I finally got around to replacing the front suspension on my 1981 745i. It has always been very low and I can finally inspect the springs to see what they are. The springs are 174mm in diameter and 252mm(10") in length: They have not been cut, the ends of the spring are clearly from metal extrusion not a grinding wheel, and stamped on the side of the coil at the very top is "RBW" . The springs are definitely about the shortest you can put with factory parts as I didn't have to compress the spring at all to take apart or put the strut back together, the spring isn't wobbly with the strut assembled by about 1/8". Being an 81 it has different subframes and suspension to later e23's
I'm very curious to find out what they are, I have records for the car back to 1990 and nothing shows the springs were replaced. So what springs are they? Are they even meant for an e23? Thanks!
-Added pictures, hopefully that helps.
IMG_2247.jpgimage1(1).jpgimage0.jpeg
Last edited by Reubenix; 06-26-2020 at 01:04 PM.
Posting some photos might help us figure out which springs they are. Including photos of the car with them installed, so we can see ride height. There were a few different aftermarket spring sets available for these cars at one point in time.
The left side of the car has always been lower which I assumed was due to a bad shock, but after replacing them it is still the same. I noticed that I had to lift up the left side higher to reattach the sway bar, so today I disconnected the sway bar from one side put the car down and it's level. Is the sway bar bent or is it a result of it being lowered? What are my options being a 745i from 7/81?
The difference in height was was about .5" so very noticeable and it is definitely MUCH more level with the sway bar disconnected.
Last edited by Reubenix; 06-27-2020 at 05:18 PM.
Theres a possibility that the bar is bent, have you removed the end links from both sides to compare them side by side? Maybe one is longer than the other. I have some 745i sway bars I can sell if you find out yours is bent.
Looking at the photos of your springs, did you recently paint them? Or is that their original finish.
I did paint them because they were a little crusty but they were black originally (picture is of other side's spring before I painted). I haven't compared the end links, is it possible for one to be longer? I think I might machine an adjustable end link. With the car being lowered as it is shouldn't something have been done with the sway bar in the first place to get rid of preload? I'll go ahead and remove both end links and see how the sway bar measures up.
spring 2.jpgspring stamping.jpg
The end links are pretty much the same length, the sway bar does seem to be relatively straight: There seemed to be about 1/4" difference when I measured the sway bar and with both end links in place but the left side disconnected from the sway bar there was about 1/4" to 1/2" misalignment between it and the sway bar.
IMG_2257(1).jpg
Last edited by Reubenix; 06-28-2020 at 11:27 PM.
Make sure your sway bar bushings are in tact. It’s very hard to bend a sway bar unless you get in an accident or something. I would check for bent control arms, which is more likely.
When your enemy is making a mistake, do not interrupt him.
The sway bar bushings look good, nothing looks like its bent. In the records it says that at some point the owner slid off a icy highway, it didnt impact anything however as no body work was done. That could have bent the sway bar possible though. Attached are pictures of the left and right side, you can see how the sway bar is touching the control arm on one side and not the other.
Attachment 674090IMG_2259.jpg
I can only get the 1 pic. Are you sure a control arm isn't bent as well as well as/or the sway bar?
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I'm going to replace both control arms and wishbones, they grease boots at the hub are broken so might as well. I'll see if that straightens things out or not.
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