E90 330i "Safari" build. What would it take?

[david318]

Greetings from the deep south!

I have an '06 330i sedan with about 130k miles on the clock. It has been a great car for the last five years and 75k miles. Honestly. All I've had to do was the blower motor for the HVAC system and a couple recalls (airbags, etc.) However, I live in the land of poor roads and not many curves, so the idea of increased suspension travel and (slightly) higher sidewalls holds great appeal to me. My searches for an e90 safari build have resulted in nothing. With 330i values hovering near nothing, I don't see that I have too much to lose. But I'm not sure that I want to be a trail-blazer. And there's no way that it will be anything near this level of build.

What are your thoughts? What would it take? Is it even possible?

David

[Cruster]

Since you asked for opinions, here’s mine - it sounds like hot garbage. The “Safari” trend is played out, it would look awful on this car, and it’s a recipe for breaking stuff on what you described as a reliable ride.

If you really need “just a little more” clearance as you imply, I’d look at tires with more sidewall, and the shims from the “poor road” package.


https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/31306779671/


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[david318]

Cruster,

Thank you for an entertaining response! I don't know that it would be "hot garbage", but you may very well be right about the overall effect such a transformation could make on the car. Those shims are something that I didn't know existed, so thank you!

Kindest Regards,
David

[Cruster]

Cruster,

Thank you for an entertaining response! I don't know that it would be "hot garbage", but you may very well be right about the overall effect such a transformation could make on the car. Those shims are something that I didn't know existed, so thank you!

Kindest Regards,
David

There’s another option - my wife’s daily is a 2007 328i convertible with Msport suspension - for a daily - for the way she drives (shhhhh) - it sat way too low. I installed E46 spring perches and spring pads in the front, and E46 spring pads in the back. This got me about 14mm of height in the front, and 15mm in the back. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it made a huge difference. I also swapped to slightly smaller diameter wheels and added tires with more sidewall, and it’s about perfect now, at least for her.

I bought the parts from ECS because they had them in stock (not my favorite vendor), but here are links so you have the part numbers.

Spring perches

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/31331128524/


Front spring pads

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/31331128522/


Rear spring pads (upper):

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...33531094754kt/


The front pieces are a direct swap with no modifications required. The spring pads in the rear do have to be slightly modified - the center hole has to be slightly enlarged, and one side has to be cut off so it won’t rub against the strut. It’s an easy modification and what you need to do is apparent as soon as you try to fit them. Precision is not required.

All in I think the parts were around $150 - excluding wheels and tires - and it took me a few hours on a Saturday to swap the suspension bits out, followed with $90 or so for an alignment. It’s pushing two years now and there have been no issues. Plus - completely reversible.


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[david318]

There’s another option - my wife’s daily is a 2007 328i convertible with Msport suspension - for a daily - for the way she drives (shhhhh) - it sat way too low. I installed E46 spring perches and spring pads in the front, and E46 spring pads in the back. This got me about 14mm of height in the front, and 15mm in the back. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it made a huge difference. I also swapped to slightly smaller diameter wheels and added tires with more sidewall, and it’s about perfect now, at least for her.

I bought the parts from ECS because they had them in stock (not my favorite vendor), but here are links so you have the part numbers.

Spring perches

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/31331128524/


Front spring pads

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/31331128522/


Rear spring pads (upper):

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...33531094754kt/


The front pieces are a direct swap with no modifications required. The spring pads in the rear do have to be slightly modified - the center hole has to be slightly enlarged, and one side has to be cut off so it won’t rub against the strut. It’s an easy modification and what you need to do is apparent as soon as you try to fit them. Precision is not required.

All in I think the parts were around $150 - excluding wheels and tires - and it took me a few hours on a Saturday to swap the suspension bits out, followed with $90 or so for an alignment. It’s pushing two years now and there have been no issues. Plus - completely reversible.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Even more great information. Thank you!

[jclausen]

Or by a Subaru, truck etc