e36 drop-in spring choices

[mtech325]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if someone could help me with spring choices for my e36. I have a 1996 328is that’s in need of a suspension refresh. About 80k miles ago I installed Koni Yellows and H&R sport springs, and they work fine, but the suspension is feeling a little tired and I think I’ve outgrown their spring rates. I picked up a set of M3 strut housings that I plan to install another set of Koni Sports into, but I was wondering if there are better drop in spring choices than H&R sports? If it makes any difference, I have a UUC 27mm front sway bar and plan to use stock 96+ M3 strut mounts.

The ride height of the H&R Sports is plenty fine for my needs, but are there other options that have a little more spring rate without making the ride quality worse? My friend has Ground Control Street/Touring coilovers with 440F/550R on his e36 and I think it rides and handles great, but they’re linear rate springs on short body shocks made for a much lower ride height which I feel is apples & oranges. I looked at the Eibach Pro Kit, but the spring rates are listed as being softer up front and stiffer in the rear than the H&Rs (148F/428R for the Eibachs, and 200F/380R for the H&Rs). I’ve also come across the Vogtland Club Sports as the choice for Spec 3, but can’t seem to find too much information on those aside from their rates as being 183F/460R.

My e36 is still my daily driver and I do drive on some poor quality roads, so I don’t want to go overboard with the suspension, however I do like to take the car on backroads quite a bit and maybe the occasional track day/autocross. Coilovers are not out of the question, but chances are I’d just set them and forget them, hence just using off-the-shelf shocks and springs.

I would love to hear suggestions from people that have tried some of the other spring choices, or if they felt custom coilovers were the right move even for a dedicated street car.


Thanks for reading,
Joey

[NSBFTW]

Subscribed, as I've been in the same predicament as you for quite some time now and will be doing a suspension overhaul at some point. I myself am leaning on the Koni Yellow with Eibach Sportlines, but maybe they will change after this thread.

Here are spring rates from another thread:

Spring -> Front Rate -> Rear Rate

Stock E36 M3 ->105 ->335

LTW E36 M3 ->138 ->402

Eibach Pro Kit M3 ->148 ->428

Sachs M3 coilovers ->215 ->395

H&R 29910 (Sport) ->200 -> 380

H&R 29910 DTM(Race) -> 345 ->515

H&R Coilover ->340 -> 380

Dinan ->150 ->400

Vogtland 3.2L M3 Club Spec -> 183 -> 460

[verobeach97]

I'm not going to pretend like I am suspension guru so this may sound ignorant. But I don't know why people mess around with springs anymore. Got 7k/8k coilover set with adjustable dampeners for less than $500. Ride's too harsh? Adjust shocks setting with a click. want raked look? (Esp important with verts where rear always sags) adjust height in 10min. Maybe they are not good enough for track and maybe they will develop wear and tear sooner than individual brand name complements, but for street use and low all inclusive cost for a 20 year old car was perfect solution.

[mtech325]

I wanted to post an update. I ended up biting the bullet and getting the complete Ground-Control coilover setup with 440F/550R springs. It's plenty stiff, but the ride isn't bone jarring. The reason I wound up going this route is for a couple of reasons: The first being that a standard spring and shock combo wasn't going to be too cheap by the time you purchase all the other misc. pieces needed (M3 spring plates, top mounts, etc.) to convert the non-M to an M3 style suspension. The other reason is that many of the spring combos lower the car a bit too much on stock length shock bodies, so essentially minimizing shock travel.

The GC setup I wound up getting is the street/touring kit, and I set the height to about the same as H&R sports (3 threads from the bottom of the collar in back, 10 threads from the bottom of the collar up front). I did have to run 12.5mm spacers up front since I have 8.5 Contours at all four corners, but no rubbing or need to roll the fenders (yet), and that's with the camber set around the same specs as the 1995 M3, in case any one runs into this down the line.

[NSBFTW]

I wanted to post an update. I ended up biting the bullet and getting the complete Ground-Control coilover setup with 440F/550R springs. It's plenty stiff, but the ride isn't bone jarring. The reason I wound up going this route is for a couple of reasons: The first being that a standard spring and shock combo wasn't going to be too cheap by the time you purchase all the other misc. pieces needed (M3 spring plates, top mounts, etc.) to convert the non-M to an M3 style suspension. The other reason is that many of the spring combos lower the car a bit too much on stock length shock bodies, so essentially minimizing shock travel.

The GC setup I wound up getting is the street/touring kit, and I set the height to about the same as H&R sports (3 threads from the bottom of the collar in back, 10 threads from the bottom of the collar up front). I did have to run 12.5mm spacers up front since I have 8.5 Contours at all four corners, but no rubbing or need to roll the fenders (yet), and that's with the camber set around the same specs as the 1995 M3, in case any one runs into this down the line.

I appreciate the feedback! I've found myself jumping back and forth for quite some time now and might just bite the bullet as you did and get the same kit.