[Steveali]

Hey guys sorry if this has already been asked, first post here, tried to do a research but I can’t find anything. Mine is a very weird question, I have a 2012 f30 sport 335i with 148,000 miles with adaptive m sport suspensions. I use this car locally, I don’t really care about it, the only thing I care is that it functions. Now, my front shocks are completely gone, bmw gave me a quote of more than 3,000$ to replace them and of course I’m not gonna spend that money on a car that is maybe worth a couple of thousand more. I’ve ordered some after market adaptive front shocks online but I’ve noticed that the springs are different, so after making a reasearch online I found out that I have the m sport adaptive suspensions, and these are probably not m sport, they are just adaptive.

Question 1: is it possibile to install normal adaptive suspensions if I have the m sport suspensions? And if it is, will the front be considerably higher than the rear?

Question 2: what kind of non adaptive suspensions can I install in the front considering than I’m not gonna change the rear suspensions?

Thank you guys and sorry for the weird “downgrade” question about my suspensions.

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by Steveali

Question 1: is it possibile to install normal adaptive suspensions if I have the m sport suspensions? And if it is, will the front be considerably higher than the rear?

there is no m-sport adaptive. there's only adaptive or passive, which is either base or 704 sport/m-sport

Question 2: what kind of non adaptive suspensions can I install in the front considering than I’m not gonna change the rear suspensions?

you can install any non-adaptive/passive suspension you desire, but you will need to code out EDC(electronic damper control=adaptive) or install a passive EDC delete kit which sends a pseudo signal to your DME indicating you have adaptive, even though you don't.

[Steveali]

Wow thanks for the reply, that’s really weird because the spring is totally different….I’ll try to post some pictures

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by Steveali

Wow thanks for the reply, that’s really weird because the spring is totally different….I’ll try to post some pictures

wait, now i'm unsure and 2nd guessing myself. it's been awhile since this sort of question's been brought up. yes pics please.

on the F3/4 series, i believe there was only one adaptive offering called "M Adaptive Suspension". i am not sure if the dampers were offered with different springs.
.

[Steveali]

Ok so I’ve looked on realoem with my vin and the suspensions I bought are compatible with those parts numbers but the springs look totally different. First pictures are the new suspensions, and in the second picture how the springs that I have on my car now look like.

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by Steveali

Ok so I’ve looked on realoem with my vin and the suspensions I bought are compatible with those parts numbers but the springs look totally different. First pictures are the new suspensions, and in the second picture how the springs that I have on my car now look like.

are the parts you've ordered just the struts? or complete assembly as depicted?

if it's assembled complete, then just throw it on. if it's just the dampers, assemble it and throw it on.

i believe you said they're aftermarket?

[Steveali]

They are already assembled, my main worry is that from the top of the suspension to the end of the spring they look a little bit longer. I Ve just made an empirical measurement, I don't know if once installed that part compresses a little bit and that's the reason why they seem to be a little bit longer

[Steveali]

Sorry yes they are after market

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by Steveali

Sorry yes they are after market

since they are complete, you can't really compare to OEM. they used their own springs and rates.

i understand why you went cheap but someoftentimes, it ends up costing more because it doesn't last and you end up redoing it with higher quality. hope it works out for you.

[Steveali]

They look exactly the same as the original shocks, if I look for bmw f 30 335i front vdc suspensions they look exactly the same as these aftermarket shocks, my problem is that the spring that I have installed now is different, so I don’t know….
Like I said I raised the car and tried to measure from the top of the shock to the bottom of the spring and it looks like the after market shocks are slightly longer but I don’t know if that part of the suspension compresses a little bit when installed

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by Steveali

They look exactly the same as the original shocks, if I look for bmw f 30 335i front vdc suspensions they look exactly the same as these aftermarket shocks, my problem is that the spring that I have installed now is different, so I don’t know….
Like I said I raised the car and tried to measure from the top of the shock to the bottom of the spring and it looks like the after market shocks are slightly longer but I don’t know if that part of the suspension compresses a little bit when installed

imo, measuring on the car unloaded is a tough way to gauge what height it will be. imo, you're going to have to just install it and see. if it's not to your liking, swap springs and reinstall. idk, it's why i would have went with a different plan, however since this is where YOU are at, you'll have to just play it out.

[Steveali]

You are right, but this is just a spare car, I just use it to go to buy groceries and to leave it parked at the airport when I’m gone, I should feel ashamed but I have been driving it for almost two years with the front shocks completely gone, so anything’s better than what I have now, and original bmw suspensions worth more than the car itself!

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by Steveali

You are right, but this is just a spare car, I just use it to go to buy groceries and to leave it parked at the airport when I’m gone, I should feel ashamed but I have been driving it for almost two years with the front shocks completely gone, so anything’s better than what I have now, and original bmw suspensions worth more than the car itself!

oh yah, you are way overdue. just swap it, let it settle. hopefully it's enough to provide a satifactory resolution.

[mhowanic]

Originally Posted by alohasurftoad

you can install any non-adaptive/passive suspension you desire, but you will need to code out EDC(electronic damper control=adaptive) or install a passive EDC delete kit which sends a pseudo signal to your DME indicating you have adaptive, even though you don't.

Been looking for the same info. I just want to make sure I am understanding. If I currently have adaptive struts with the M package, I can remove the adaptive struts and just put regular Bilstein B4s on the car?

Anything else needed. I thought I saw something about a linkage that needed swapped. I already had EDC coded out with plans of doing this.

Appreciate the help!

[alohasurftoad]

yes, since you have coded out edc, any non edc dampers or coilovers are fine.

[mhowanic]

Originally Posted by alohasurftoad

yes, since you have coded out edc, any non edc dampers or coilovers are fine.

Awesome appreciate the response!