front suspension ???? bilstein issue

[RANGEROVER9797M]

just recently went with a bilstein set up front and rear. they were all new. the car seems to handle poorer then the stock suspension. i've had it alligned twice now. the stock set up was pretty much blown so the car sat lower then the bilstein's and being blown drug the wheels into negative camber also more then likely putting a ton of undue tollerances on other components. with the bilstein's the car is at full negative camber all around and the front tires are almost straight up right with a beleive 1 degree negative on the right.
the ? finally is will camber plates correct this or springs alone will work. if so what kind, and will h&r sway's make a big diff here. i need something asap. this car is down right sloppy in the front end handling.

[CarbonBlkE36]

hopefully you are going to a alignment shop and not a tire place. cause a shop that only does alignments will tune car far to feel alot better than a firestone or express can do

[rustamabd]

I actually sued bilstein for raising the front end beyond BMW specs and won.They bought the struts back and paid for the installation. So I have stock Boge's now, MUCH better.

[rustamabd]

If only I knew then what I know now... I woulda gone coilover...

[B.Watts]

I actually sued bilstein for raising the front end beyond BMW specs and won.

Some people have a lot of time on their hands...

[CarbonBlkE36]

Some people have a lot of time on their hands...werd

[RANGEROVER9797M]

i took it to sears. i know that doesn't sound that great, but they let me into the shop and there equipment is hight tech state of the art at minimum. not to mention they give a warranty on the alignment so i can continue to take it back until i'm happy.
as for it raising the car, yes it did. i was suprised that's why i'm going to breakdown and get the springs. i really don't care to alter the suspension that much, but i cannot deal with the sloppy handling. it feels like a cadillac at 80mph.

[ChipM]

i took it to sears. i know that doesn't sound that great, but they let me into the shop and there equipment is hight tech state of the art at minimum. not to mention they give a warranty on the alignment so i can continue to take it back until i'm happy.
as for it raising the car, yes it did. i was suprised that's why i'm going to breakdown and get the springs. i really don't care to alter the suspension that much, but i cannot deal with the sloppy handling. it feels like a cadillac at 80mph.

If you replaced only the struts and shocks, and the car felt fine before but now feels like a cadillac, then something is either broken or the alignment is WAY off. What specs did Sears align it to? Did they align it empty, or put a bunch of weight in it (you use different specs for each - the approved procedure involves about 500 lbs of ballast).

Either way, based on the discussion so far I don't think springs are going to fix your problem.

[RANGEROVER9797M]

it hasn't felt super since the start. i had an aa strut brace on and upon removing that, felt the real issue. everything is tight and solid underneath. sears had done the 150lbs drivers and passenger and i beleive some in the trunk, but not a 100% on that.
i guess that may just be the bilstein's. i'll do the springs and if that doesn't help i'll go back to stock or koni's

[ChipM]

it hasn't felt super since the start. i had an aa strut brace on and upon removing that, felt the real issue. everything is tight and solid underneath. sears had done the 150lbs drivers and passenger and i beleive some in the trunk, but not a 100% on that.
i guess that may just be the bilstein's. i'll do the springs and if that doesn't help i'll go back to stock or koni's


I don't believe that throwing money at the problem will fix it. People use Bilsteins all the time with success. The only way changing springs will fix the problem is if a spring is broken, and that is extremely easy to diagnose. What you will end up with is the exact same problem you have now, only with stiffer springs.

I still don't understand your problem, except that it is "a bit sloppy." If you would describe what the car is doing in more detail, I bet some people here could help you.

[lazyass349]

I don't believe that throwing money at the problem will fix it. People use Bilsteins all the time with success. The only way changing springs will fix the problem is if a spring is broken, and that is extremely easy to diagnose. What you will end up with is the exact same problem you have now, only with stiffer springs.

I still don't understand your problem, except that it is "a bit sloppy." If you would describe what the car is doing in more detail, I bet some people here could help you.


agreed, i have bilsteins on mine and love them. Handling felt much better than my stock which at the time only had 50k on it. Even before i put springs in, the handling was crisp and too the point, no problems at all with higher speeds. Sounds like you have a problem somewhere else thats was just covered by a worn out suspension, id take care of that before springs otherwise it could just make matters worse

[RANGEROVER9797M]

what i have been told is that due to normal wear and the in-ability for m3's to adjust camber i have this problem and if springs were introduced it would bring the car down drawing in the front tires and create negative toe.
i'm going to end up re-doing all worn parts in the suspension[ bushings, tierods etc] i intend to keep the car for quite some time so beleive it would be a good investment.
has anybody had any experience with mpact ground control kit. the ad on kit for 399.00 that works with bilstein's, koni's etc. i believe his name was ron said they simply work along with your existing bistein's. said something about cutting the lower front spring perch though. seemed to me that was the oval part that sticks out from the strut and cutting that wouldn't be any fun. any thoughts.

http://www.mpactmotorsports.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36_84_54&products_id=209

here is the link