Since H&R drop too much on the rear, I was thinking H&R in front with Eibach rear. Anybody done this?

I want to try it with OEM shocks first. I will eventually go Bilsteins.

My goals: get rid of the space btwn wheel & wheel well. I don't want rear lower than front á la H&R. Also want comfort since LA roads are crap. Yeah, I'm a daily driver.

Save your money, Put the Eibachs all around and you will be happy, You will have to cut a coil in the front to achieve a disired look or you will be higher in the front than the back, This rule applies even more with H&R all around, Another way to fix this problem is a set of Spring pads in the rear, Eibachs along will give you a much more responsive ride, H&R would be more confortable, Your stocks springs are stiffer than H&R! I have H&R in the front and CSi in the rear because i needed the car to turn with my staggared wheel set up, Took trial and error and was expensive to find what was needed, For me! Good luck.

3/8" thick rubber pad under the rear H&R springs picks it up to where it looks right to me. Actually lifts the tail about 1/2". Some like 1/4" pads for about 3/8" lift.

Koizumi! If you do end up going the H&R/Eibach route, I'd would happily take the Eibach fronts off your hands, Please let me know if they become available.

Perhaps I will try the rubber pad in the rear method with the H&R.

Can you recommend a pad source?

Will this affect overall camber with 18x8 & 18x9.5?

8eights, if I go that route, they're yours.

Ed!

At MWrench.com is a great source for the Rear spring pads, As far as the camber is concern, It's good practice to include a 4 wheel alingnment after swapping springs, Will save you tires etc in the long run, It's hard not to spend on the 8 even when it's running good huh?--)

:D

PS. As always, thanks! :beer

I think I still have a couple of sets of pads left.

I really like the combination of H&R fronts and either Eibach rears OR you can indeed cut down stock rears by 1/2, 3/4, or 1 full turn to get the desired ride height.

That way you don't have to brake up a Eibach set.

H&R rear springs are indeed JUNK for the E31, way to soft, you will be riding on the bump stops if you have any luggage or full fuel tank.

As always if you go lower in the back, use either CSI bump stops or cut the stock bump stops at the first ring.

I have Eibachs all around with Bilsteins shocks and the car feels and handles awesome....

Since H&R drop too much on the rear, I was thinking H&R in front with Eibach rear. Anybody done this?

I want to try it with OEM shocks first. I will eventually go Bilsteins.

My goals: get rid of the space btwn wheel & wheel well. I don't want rear lower than front á la H&R. Also want comfort since LA roads are crap. Yeah, I'm a daily driver.

From the other spring thread I had decided to go the eibach-R / H&R-F route as well, but.... What I got from the thread is if using say, Kmac adjustable camber plates (per TerryY) that the front coils will need cut to get it back down and that H&Rs are stiffer. Do fixed camber plates require cutting too? And Ed, from reading your info can I assume that cutting a stock rear spring will increase the spring rate thus stiffening it -as part of a suspension package-and can then use pads to get the slight raked look and be close to stock rear height? Save me a set of those pads!

From the other spring thread I had decided to go the eibach-R / H&R-F route as well, but.... What I got from the thread is if using say, Kmac adjustable camber plates (per TerryY) that the front coils will need cut to get it back down and that H&Rs are stiffer. Do fixed camber plates require cutting too? And Ed, from reading your info can I assume that cutting a stock rear spring will increase the spring rate thus stiffening it -as part of a suspension package-and can then use pads to get the slight raked look and be close to stock rear height? Save me a set of those pads!

I never recommend cutting front springs for the E31 that have a variable diameter, it requires a professional and tools to do this work, Eibach and Dinan are fixed diameter so if you used an Eibach front and wanted to compensate for the K-Mac camber plate that should be ok, won't take much! Never use a torch, only a cutoff wheel to lessen the effects of softening the surrounding metal.

YES, by cutting the stock rear, the spring rate does go up (a good thing with a lowered E31 rear!) and you could add pads to get back to near normal ride height with the stiffer rear.

Why not use a set of CSI rear springs? they are just a bit lower then stock springs and have a higher spring rate. don't need pads either.
Geez, didn't read the entire thread, sorry 8eights, didn't see your post but it sounds as if it worked for you!! I have done a couple that way (H&R fronts and CSI rears) and they were good, Have replaced a lot of H&R rears with cut stock rears.

I still need rear pads though Ed, You said you'll let me know when you locate them Dec, 07, No big rush, I just wanted to remind you when your ready. Do you have another set of CSi rears laying around? Tia!

I still need rear pads though Ed, You said you'll let me know when you locate them Dec, 07, No big rush, I just wanted to remind you when your ready. Do you have another set of CSi rears laying around? Tia!

No CSI rear springs, email sent to you re: pads

Ed, let me know if you got a pair of pads.

MMm, maybe I'll try the H&R all around, but with Ed's pads in the rear. Is it safe to assume that my car will sit "right", with no gap btwn tires in the front & rear, and that the front will be lower than the rear?

Kinda like this? Please ignore the black wheels...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/brentisdead/blk8lw.jpg

Did you photochop the rims color? I wanna see what my centers look like in balck.

About the camber Koizumi, If you want great camber to where the car turns in hard! You will need camber plates along with your alignment, There not necessary but will give you more performance and tire longevity! I Cut a full H&R coil up front a long with Ed's camber plates, Csi rear coils and the car performs great IMO! If you can't get the camber to where your happy, The plates will do it.

[QUOTE=Koizumi;12228068]Ed, let me know if you got a pair of pads.

MMm, maybe I'll try the H&R all around, but with Ed's pads in the rear. Is it safe to assume that my car will sit "right", with no gap btwn tires in the front & rear, and that the front will be lower than the rear?



If you use H&Rs at front and rear, I recommend that you use a 1/4 inch spacer at the bottom of the spring, between the wishbone pocket and the OEM rubber isolator, and a 3/8 inch spacer at the top of the spring between the spring perch and the OEM rubber isolator. That will raise the rear about 3/4 inch and should have a slight rake. If you use Bilsteins it will be a bit higher because of the gas pressure of the Bilsteins pushing up about 60-80lbs. Stock shocks will sit lower.

I do not have any camber plates left and gave the design of these to Gerry in the UK, I don't know what his stocking status is but he may have some sets. Fixed camber plates will cause a minimum of 1/4 inch increase of the front where as the K-Macs will raise the front at least 1/2 inch.

Adding an additional 1 degree negative camber REALLY increases the turn-in and will prevent outside edge scrubbing when driven hard!

I will have to dig further to find a complete set of spacers as the ones I found are spoken for. I think Wuffer may have some, ping him--

HTH

Nope, no spring pads left but I do have a set of Genuine MWrench never installed camber plates available. Email if interested.

Update! Camber plates have been sold!

I do not have any camber plates left and gave the design of these to Gerry in the UK, I don't know what his stocking status is but he may have some sets. Fixed camber plates will cause a minimum of 1/4 inch increase of the front where as the K-Macs will raise the front at least 1/2 inch.

Direct from Gerry last week:

Hi Randy,

Sorry we do not have the measurements you require for such a rare car.

We have camber plates in stock and they cost £75.00 plus £20.00 shipping with insurance to the US.

If you would like to paypal me at gerryspeechley@msn.com, then upon receipt of your payment the plates will be dispatched next day. Please ensure that with your paypal payment you confirm your order and the full delivery address.

Regards,
Gerry

Here's a pic of them, The fronts are mostly for performance, The rears are mandatory! Rear tower plates will save you Big $$$ In the long run. I hate to bring up some of the needs of these Beasts, But the rears are even more important for those not knowng what could happen...

TerryY can chime in on how he like his Kmacs which are adjustable and have a pillow ball construction (improved now from earlier designs I understand). They look a really nice piece of hardware but I decided on fixed because its install, align, forget'm. If the non-static units were ever reset the car would have to be realigned and I doubt I'd ever change from the initial setup anyway, plus those plates are half the price. Take heed to what Eights said about the rear reinforcing plates as they are a MUST. I have Wuffer's plates which are a bit beefier on the one shoulder but Gerry's plates do just fine from owners I've talked to.

Here's a cherry question... What happens to the rear? Are the 8's prone to drop the back end?

Yup, the rear is lower when dropped (with no mods).

Ed, so this means that there are 2 spacers for each side of the rear? Would adding a rear tower plate be essential here to protect the weak zone?

So Gerry makes the front as well as the rear plates, too?

Wuffer.net should have a set for you!

I take it that the rear shock tower plates add to the ride height?

How much do they add?

I'd like to factor this in if I'm goin' H&R rear with MWrench's pads.

No ride height difference, Just Big preventive maintenance! Well worth the prevention.

Ouch! Hopefully there's still a set available. I'll find out soon.

Cheers

The rear shock tower plates go on top of the tower and should not add any height.

8eights, how does that setup compare to just running CSi springs all around?

This is a repair option provided by BMW to fix the issue Eights posted above.
The parts are less than $40 from Gault and the numbers are:

(Left) 41 14 8 152 997
(Right) 41 14 8 152 998

They're designed to be perimeter welded but these have been drilled for spot welds. Stock sheet metal is 2mm and these are 3mm. I have no issue with my car now but am planning to add these anyway along with the upper plates as preventative maintenance since the whole rear suspension is being upgraded, thus causing even more stress. The diff and carrier assembly will be out so it's one of those 'while I'm there' deals.

Nice pics & details--thanks.

Are Gerry or Wuffer's rear plates welded on?

Are Gerry or Wuffer's rear plates welded on?

No, they are not welded at all. We are talking two different elements of the same area here. The pic shows similar (gold part only) to what I received from Wuffer awhile back. These simply spread the load across a wider area of the sheet metal in a stock install and is good prevention in it's own right. The other is first and foremost a repair after major damage has occurred, and what the Wuffer/Gerry plates are designed to help prevent. All that being said, get the reinforcing plates regardless, and especially since a suspension upgrade is in the works. For me the repair plates are simply extra insurance because at 170k the pretty girl has seen her share of bumps and grinds, and I prefer to be pro active...cheaper in the long run IMO.

Ahhh, that makes sense now. I was indeed confused. Thank you once again.

I can't wait to get all the parts to do my suspension.

Cheers

This is a repair option provided by BMW to fix the issue Eights posted above.
The parts are less than $40 from Gault and the numbers are:

(Left) 41 14 8 152 997
(Right) 41 14 8 152 998

They're designed to be perimeter welded but these have been drilled for spot welds. Stock sheet metal is 2mm and these are 3mm. I have no issue with my car now but am planning to add these anyway along with the upper plates as preventative maintenance since the whole rear suspension is being upgraded, thus causing even more stress. The diff and carrier assembly will be out so it's one of those 'while I'm there' deals.Slap a CSi Sway bar in the rear while the diff is out, There inexpensive and a lot easier this way, Unless you already have a goodie bar in there.

Slap a CSi Sway bar in the rear while the diff is out, There inexpensive and a lot easier this way, Unless you already have a goodie bar in there.

I would have probably jumped in the bidding for your Kbars if I didn't already have a set of CSI ones sitting in the garage waiting to do just that.:D

With all respect, You should of bought them! That's the best suspension upgrade for your car, Hands down, He got it right! No other bar compares, I wish Greg was still in business, Great product.

PS. I had 14 offers for more than the auction ended for, Just wanted to give everyone a chance.

8eights, how does that setup compare to just running CSi springs all around?Sorry this took so long, Just seen it! I went the CSi rears to take a lot of weight off the shock towers and the added stiffness helped the car turn better, I went H&R up front because there lower and could be cut to adjust for the desired ride height, Csi fronts can't be cut because they are a pertruding spring, Starts out small and gets wider to the center and back small again, They will pop out of the spring perch when cut, Not good! H&R, Eibach, GPower, Intraxx, Koni, Hartge and ASC are some springs that are straight up and down and want hop out of the perch when cut.