[rcaso26]

I recently installed h&r sport springs on my 2015 328 xdrive. The car looks great and drives really nice on smooth roads but if there's any major bumps in the road the car rides really rough and there's a loud slam when going over the large bumps. It's gotten to the point where I can't even really enjoy the car on bad roads since I'm more concerned about avoiding rough spots in the road then just driving.

Is there another option to add a drop to the car while maintaining the normal ride quality? I'm ok with the ride being a little stiffer, but the current setup is not working for me.

Thanks in advance.

[50shadesofhockenheim]

I just ordered KW street comfort coils and have read it gives it a nice ride

[rcaso26]

Originally Posted by E90 LCI

I just ordered KW street comfort coils and have read it gives it a nice ride

Let me know your thoughts once you install!

[f32ftw]

Originally Posted by E90 LCI

I just ordered KW street comfort coils and have read it gives it a nice ride

How much are these going for?

[sspade]

You'll need a quality set of dampers to compliment your aftermarket springs (to improve ride quality). Or you'll have to start over and go with coil overs.

[rcaso26]

Originally Posted by sspade

You'll need a quality set of dampers to compliment your aftermarket springs (to improve ride quality). Or you'll have to start over and go with coil overs.

Awesome that's very helpful. I'll research what dampers are needed with my setup. Any recommendations for brands?

[bheng89]

KW or Bilstein are probably a good bet. very reputable companies.

[50shadesofhockenheim]

Originally Posted by f32ftw

How much are these going for?

You can get them from mod bargains for $1540 shipped. Good luck getting Bilstein shocks and struts - they're all on backorder and have been since the beginning of 2018

[wdeerfield]

swap out the H&R for ACS, eibach, or Dinan. everyone knows H&R will give a great drop but ride the worst out of all.

[lonestar22]

Sounds like dampers are blown I'd start there

[js 84]

Originally Posted by rcaso26

Awesome that's very helpful. I'll research what dampers are needed with my setup. Any recommendations for brands?

I have Eibach springs with Bilstein B6. I love the combo. Much tighter than stock, but still comfortable for me.

I started with Bilsteins B6 and then after 1 year pulled the plug with springs. B6 was significant improvement over stock performance wise and also improved comfort (for me), as I lost terrible bouncing of stock suspension, adding Eibach sprigs made it only slightly stiffer.

In general good combo. Most likely B8 would be more suitable with Eibach, however have not had any problems with my setup.

[sspade]

I decided on Bilstein B8 and ACS springs.

[rcaso26]

Originally Posted by sspade

I decided on Bilstein B8 and ACS springs.

How were the ACS springs before you added the Bilstein b8's? Was the ride quality decent? Any bottoming out?

I have read a lot of positive things about the ACS springs on the forum, but it's hard to get a straight answer.

I'm looking for a mild drop and slightly increased handling without making the ride quality ridiculously rough which it is now on the H&Rs.

Thanks again for your help on this.

[sspade]

I am actually still rolling on ACS springs alone... my rear B8's just arrive today and I will install this weekend. The fronts are back ordered until October according to ShockWarehouse.com

The ride on the ACS is about as good as you can expect from a spring alone upgrade.. Without question an upgrade over stock but can be a bit bouncy depending on road surface/speed factors.

The drop is tasteful and sporty. Not excessive and slammed. Never once have I had an issue scraping.

My recommendation is to gather all the parts and do it one time and be done with it. Total, with hardware Ill be right at $1100 for springs, dampers and hardware total.

I think this is a great choice over cheap coil overs... of course if you are looking to spend $1500+ then they are probably the way to go. Only concern with true coils would be harshness of ride for daily driving (in my mind).

[mlev]

Do you have runflat tires? I imagine H&R sports /w runflats could be pretty rough. If so, switch to non runflats for starters

[rcaso26]

Originally Posted by mlev

Do you have runflat tires? I imagine H&R sports /w runflats could be pretty rough. If so, switch to non runflats for starters

I do have runflats and I just took some of the air out of the tires. It helped a little bit but I know the car will still bottom out on large bumps. I'm switching to ACS springs on the oem struts and calling it a day.

[johnung]

Your issue is definitely the stock struts/shocks and also maybe the bump stops. H&R is German engineering company that has been around about 50 years. They make very high quality products.

I wouldn't suggest wasting time or money switching to ACS springs. I understand that many people write happy things about ACS and that's fine. But when I was researching suspension, more than one person that I trust told me that ACS often sources their products from other name brands and marks them up 2x or 3x. So you might spend a lot of money for ACS and when you could have gotten the exact same thing directly from say, Eibach.

The stock dampers are absolute crap. Mine were replaced recently and the two BMW mechanics working on my car took a close look at them and said that they were junk with only 15,000 miles on them.

Having said that the H&R springs have a 1.5" drop all around which is pretty aggressive on an x-drive with Long Island winter weather. If you are happy with the drop that's fine. You just need to get dampers to match that spring drop so that the pistons inside the damper have the correct travel. Bilstein and Koni are the two brands that I trust. The H&R's are a sport spring so I would suggest looking at the Bilstein and Koni sport springs that are meant for lowered cars. i can't recall the model numbers but I believe its either the Bilstein B6 or B8, and with Koni I think that they are just called Koni Sport shocks. Check their websites and the descriptions should lead you to the correct ones.
Don't be afraid to call not only the BMW tuning companies but the manufacturers. I called Koni a few months ago and got some great technical advice on which dampers would work best with which springs, etc. When you call the tuning houses sometimes you get a knowledgeable person with real experience and other times, not so much. I've consistently gotten great advice (and great prices) from Mike at Extreme Powerhouse (X-PH) in Las Vegas.

Now if you are not happy with the 1.5" drop that you have with the H&R springs then that is another story. I didn't want to drop my x-drive that much so my choices were 1) use the stock springs, 2) Eibach spring kit for x-drive with front 0.8" drop and rear 0.6" drop (remember that the front of the x-drive comes higher from the factory) They are about 10% stiffer than stock springs. and 3) Dinan springs for x-drive with about 0.75" drop all around. They are about 30% stiffer than stock springs.

Remember that a suspension is a system. Dampers and springs are going to control ride height and how the car handles bumps and pot holes. But they won't have as much effect on body roll. You need larger sway bars to control body roll. The labor is more expensive to install sway bars on an F30 BMW so it's not something people always talk about. You'll need to find a local installer who will give you a reasonable labor price on any aftermarket installs.

I thought about lowering my x-drive by going with H&R springs and Koni or Bilstein sport shocks. But mine is a daily driver in NJ with all of the pot holes and road seams and I just didn't want to deal with every bump jarring my teeth.

My solution was Eibach springs, Koni Active dampers and H&R sway bars. Koni Actives use FSD technology that Koni developed with McLaren. It's like an active suspension without being electric. It uses two internal valves that work on different frequencies so it's a sport shock around corners and more of a soft shock when it hits a pothole or road seam. There are no external adjustments or anything like that. It's all set at the Koni factory. The Koni Actives are actually less jarring than the stock dampers. On a long highway trip, it takes on bumps and potholes and rounds off the jarring note much more like a Mercedes suspension does. Yet accelerate into a turn and it's all BMW!

Koni Active dampers and Eibach x-drive springs actually tested their two products to work together and they do it well. The suspension mods on my car work like a system. I couldn't be happier.

Attaching some photos of stock vs aftermarket parts. Hope some of this information is helpful to you. Good luck with your car!

[f32ftw]

I also want to lower my car and retain the ride quality. I can already feel most of the bumps/potholes in the road so I am reluctant to do it with springs alone. If I don't plan on tracking is it better to go with a set of shocks and springs that compliment each other rather than coilovers?

[sspade]

ACS springs are $350 all in which isnt too bad. Highly recommend them with Bilstein B8, factory mounts and bump stops.

All In, Im at $1100 including new hardware for entire new suspension. Cant wait for fronts to come off backorder in October.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by f32ftw

I also want to lower my car and retain the ride quality. I can already feel most of the bumps/potholes in the road so I am reluctant to do it with springs alone. If I don't plan on tracking is it better to go with a set of shocks and springs that compliment each other rather than coilovers?

We are in the same state. Send me a private message if you are interested in driving my car to see if you like the suspension setup that I have. You've got a few mods on your car that I am considering that I would like to ask you more about.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by rcaso26

Let me know your thoughts once you install!

For daily driving, KW Street Comfort coilovers are a great product. My previous vehicle had these coilovers and I am very comfortable making a recommendation. Coilovers, although more expensive, negate the risk of mismatched springs and shocks.

[whatnot]

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