforated (drilled through) rotors instead of dimpled. B8's will work well with your springs.

[kilogram]

Originally Posted by johnung

I know that the focus is in this car segment is springs/shocks/coilovers. But sway bars are mostly ignored because of the labor expense. And yet body roll is the #1 complaint. Body roll on other platforms is usually tackled with upgraded sway bars. If I only had money for one suspension mod, I would upgrade sway bars before springs/shocks.

I may have to look into bars again. You're right, I saw the labor involved and noped right off that web page. I actually looked at possibly retrofitting a hydraulic roll control system like Infiniti uses on the QX50, but quickly realized it was easier just to use the right parts.

You're right though to that there isn't a B8 damptronic. I was digging through Rock Auto and thought I saw them, but it was really just the B6. Someone should scope the signals on those things and build a little open source controller so anyone can run them 😄

[tejula340]

Thanks again for all replies and advice.

I will go with B8 as I am looking for a stiffer ride and my partner doesn't mind me driving faster with more cornering. In fact she didn't even notice when I upgraded to MPPSK (sound-wise, performance-wise) and she would probably not notice a stiffer ride either. She likes the car though, she just isn't a car enthusiast as myself (her profession is bio-chemistry ).

Does anyone have experience with zimmermans above? Or should I go with Brembo?


Also, when you talk about body roll - would bouncing front-to-rear also count as body roll? I don't believe an anti-rollbar can fix this, right? I mean, the way force is applied it can only work via one axis of the car due to it's embedding? So my front-to-rear bouncing would be a consequence of a worn shock absorbers when going over a speed bump (or when braking / accelerating hard)?

Thank you!

[tejula340]

I'm ordering zimmerman brakes.


Regarding bilstein B8 shockers - i see there are different types of this shocker. Which one should I take?

There are:
Shock Absorber Mounting Type: Bottom Eye, Top pin
Shock Absorber Mounting Type: Top Eye, Bottom pin
...

What is the deal with this? I don't want to order the wrong item for my 340i (eibach pro-kit).

Thanks a bunch!

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by tejula340

I'm ordering zimmerman brakes.


Regarding bilstein B8 shockers - i see there are different types of this shocker. Which one should I take?

There are:
Shock Absorber Mounting Type: Bottom Eye, Top pin
Shock Absorber Mounting Type: Top Eye, Bottom pin
...

What is the deal with this? I don't want to order the wrong item for my 340i (eibach pro-kit).

Thanks a bunch!

For the F3x there's only one set of B8s for each drive type (RWD or AWD). You can go to Bilstein's website catalog to see the PNs.

[Luverse]

Hi all
i'm suing eibach sportline with stock shock. Actually i'm very satisfied with the drop and handling improvement over stock spring.
But sometime, i feel the ride quality is a terrible, especially in bad or bumpy roads. Since i feel the stock shock is not made for this, i'm considering 2 option:

1. Change to coilover. My friend offer his used BC coilovers. Any thought or review for this coliover?
2. Change the stock shock to Bilstein B8, combine with eibach sportline.

I'm currently using 245/35 & 275/30 on 19 wheels now, and the road condition in here is bad in average.

Thank you

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by Luverse

Hi all
i'm suing eibach sportline with stock shock. Actually i'm very satisfied with the drop and handling improvement over stock spring.
But sometime, i feel the ride quality is a terrible, especially in bad or bumpy roads. Since i feel the stock shock is not made for this, i'm considering 2 option:

1. Change to coilover. My friend offer his used BC coilovers. Any thought or review for this coliover?
2. Change the stock shock to Bilstein B8, combine with eibach sportline.

I'm currently using 245/35 & 275/30 on 19 wheels now, and the road condition in here is bad in average.

Thank you

Isn't the sportline drop is like 2"... that's not moderate at all for a stock shocks.

This is just me

your option 1: BC coil is a big NO for me ...just construction wise it's a monotube shock so it will be bumpy plus it will shorted shock travel.

Option 2: should be fine with your eibach sportline.

[Luverse]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Isn't the sportline drop is like 2"... that's not moderate at all for a stock shocks.

This is just me

your option 1: BC coil is a big NO for me ...just construction wise it's a monotube shock so it will be bumpy plus it will shorted shock travel.

Option 2: should be fine with your eibach sportline.

the different is like this (found on eibach website):



yeah, i read a lot of mixed review of BC coilover, so i'm still not sure. I think bilstein B8 is more a good choice for me.