Ive had my z4 for almost 2 years now and ive wanted to lower it ever since (i hate the fender gap). My car has about 45k miles and has sport package. The reason im thinking of just getting the springs (for a while) is because I dont have a job and $935+install (tire rack) is way too much money than i can afford. But I can scrape up the money for $250+install for the Eibach's. Im going to nursing school soon, so getting a job is not an option (class and clinicals are 40 hours a week + studying). School will end Sep. '09, by then i'll have a decent income to pay for the struts.

My questions are, can I ride on stock struts until then? How long do stock springs/stock struts normally last? How long do stock struts w/ Eibachs last? Would i need a camber kit or any other parts with the suspension? I drive about 10-12k miles a year, which would put my car at about 60-65k miles by the end of next year. Also, this would be mainly for cosmetic purposes, im not too concerned with improving handling, but I dont want to worsen it either. Thanks.

Yes but you will be shortening the life of your strut significantly.

You'll probably need to count the cost of alignment too? Unless you included that in your install cost estimate :)

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I had H&R springs on my '04 3.0i and the ride height was definitely really low. There's no rear wheel gap, and front is less than 1 finger width. Everywhere I went, the car bottomed out. Whichever springs you decide to go with, make sure you get Koni struts/shocks at the same time, or you WILL hate the ride quality and will want to get Koni struts/shocks, and you'll spend money on another install/alignment.

If I were you I wouldn't do it - you never know when unforseen costs might come up.

Save your money... your factory struts are probably on their way out already. At 45k the struts are already decently worn and installation of the spring would significantly shorten or end their life. I would wait...

As for camber... the Eibach springs are conservative, so a camber plate may not be necessary, but it depends on how much straightline driving you do versus canyon carving.