[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by YesOffense

Curious if you don't mind how much was the kit from strutmonkey? Can DM or no worries if not comfortable sharing.

I can't recall but will look it up and PM. It certainly was not the cheapest option, but you are paying for the convenience...iirc maybe $200 extra vs pulling it all together and installing springs, etc. I don't do suspensions often, so for me it was a nice time saver.

[MEN54]

So on ecstuning site for Koni SA, it says do not use with any lowering springs advised by KONI.

I am afraid to use lowering springs with KONI SA, thoughts???

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-koni-par...it/87451378kt/

[johnung]

Originally Posted by MEN54

So on ecstuning site for Koni SA, it says do not use with any lowering springs advised by KONI.

I am afraid to use lowering springs with KONI SA, thoughts???

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-koni-par...it/87451378kt/

I have researched this issue to death. You can absolutely use Koni Special Actives with lowering springs. I have been using SA's with Eibach springs for years. (See photo) It was a combination that was tested and recommended to me by Koni North America Technical Support.

The issue is really somewhere in German/European translation or cultural meanings of automotive terms. You'll see this issue in product literature from both Koni and Bilstein and I assume other European aftermarket parts companies.

When Americans hear that a shock is for "stock height springs only", they take it literally to mean absolutely nothing lower than stock height. (The fear is that the normal travel in that particular shock would be reduced if the car is lowered so it would prematurely bottom out and wear out faster.)

When Europeans hear that a damper is for "stock height springs only", they interpret it to mean roughly no more than an inch lower than stock.

The parts manufacturers provide the product information and verbiage that just feeds automatically into the websites of hundreds of retailers. If that description contains language that means one thing in Europe and something different in the US, it will never be corrected unless it comes to the attention and the understanding of the correct person in Europe who has the power and desire to change it. I've tried. Just forget it!

So in America one would have to rely on the expertise of the call center person receiving the question. Four years ago one might have gotten the correct answer. But today most of these call centers have people recently hired who don't really know the cars who will just read back that their website says "for stock height springs only".

(From conversations with Koni Tech Support)
On the Koni Special Actives specifically they have a good amount of damper travel available so that's not the issue with lowering them. What can be an issue is the bump stop length.

The SA's use the two valve design developed with McLaren. One valve is tuned to sport frequencies and the other is tuned to comfort/rough road frequencies. If the SA's are lowered and the length of the bump stops are not reduced an appropriate amount, then the SA's can artificially bottom out early on the tall bump stops. This can confuse the frequency valves in the damper.

When I originally discussed this with Koni several years ago, I intended to use the Eibach -06 spring kit. Eibach estimated that it would lower 0.8" (20mm) in front and 0.6" (15mm) in back. Mine was the exact car, shocks and springs that Koni North America had already tested and approved. All of their testing was with the stock BMW bump stops.

I was surprised that bump stops were stock. The Koni Technical guy did the calculation and said that the stock bump stops and SA travel were still compatible. But he added that I could trim about a 1/4" off the top of each bump stop with a serrated knife if I liked. We ended up just keeping the stock BMW bump stops during my installation. I had just gotten the car and didn't feel comfortable jumping in a cutting bump stops unless it was necessary.

Since then I learned more about bump stops from FaRKle! (read his stuff!) so I would definitely trim my bump stops or install the shorter BMW stock F80 bump stops. See photo.

Hope this helps!

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by MEN54

So on ecstuning site for Koni SA, it says do not use with any lowering springs advised by KONI.

I am afraid to use lowering springs with KONI SA, thoughts???

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-koni-par...it/87451378kt/

Refer to this post from johnung . I have had zero issues over 15k miles on SA and Eibach 05s

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...19&postcount=3

[johnung]

Originally Posted by dmanb2b

Refer to this post from johnung . I have had zero issues over 15k miles on SA and Eibach 05s

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...38;postcount=3

Glad to hear that you like the setup. Just to confirm, you installed the shorter F80 bump stops with the Eibach -05 springs?

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by johnung

Glad to hear that you like the setup. Just to confirm, you installed the shorter F80 bump stops with the Eibach -05 springs?

Yes sir 👍

[Duck360198]

Originally Posted by dmanb2b

Yes sir 👍

Did you modify your F80 bump stops at all? Or leave as-is? Can you tell if the car has settled any more since the install?

I'm really on the fence with the route I want to go. Someone said it perfectly before where the car looks lower, but not "lowered." I like the look of "lowered", but I do not want slammed by any means, nor do I want to compromise the longevity of the axles. It really does appear the 05 Eibach's are the best balance of comfort, handling, and aesthetics.

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by Duck360198

Did you modify your F80 bump stops at all? Or leave as-is? Can you tell if the car has settled any more since the install?

I'm really on the fence with the route I want to go. Someone said it perfectly before where the car looks lower, but not "lowered." I like the look of "lowered", but I do not want slammed by any means, nor do I want to compromise the longevity of the axles. It really does appear the 05 Eibach's are the best balance of comfort, handling, and aesthetics.

Bumpstops we're unmodified. Yeah, it's certainly not a lowered look but also gets rid of the ridiculous xdrive wheel gap 🤓

[PeteyF36]

this thread has been super helpfull great great info here for xdrive models time to start pieceing together a kit for my 20 440xi GC also great color my GC also mineral grey

[johnung]

Originally Posted by PeteyF36

this thread has been super helpfull great great info here for xdrive models time to start pieceing together a kit for my 20 440xi GC also great color my GC also mineral grey

Eibach is so much better than other spring manufacturers because their spring kits are very much customized by the axle weights of the various BMW models. They don’t just have one F3x part number.

The Eibach German catalog is a great resource because it breaks down the spring part numbers and specs by front and rear. So you can actually see when front and rears are used in various kits for various cars.

They don’t list the spring rates. And it’s really easy to screw up by seeing that the Eibach estimated drop is X”, and the make the incorrect assumption that it will be Y” on your car. It turned out that most of my drop assumptions were wrong.

Eibach Tech Support can be extremely helpful IF and only IF, you do your homework first. Can’t just call them and say your kit only drops my front 0.75” and I want 1.2”. What do I buy? That’s not why they are there. They’ll tell you to buy the recommended kit with the 0.75” drop.

To find that -05 kit option for my car, I went through the German catalog for various F3x models to see which front and rear spring part numbers were used to obtain what estimated drops on what cars, and the spring specs that Eibach listed.

Once I had narrowed things down to some front and rear spring possibilities, I called Eibach and asked the front and rear spring rates on the Eibach kit recommended for my car. Then I asked the spring rates on the individual front or rear springs that might work for me. Then I asked Tech Support to calculate the drop (or lift) of that spring relative to the spring in their recommended kit.

That’s how I discovered that the -05 and -06 kits…
1) have the exact same rear spring.
2) have the exact same front spring rate
3) Front -05 spring has 15mm more drop that the front -06 spring.

That means front drop of 1.37” instead of 0.79”, roughly 0.58” more. Still within the XDrive 1.5” front drop guideline.

I measured the actual tire to fender lip gaps on my 2015 335i XDrive with the Eibach E10-20-031-06-22 kit installed. Even though the kit reduced the reverse rake to make it less noticeable, the front gap is still 0.5” more than the rear gap. So the front springs from the -05 kit will eliminate the reverse rake visual gap completely.

Hope this helps!

[PeteyF36]

Originally Posted by johnung

Eibach is so much better than other spring manufacturers because their spring kits are very much customized by the axle weights of the various BMW models. They don’t just have one F3x part number.

The Eibach German catalog is a great resource because it breaks down the spring part numbers and specs by front and rear. So you can actually see when front and rears are used in various kits for various cars.

They don’t list the spring rates. And it’s really easy to screw up by seeing that the Eibach estimated drop is X”, and the make the incorrect assumption that it will be Y” on your car. It turned out that most of my drop assumptions were wrong.

Eibach Tech Support can be extremely helpful IF and only IF, you do your homework first. Can’t just call them and say your kit only drops my front 0.75” and I want 1.2”. What do I buy? That’s not why they are there. They’ll tell you to buy the recommended kit with the 0.75” drop.

To find that -05 kit option for my car, I went through the German catalog for various F3x models to see which front and rear spring part numbers were used to obtain what estimated drops on what cars, and the spring specs that Eibach listed.

Once I had narrowed things down to some front and rear spring possibilities, I called Eibach and asked the front and rear spring rates on the Eibach kit recommended for my car. Then I asked the spring rates on the individual front or rear springs that might work for me. Then I asked Tech Support to calculate the drop (or lift) of that spring relative to the spring in their recommended kit.

That’s how I discovered that the -05 and -06 kits…
1) have the exact same rear spring.
2) have the exact same front spring rate
3) Front -05 spring has 15mm more drop that the front -06 spring.

That means front drop of 1.37” instead of 0.79”, roughly 0.58” more. Still within the XDrive 1.5” front drop guideline.

I measured the actual tire to fender lip gaps on my 2015 335i XDrive with the Eibach E10-20-031-06-22 kit installed. Even though the kit reduced the reverse rake to make it less noticeable, the front gap is still 0.5” more than the rear gap. So the front springs from the -05 kit will eliminate the reverse rake visual gap completely.

Hope this helps!

that helps so much ive been going back and forth between h&r set up and now eibach also found out my GC has standard suspension to

[IvoY]

Originally Posted by johnung

Eibach is so much better than other spring manufacturers because their spring kits are very much customized by the axle weights of the various BMW models. They don’t just have one F3x part number.

The Eibach German catalog is a great resource because it breaks down the spring part numbers and specs by front and rear. So you can actually see when front and rears are used in various kits for various cars.

They don’t list the spring rates. And it’s really easy to screw up by seeing that the Eibach estimated drop is X”, and the make the incorrect assumption that it will be Y” on your car. It turned out that most of my drop assumptions were wrong.

Eibach Tech Support can be extremely helpful IF and only IF, you do your homework first. Can’t just call them and say your kit only drops my front 0.75” and I want 1.2”. What do I buy? That’s not why they are there. They’ll tell you to buy the recommended kit with the 0.75” drop.

To find that -05 kit option for my car, I went through the German catalog for various F3x models to see which front and rear spring part numbers were used to obtain what estimated drops on what cars, and the spring specs that Eibach listed.

Once I had narrowed things down to some front and rear spring possibilities, I called Eibach and asked the front and rear spring rates on the Eibach kit recommended for my car. Then I asked the spring rates on the individual front or rear springs that might work for me. Then I asked Tech Support to calculate the drop (or lift) of that spring relative to the spring in their recommended kit.

That’s how I discovered that the -05 and -06 kits…
1) have the exact same rear spring.
2) have the exact same front spring rate
3) Front -05 spring has 15mm more drop that the front -06 spring.

That means front drop of 1.37” instead of 0.79”, roughly 0.58” more. Still within the XDrive 1.5” front drop guideline.

I measured the actual tire to fender lip gaps on my 2015 335i XDrive with the Eibach E10-20-031-06-22 kit installed. Even though the kit reduced the reverse rake to make it less noticeable, the front gap is still 0.5” more than the rear gap. So the front springs from the -05 kit will eliminate the reverse rake visual gap completely.

Hope this helps!

Can you give similar comparison between the -05 and -02 kit?
I want to lower my 340i xDrive and I cannot decide between -05 and -02.
-06 is obviously is not low enough at the front.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by IvoY

Can you give similar comparison between the -05 and -02 kit?
I want to lower my 340i xDrive and I cannot decide between -05 and -02.
-06 is obviously is not low enough at the front.

I actually think that the -06 kit looks pretty good on my car. It gets rid of enough of the reverse rake that it’s not so obvious.

I did evaluate the -02 kit for my car so I have some of that data from my discussions with Eibach tech support.

The Eibach -06 and -05 Eibach spring kits are very comparable for the F3x 335ix/340ix. They use identical rear springs. The only difference in front is spring length. They use the same diameter wire and their spring rates are the same, so the should drive the same. On these cars the -06 kit front drop should be about 35mm (1.37”) and the -05 kit front drop should be about 20mm (0.8”). Both have rear drops of 15mm (0.6”). So the -05 kit drops the front a little more than 1/2” more while maintaining the same ride characteristics.

The -02 kit is the springs for the 335i/340i RWD version. During my conversation with Eibach, i immediately nixed the idea of using the -02 springs. The -02 front spring uses a thinner diameter wire because the RWD front end is lighter than the XDrive. The rear ends of the two cars are similar, but Eibach also chose a thinner wire for the RWD rear spring, probably to better match the ride characteristics of the front RWD springs.

If an -02 kit were put on a 6-cylinder XDrive car it would probably drop the front by 1.6” or more, and the rear by roughly an inch. But the softer springs will probably ruin the ride, make it sloppy. I wouldn’t recommend it.

[leew102]

Originally Posted by IvoY

Can you give similar comparison between the -05 and -02 kit?
I want to lower my 340i xDrive and I cannot decide between -05 and -02.
-06 is obviously is not low enough at the front.

Here is what my car looks like with the 05 kit and koni SA shocks.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by leew102

Here is what my car looks like with the 05 kit and koni SA shocks.

Looks really nice. Please post a photo in the sunlight if you can. Tough to make out the tires from the wheel wells

[IvoY]

Originally Posted by leew102

Here is what my car looks like with the 05 kit and koni SA shocks.

It looks good actually.
I want to keep the adaptive dampers on my car

[sdbwisc]

Sorry to bring this post up again. I remembered reading it and responding a few months back. Had to find it, my suspension needs a refresh. Bought my Bilstein B4 Damptronic shocks/struts and all new mounts and rubber.

I am waiting to get the – 05 Eibachs (currently on – 06), ordering when they are available. I will be installing on my 2016 340xi with adjustable suspension. Not only that, but I will take pictures and do some measuring for other people looking into this type of setup.

Excited to do the upgrade/replacement. I have 96k miles on it, I have a leaky rear shock and noisy front strut.

[drew]

Originally Posted by sdbwisc

Sorry to bring this post up again. I remembered reading it and responding a few months back. Had to find it, my suspension needs a refresh. Bought my Bilstein B4 Damptronic shocks/struts and all new mounts and rubber.

I am waiting to get the – 05 Eibachs (currently on – 06), ordering when they are available. I will be installing on my 2016 340xi with adjustable suspension. Not only that, but I will take pictures and do some measuring for other people looking into this type of setup.

Excited to do the upgrade/replacement. I have 96k miles on it, I have a leaky rear shock and noisy front strut.

Greetings! I also want to install a set of springs on my 340 xi with adaptive suspension. I choose between -05 and -06 springs. How do they work in conjunction with the adaptive suspension?
sdbwisc do you have a picture of your upgrade?)

[morpheusro]

Hi!

Great thread!
Helped me a lot and learned a lot from it, and maybe I can ask for an advice. I've installed the eibach b12 pro kit on my car and the front has not dropped, only the rear, check the attached pictures front/rear. (measurements in cm, i'm from europe).
So front is 37cm (both) approx 14.5 inch
rear is 35cm (both) approx 13.7inch

Also, the SN of the front springs is : 11 20 031 02 VA

So either I made a mistake installing the front assembly or something else has happened.

Any suggestions?

Ty!

[johnung]

Originally Posted by morpheusro

Hi!

Great thread!
Helped me a lot and learned a lot from it, and maybe I can ask for an advice. I've installed the eibach b12 pro kit on my car and the front has not dropped, only the rear, check the attached pictures front/rear. (measurements in cm, i'm from europe).
So front is 37cm (both) approx 14.5 inch
rear is 35cm (both) approx 13.7inch

Also, the SN of the front springs is : 11 20 031 02 VA



So either I made a mistake installing the front assembly or something else has happened.

Any suggestions?

Ty!

The Bilstein B12 kit is a combo kit that contains an Eibach Spring Kit along with Bilstein B8 struts/shocks. The issue that you are experiencing is that the B6/B8 don’t use stock BMW spring perch positioning. They actually cause the ride height to increase. See FaRKle video link below for detailed explanation.

Note: This is one of the reasons that I usually recommend Koni dampers over Bilstein, except for Adaptive/EDC dampers where Bilstein B4-Damptronic are a good choice.

Yes, each Eibach spring has an Eibach part number printed on it. Fronts end in VA and rears in HA.

Hope this helps !

[johnung]

Originally Posted by drew

Greetings! I also want to install a set of springs on my 340 xi with adaptive suspension. I choose between -05 and -06 springs. How do they work in conjunction with the adaptive suspension?
sdbwisc do you have a picture of your upgrade?)

Not quite sure what your question is. The two kits use springs with identical spring rates so they ride the same. And they use the same rear springs. The only difference is that the -05 front springs are 15mm lower than the front springs in the -06 kit.

[morpheusro]

Originally Posted by johnung

The Bilstein B12 kit is a combo kit that contains an Eibach Spring Kit along with Bilstein B8 struts/shocks. The issue that you are experiencing is that the B6/B8 don’t use stock BMW spring perch positioning. They actually cause the ride height to increase. See FaRKle video link below for detailed explanation.

Note: This is one of the reasons that I usually recommend Koni dampers over Bilstein, except for Adaptive/EDC dampers where Bilstein B4-Damptronic are a good choice.

Yes, each Eibach spring has an Eibach part number printed on it. Fronts end in VA and rears in HA.

Hope this helps !

Thank you for your answer. Does this mean there is an after market spring perch that I could use to lower the ride height in front or that's it. Nothing to do?