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Our premium package non sport 99 528i with 120k needs new shocks/struts. I'd like to do a mild upgrade (it is getting all new front suspension parts and alignment at the same time). It cannot feel harsh or bang over bumps since my wife is the primary driver, but I think new springs would be great if I could get them past my wife. Cost is an object or I would just buy the Koni FSD and Eibachs. I am leaning towards the Sachs Sport Suspension kit since ride good and Sachs is OEM and I could convince my wife that it is essentially the BMW factory sport parts. I am worried that the Bilstein/H&Rs would be too harsh.

Monroes at $300
standard Sachs at $500
sport Sachs at $400
Bilsteins at $500
Konis at $600
Koni FSD at $800
Bavauto Sachs Sport Suspension with springs at $675
Bilstein and H&R or Eibach at $725
Koni and H&R or Eibach at $825
Koni FSD and Eibach at $1000

Any input?

Thanks,

Philip Bradley

Monroes? You must be kidding. The labor to install is not worth it.

1) Koni FSD is #1 by far wrt sophisticated, smooth ride. They tower above the other choices for your application & will ride better than new.

2) If you want to maintain smooth ride stick with your stock non-sport springs. Sport and lowering springs will degrade ride and reduce cargo and passenger capacity.

If you are dead set on lowering the car anyway, the Eibach Pro springs will offer the "next best" ride. They are similar to stock BMW sport, but a tad lower and a tad softer. They sit low to look cool (if that matters), but they actually ride a little softer than BMW factory sport springs. As you know, BMW sport rides a lot firmer than BMW non-sport, so ride will become firmer and comfort will degrade. Tirerack sells the Eibach Pro spring bundled with Koni FSD in a kit for under $1K. Be aware the Eibach Pro springs will NOT tolerate heavy cargo or passenger loading because they sit too low with modest rate springs. The car will bottom out with a loaded trunk and rear passengers, riding like an old worn out ghetto Oldsmobile. This will not be much of a problem with a few groceries or little kids or commuting.

My advice is don't screw up your wifes car to meet your personal psycho visual styling objective. Again, if you want the best ride and cargo capacity, stick with stock springs with their stock ride height. I warned you, period. Your wife is smart and she will figure out that you tampered with her car to make it look cool. Lowered looks results in unavoidable compromises because the compression travel of the suspension is greatly reduced just to look cool. In reality, this is stupid, not cool. Cars can be lowered some, but they need much stiffer springs to avoid bottoming out and this significantly degrades ride quality from factory non-sport. Your wife clearly does not blast through corners at 0.8G on a regular basis, so the sport suspension will only bring cons.

Im kinda in the same boat, need new suspension and would love to upgrade, but I need to maintain the ability to have 3-4 passengers stuffed in the car and still ride smoothly.

The thing that sucks is it seems that aftermarket suspension setups are less expensive than stock. wtf? Where can I get the stock sport suspension for the best price?

If you guys are looking at suspension, check out my site, for some of the stuff that I have available for you guys.

http://www.modbargains.com/dept.aspx?dept_id=12-004-007

Let me know if you have any questions.

-Don

.........The thing that sucks is it seems that aftermarket suspension setups are less expensive than stock. wtf? ........

This is not unique. You can buy aftermarket springs for a Mustang, Camaro or Focus for about $90. The dealer will want about $300.

If you want 4 factory BMW sport springs, you need to pay a BMW dealer about $400 for them....or go to ebay and buy them used for about 1/3 and pray that the seller is telling the truth about year, engine, options and condition.

BMW spring tables show multiple springs with unique part#'s are used on a single car model to ensure optimal ride height with various options. The springs even vary by year as these cars grow in weight each year from fancier safety, airbags, bodywork etc. The one-size-fits-all aftermarket springs are much cheaper to manufacture & they result in widely varying ride heights and ability to haul cargo.

You generally get what you pay for.

The Koni FSD/Eibach Pro kit seems to have some issues when installed on a porky M5. This is because E39 M5's can weigh 4100lbs while an early E39 540i with average options can weigh low as 3725 lbs. This means almost 400# less cargo and passenger capacity (w same ride height). Eibach is using a single spring kit for both apps while BMW has used about 2o different spring specs from 1997 thru 2003 for the 540i and M5!! This attention to detail and accuracy is worth extra $.

fyi...the lighter 540i owners seem to have good results with the Eibach Pro springs for E39.