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Thread: Staggered style 32's on the wagon now.

  1. #1
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    Staggered style 32's on the wagon now.



    Looks good, rear tires are really fat though and comes with the expense of slower acceleration. Car is very stable though, feels good on the high way and sweeping turns even going very fast.

    Any way to lower just the front a little bit though? or will that mess with SLS in the rear?
    Last edited by Olly84; 09-01-2018 at 11:17 PM.

  2. #2
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    Dang, that rides really high up! I forgot how crazy the ride height is on the non-sport tourings.

    So here are your options:

    1. Cheapest option would be lowering springs. You could probably find some stock sport springs from a sport package E39, the fronts are the same for both sedans and tourings. That won't give you a huge drop though. H&R makes good lowering springs for the E39, they give you the lower ride height but without being too low or harsh. Might not be a bad idea to consider new shocks at the same time since the originals are likely worn out at this age.

    2. Coilovers. It's a pricier option but you get far more precise control of the ride height, plus a lot of them also have adjustable damping settings so you can dial in the ride comfort.

    Neither of those will mess with the SLS, as it's a separate system. However if you lower the front a bunch you'll want to lower the rear to match. There are two ways to go about that: one way is to use INPA to tune the ride height, the other way is to buy some lowering links that go on the rear ride height sensors. I've tried both methods, I prefer INPA since it's so easy and doesn't require making any physical changes.

    This is how my 540it sat when I first bought it:



    And this is how it sits now (coilovers in the front, lowered SLS in the back).

    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  3. #3
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    Ooh, thanks dude! Love the MP's on yours, I was holding out for those but they're still so expensive nowadays.

    Anyways, I actually like it exactly how yours looked when your first got it. Your final lowered version is a little too much for me since mine is a work car, will definitely consider coil overs for my little 3er.

    I'm getting new shocks already (Bilsten B4 or B6), I have no clue where to even find stock e39 sport springs anymore, i'd have to go with H&Rs Sport Springs (.75 inch lower front, .60 inch lower rear), but the H&Rs say they require the B8 shocks which I definitely do not want! Sucks that all spring packages from HR come in 4's.

    Any clue what's a good retailer to get them besides Turner and ECS? FCPeuro doesn't even sell them..

    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Dang, that rides really high up! I forgot how crazy the ride height is on the non-sport tourings.

    So here are your options:

    1. Cheapest option would be lowering springs. You could probably find some stock sport springs from a sport package E39, the fronts are the same for both sedans and tourings. That won't give you a huge drop though. H&R makes good lowering springs for the E39, they give you the lower ride height but without being too low or harsh. Might not be a bad idea to consider new shocks at the same time since the originals are likely worn out at this age.

    2. Coilovers. It's a pricier option but you get far more precise control of the ride height, plus a lot of them also have adjustable damping settings so you can dial in the ride comfort.

    Neither of those will mess with the SLS, as it's a separate system. However if you lower the front a bunch you'll want to lower the rear to match. There are two ways to go about that: one way is to use INPA to tune the ride height, the other way is to buy some lowering links that go on the rear ride height sensors. I've tried both methods, I prefer INPA since it's so easy and doesn't require making any physical changes.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Olly84 View Post
    Ooh, thanks dude! Love the MP's on yours, I was holding out for those but they're still so expensive nowadays.

    Anyways, I actually like it exactly how yours looked when your first got it. Your final lowered version is a little too much for me since mine is a work car, will definitely consider coil overs for my little 3er.

    I'm getting new shocks already (Bilsten B4 or B6), I have no clue where to even find stock e39 sport springs anymore, i'd have to go with H&Rs Sport Springs (.75 inch lower front, .60 inch lower rear), but the H&Rs say they require the B8 shocks which I definitely do not want! Sucks that all spring packages from HR come in 4's.

    Any clue what's a good retailer to get them besides Turner and ECS? FCPeuro doesn't even sell them..
    The trick is to find E38 M-Pars. They're a bit wider in the back and they're relatively easy to find because they were so plentiful on the E38's, versus the much more rare E39 M-Pars. That's what I did, and I had a shop bore out the wheels to fit the 74.1mm E39 hubs.

    My 540it is my work car as well, I haul tons of parts in it, daily drive it, and take it on long road trips. The self-leveling rear suspension handles pretty well even when lowered. That being said, if you like the stock sport ride height, you're in luck, as there are plenty of people parting out 540i sports. Doesn't matter if it's a touring or a sedan, you can grab the stock sport springs and throw em on for a nice drop in the front.

    I've always bought shocks from Tire Rack— they've got good prices and since they ship from Nevada everything shows up rather quickly on the west coast (unlike FCP which takes forever because they're on the east coast). That's where I bought the Koni Yellows that are in the rear of my touring.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  5. #5
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    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Olly84 View Post
    I have no clue where to even find stock e39 sport springs anymore
    Hey Olly - Put your real car in your profile wouldja? Its real helpful to people who want to help to have the year and model up there.

    If that's a 540, I got a set of perfectly fine OE sport springs I'd let go cheap (struts actually were totally fine when they came out too... something like 60-70k on them IIRC?) we aren't supposed to do transactions in public threads so PM me if you want to discuss further. If its an I6 then never mind.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    Hey Olly - Put your real car in your profile wouldja? Its real helpful to people who want to help to have the year and model up there.

    If that's a 540, I got a set of perfectly fine OE sport springs I'd let go cheap (struts actually were totally fine when they came out too... something like 60-70k on them IIRC?) we aren't supposed to do transactions in public threads so PM me if you want to discuss further. If its an I6 then never mind.
    nope it's a 540it! I will pm you!

  7. #7
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    For what it's worth, I prefer the original ride height on Danny's wagon.

    Oily, as far as the M pars go, check a bone yard or maybe a local dismantler and find a curbed set of M Pars for cheap. My friend bought an 540 M Sport sedan with curbed style 37s. We hit them with a somewhat course file and removed the curbing, them removed all the clear coat with 80 grit sandpaper and then worked our way up from the 80 grit to 2500 grit. Finally a buffing wheel on a drill motor, some super fine bronze wool with metal polish and they look like new. Next a couple of coats of Clear and you got some beautiful wheels.

    I am currently doing a set of style 42s for my 528T. I bought six rims for $500.00. 1 for a spare tire and 1 extra in case I strip some screws or something. It takes about 15 hours per wheel but they look like jewelry when they are done. So far when I remove the center sections, since they are painted, they clean right up and don't need anything. It is just the barrels that need the out rims "Polished".

  8. #8
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    Depends on where you live, really. In Phoenix, the roads are decent, and even in the places where the roads are bad, they're just a bit bumpy— no potholes anywhere. So there's not really a reason to keep my 540it at stock height, since it rides about the same either way. Other than some occasional scrapes, there's really no downside to being lowered the way I have it set up— there's never any rubbing, regardless of how many people are in the car or how hard I turn. I'm probably going to go a bit lower in the rear to match the front a bit better... there's too much of a rake as it sits now.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  9. #9
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    After polishing the hoops, treat them with Sharkhyde, they’ll stay protected for 3 or 4 years.
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun

  10. #10
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    Wow, what a great tip and find! Never heard of Sharkhyde before and it's made here in IL. Last night I sold my set of M5 replicas which looked pretty good but I really like the style 42s. A couple of years ago I bought a used driver seat from a guy and he had a set of 42s on a black 528 and they looked so good I had to get a set. I was going to take the hoops to a body shop to get clear coated. Thanks you for that great tip.

  11. #11
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    Your welcome, if you want to go the painted hoop route, take them to a good powdercoater, ask them to coat them with Superchrome from Prismatic Powders., you’d have to look really well to see that it’s painted.

    prismaticpowders.com BEWARE! You would need a day or two to see all the colors they carry!
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun

  12. #12
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    Staggered style 32's on the wagon now.

    Here’s mine with 18x9 Style 42s and lowered ride height. Also running 18mm spacers back and 15mm up front.






    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  13. #13
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    And of course, it had to be black and a 540 sport. Very, very nice.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by rjbaren View Post
    And of course, it had to be black and a 540 sport. Very, very nice.
    Thank you.


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