Lifetime of E36 springs?

[gsolo]

around how long do OEM E36 springs last?


Can you tell if they are OK by just looking at them or should they be off and measured (or any other way)?

[e36 318i VERT]

Your car is from 1996 with OEMs?
You should be able to tell by driving the car, but in your case, springs are probably overdue to dramatically increase your car's performance.

[gsolo]

I have a '96 but I have no idea how old the suspension is. Previous owner had various suspensions on it and I bought it with a stock suspension from what year I don't know


Guess they either have a lot of miles on them or are worn anyways just from the weight of the car for 10+ years.

Which springs would be similar to OEM but at a lower cost? I mostly care about ride quality. Don't even care if its lowered (seems like most aftermarket springs lower the car at least a little).

[mzmtg]

springs are probably overdue to dramatically increase your car's performance.

Why do you say that? What's the failure mode of the OEM springs?

[KVF]

Why do you say that? What's the failure mode of the OEM springs?

I second this question. I'm presently looking to refresh a suspension as well. If you like the rate & height of the current springs why must they be changed? Is there a posted fail point beyond drooping or cracking?

[gsolo]

Why do you say that? What's the failure mode of the OEM springs?


I'm new here but this is a guess

With a 13 year old spring I am guessing that it is not the same height as stock (compressed) so there will be less (potential) suspension travel


I don't think this would result in a dramatic decrease in handling but I am guessing



I will be rebuilding my suspension soon and I want the ride quality to be great. I assume that I could equal stock ride quality with some improvements in handling with well selected parts. I am thinking of using OEM springs but am having a hard time finding them.

Anyone have links to where I can find them? and are there any aftermarket springs that are equal or close to them?

[cab354]

I'm wondering about this too..

I'm doing a complete suspension overhaul this summer and I'm wondering if my Eibach's need replacing, they have about 50k on them.

[Quailane]

If you can't tell, does it matter? Don't waste your money on new springs. Anybody who says that the stock springs are worn out don't know what they are talking about.

[themadhatter]

I'm new here but this is a guess

With a 13 year old spring I am guessing that it is not the same height as stock (compressed) so there will be less (potential) suspension travel


I don't think this would result in a dramatic decrease in handling but I am guessing



I will be rebuilding my suspension soon and I want the ride quality to be great. I assume that I could equal stock ride quality with some improvements in handling with well selected parts. I am thinking of using OEM springs but am having a hard time finding them.

Anyone have links to where I can find them? and are there any aftermarket springs that are equal or close to them?

H&R OE is pretty close to stock ride height but the springs are stiffer then stock.

I do not believe that there is an OE alternative to stock the spring compression rate. For that matter, I don't even know what the stock compression rate is. I have never seen any testing of the springs in the aftermarket community. An educated guess would say that stock is ~200 psi while the M3 springs (not compatible in the front with a standard e36 strut) is ~300 psi.

if you do discover the rates, please post them in this thread.

best of luck.

[gsolo]

thanks mh


I could just go OEM I guess I but I think I will take my time learning about suspension tech. I think I could retain ride quality and improve the handling. Plus I suspect other parts of my suspension are worn and would need to be replaced/upgraded to get the best results.


I was just looking at VAC's site and see that they have factory aluminum control arms. In reading their write-up of how to tell if yours need replacement, it got me wondering about how I will determine what needs to be replaced. I think that apart from doing lots of research on this forum, I will take my car to a shop that is very good with alignments/suspension before I start to get their opinion on what should be replaced. There seems to be a good selection of those in Orange County/Los Angeles

[ECSTuning]

We have a selection of H&R Springs available here on the website for anyone interested:

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E36-328is-M52_2.8L/Suspension/Springs/?utm_source=bimmerforums&utm_medium=forum&utm_content=postreply&utm_campaign=postreply

http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/images/dis/9089/800/50424-88.jpg

[TC Kline Racing]

If you are not happy with the characteristics of your springs or shocks, change them. Bypass the thought that your current equipment may not be up to par. Either way, it appears that you are not pleased with what you have.

[themadhatter]

thanks mh

I was just looking at VAC's site and see that they have factory aluminum control arms.

beware that the aluminum alternative arms are NOT a durable product for the e36. They will require replacement more frequantley then the standard iron control arms. if you are looking to improve your suspension, check into what TCKline (I have their SA coil over kit and love it) and ECS Tuning have to offer.

[gsolo]

beware that the aluminum alternative arms are NOT a durable product for the e36.


Yes, that thought did cross my mind. Reason I posted that was because when I first saw it, I was "Hey that's a cool part." 2nd thought was "This suspension rebuild is going to get expensive". 3rd thought was "How do I even figure out what parts I should change?"


With my little knowledge on the subject, I think I may go with custom revalved Bilstein shocks. Springs I don't know yet. I will try and track down that info (stock compression rate) and will post it here if I can find it

[mrsharp]

around how long do OEM E36 springs last?


Can you tell if they are OK by just looking at them or should they be off and measured (or any other way)?
Seriously? It's a Bmw, your stock springs are perfectly fine.

[CirrusSR22]

You can measure your ride height and tell how much they are sagging. The procedure and specs are in the Bentley manual.

I had a rear spring snap in my 318ti, and apparently broken rear springs are not unheard-of in the E46. My car had about 165,000 miles and has been driven in salt country it's entire life. The snapped spring took out the CV boot and killed the joint very quickly.

Usually what breaks first in the rear spring is the little pig tail/curly-q ends.

[LuxoM3]

You can measure your ride height and tell how much they are sagging. The procedure and specs are in the Bentley manual.

I had a rear spring snap in my 318ti, and apparently broken rear springs are not unheard-of in the E46. My car had about 165,000 miles and has been driven in salt country it's entire life. The snapped spring took out the CV boot and killed the joint very quickly.

Usually what breaks first in the rear spring is the little pig tail/curly-q ends.


Your springs will probably rust out before they wear out...
FWIW - before you go an BUY all new "race" parts for your suspension... consider a suspension refresh of OEM parts.

I did my entire front end last summer - Z3 Rack, Power Steering Pump, hoses, Control Arms, Tie Rod ends, Sway Bar links, etc. with Ebiach Sports and Koni SA shocks. Everyone who gets into my car can FEEL the difference... my car runs like a watch... and it's got 150k miles on it.

[wheresmym3]

I have never seen any testing of the springs in the aftermarket community. An educated guess would say that stock is ~200 psi while the M3 springs (not compatible in the front with a standard e36 strut) is ~300 psi.

if you do discover the rates, please post them in this thread.

best of luck.

They have been posted in the forum before (don't care to look it up). The stock springs don't have a set rate like most aftermarket springs. They are a progressive not linear spring. They are not 300 lbs on the M fwiw..much less initially in the spring.

[KVF]

They have been posted in the forum before (don't care to look it up). The stock springs don't have a set rate like most aftermarket springs. They are a progressive not linear spring. They are not 300 lbs on the M fwiw..much less initially in the spring.

Got my suspension done at Turner Motorsport today and they pretty much said the same thing. They also confirmed that old springs will rust and crack (rear first) before you'd notice any sort of sagging or performance loss. They were actually willing to not get additional cash from me, by noting that if I didn't want increased performance, I could stay with my old springs which appeared to be in good shape (70,000 on the car)... I did want gain though :)

Turner was awesome in explaining the in's & out's of suspensions and worked with me to find a set-up that was going to work best for me. My car is simply a spirited daily driver, so I just wanted a little up tick from the ZHP set-up. Turner beefed up the common weak spots, replaced all questionable bushings with more rigid ones (not solid), and went with the tried and true HR/Bilstien sport set-up. It drives like what I was after, which is obviously where you want to end up. Good luck with your quest OP.

[espguitarist]

Hate to bump an old thread, but I just want someone to confirm that all of the above holds true for aftermarket springs. I've got H&R Race springs w/ Bilstein Sports and I was simply doing some research on new Bilstein Sport prices. I didn't think springs went bad before they rusted, but I just wanted to make sure.

So can anyone confirm that Aftermarket springs will hold up as long as OEM springs?

Thanks!

-Tyler

[whiteghost7]

just changed my oem springs at 227k and the left rear had the lowest coil completely rusted through and separated from the rest of the spring.