[spak888]

Hello All,

Long time lurker from e90post, finally posting here for the first time. I currently have two 6MT e90's and my wife has a F31. I've initially kept her wagon stock since we bought it but I recently had some time on my hands () so I thought I'd freshen up her car. Now I'm stuck. It looks way better than it did before but now I want to lower it. I didn't mind the wheel gap since the whole car was stock but now it looks out of place. What would be the best route to go if I wanted to lower it an inch in the front and 1/2" in the rear and keep a reasonably comfortable ride? From what I've read so far in the suspension section, KW V1's or ST Coilovers (no chance of snow/salt where I live) are probably the way to go. Anyway, for now, here are some pictures. Thanks!

[thatf30]

Would definitely look better lowered. Be sure to give the wifey a crash course on how to drive a lowered car haha. It's easy to forget and end up damaging the bumper. Especially with that front lip

[spak888]

Originally Posted by thatf30

Would definitely look better lowered. Be sure to give the wifey a crash course on how to drive a lowered car haha. It's easy to forget and end up damaging the bumper. Especially with that front lip

That's what I'm leaning toward. She's pretty good about not ramming the bumper in to curbs but it's the steep driveways that give her issues. We'll see how it goes for now but that wheel gap is not pretty.

[spak888]

Originally Posted by thatf30

Would definitely look better lowered. Be sure to give the wifey a crash course on how to drive a lowered car haha. It's easy to forget and end up damaging the bumper. Especially with that front lip

ST Coilovers on order. 6-8 week backorder. I wonder if anyone has them in stock?

[andino]

KW V1s were pretty low when I had them on my wagon. Something to keep in mind if you're looking at those!

[spak888]

Originally Posted by andino

KW V1s were pretty low when I had them on my wagon. Something to keep in mind if you're looking at those!

Thanks for the info! I was reading some threads about that and ended up picking up some 15mm spring spacers. Now I'm just assuming, does it directly add 15mm to the minimum drop? That would bring it to about 0.7" drop in the rear, which should be just enough to get rid of the wheel gap. The front minimum is 1.0" (according to the KW an ST website for item #1322000R) and that should be good enough... unless I'm wrong about how the spacers work, which is entirely possible. My two E90's are lowered on springs and koni combos so I have no experience with coilovers.

Do you like your Bilsteins? How do they ride?

[andino]

Originally Posted by spak888

Thanks for the info! I was reading some threads about that and ended up picking up some 15mm spring spacers. Now I'm just assuming, does it directly add 15mm to the minimum drop? That would bring it to about 0.7" drop in the rear, which should be just enough to get rid of the wheel gap. The front minimum is 1.0" (according to the KW an ST website for item #1322000R) and that should be good enough... unless I'm wrong about how the spacers work, which is entirely possible. My two E90's are lowered on springs and koni combos so I have no experience with coilovers.

Do you like your Bilsteins? How do they ride?

It doesn't add 15mm but probably a bit more due to the motion ratio. I can't remember the conversion at the moment but you'll get at least 15mm more height in the rear. I had the fronts maxed out on mine before (squishing the dead coils on full droop) and it was no gap all around but slightly low for my tastes. I attached a photo of how I had them setup without the 15mm spacer in the rear.

Bilsteins are okay. I swapped my springs out for custom rates and plan to use them as a donor set for a custom setup later down the line though which is why I swapped from V1s to them. KWs ride much better than the Bilsteins out of the box.

[spak888]

Originally Posted by andino

It doesn't add 15mm but probably a bit more due to the motion ratio. I can't remember the conversion at the moment but you'll get at least 15mm more height in the rear. I had the fronts maxed out on mine before (squishing the dead coils on full droop) and it was no gap all around but slightly low for my tastes. I attached a photo of how I had them setup without the 15mm spacer in the rear.

Bilsteins are okay. I swapped my springs out for custom rates and plan to use them as a donor set for a custom setup later down the line though which is why I swapped from V1s to them. KWs ride much better than the Bilsteins out of the box.

That's a pretty helpful visual. Also, love the 513m wheels on the F31. It's good to know that even when at full drop, it's not unreasonably low.

[andino]

Originally Posted by spak888

That's a pretty helpful visual. Also, love the 513m wheels on the F31. It's good to know that even when at full drop, it's not unreasonably low.

That was at max height in front and almost max height in the rear aka it could go lower but not much higher (at least in front)

[spak888]

Originally Posted by andino

That was at max height in front and almost max height in the rear aka it could go lower but not much higher (at least in front)

Whoa! Totally read your previous post wrong. Thanks for the clarification. I guess I'll get some spacers for the front as well!

[spak888]

Installed an OEM F30 335i exhaust with dual exhaust diffuser. I took my wife for a ride and didn't say anything to see if she noticed. She said the car "sounds louder" pretty much right away. I honestly didn't think it sounded any louder but it did sound deeper. I don't drive the car too much and my 335i sounds louder. Anyway, the F31's rear matches my 335i's rear end so that's a win.

I'm still 5-7 weeks away from the coilovers arriving but I'm happy with the mods so far.

[spak888]

OEM 328i exhaust vs OEM 335i exhaust.

[spak888]

Lowered them on KW V1's (with minor modifications). Also did OEM 340i Brakes while we were at it. I'm stoked on how it turned out. My wife thinks "it looks pretty". Now I have to wash it. Let's see how long the lip lasts.

[chambo622]

This is a nice build, I'm looking at doing some very similar mods to my wagon!

What did you end up paying for the brakes? Thinking of going for an MPBBK but would like to save a bit of money.

Was also looking at either a spring/shock setup or the ST X's. What did you do to your KW V1 to get it looking like that? What did your front/rear drop end up at?

[redEYEjedi]

Many different options to get to a nice ride height, but key part is the ride comfort. So to be clear did you get STs or V1s? I've had STs on an e91 and they were actually pretty good ride wise considering the price point.

[Johnny250]

Looks good, what part of SD are you from?

[spak888]

Originally Posted by chambo622

This is a nice build, I'm looking at doing some very similar mods to my wagon!

What did you end up paying for the brakes? Thinking of going for an MPBBK but would like to save a bit of money.

Was also looking at either a spring/shock setup or the ST X's. What did you do to your KW V1 to get it looking like that? What did your front/rear drop end up at?

Thanks! I was looking at the MPBBK but found these on the forums for $350 calipers only. I bought the powerstop rotor and pad kit from Amazon.

The KW's are pretty much max height in the rear with 15mm spring spacers and the front can come up just a little. I might go 30mm spring spacer rear and put the 15mm in the front. It rides fine when I'm driving solo but I have three kids and it's too low to be a comfortable family hauler. I love the way it looks though.

[spak888]

Originally Posted by chambo622

This is a nice build, I'm looking at doing some very similar mods to my wagon!

What did you end up paying for the brakes? Thinking of going for an MPBBK but would like to save a bit of money.

Was also looking at either a spring/shock setup or the ST X's. What did you do to your KW V1 to get it looking like that? What did your front/rear drop end up at?

Originally Posted by redEYEjedi

Many different options to get to a nice ride height, but key part is the ride comfort. So to be clear did you get STs or V1s? I've had STs on an e91 and they were actually pretty good ride wise considering the price point.

They are KW V1's I bought off these forums. The ST's were delayed until 9/12/20

I've seen your E91 from E90post. It's sweet!

[spak888]

Originally Posted by Johnny250

Looks good, what part of SD are you from?

Thanks! I live in the Lake Murray area.

[chambo622]

Originally Posted by spak888

The KW's are pretty much max height in the rear with 15mm spring spacers and the front can come up just a little. I might go 30mm spring spacer rear and put the 15mm in the front. It rides fine when I'm driving solo but I have three kids and it's too low to be a comfortable family hauler. I love the way it looks though.

Are there any downsides to using the spacers like this?

Ideally I'd like a system that just allowed a higher configuration, but the ST X is such a good value seems hard to pass up.

[spak888]

Originally Posted by chambo622

Are there any downsides to using the spacers like this?

Ideally I'd like a system that just allowed a higher configuration, but the ST X is such a good value seems hard to pass up.

I'm guessing that the spacers setup will have less "travel" than a longer spring but that's more of an assumption than fact.

I called KW to see if they had longer springs but they said they didn't and stopped production on the "original, shorter version" years ago.

I'm going to play around with it because it's just a bit too low for the family.

[chambo622]

Yeah, my thinking is that I want a car that I'm comfortable taking to Tahoe a few times a season. Thinking that coilovers may not be for me and a milder drop from a set of Eibach's may be more my speed. Interested in what you end up with! Are you making all these changes yourself?