[soybmw]

I recently refreshed the suspension on my e91. New struts/shocks, mounts, etc. I have about 10,000 miles on the rears and 5,000 miles on the fronts. Since installing I noticed the front sits a bit higher than the rear.

I measured from the ground to the center of the wheel well. Rear sits at 25.75 and front sits at 26.75. Is this normal for relatively new suspension? For reference, the rear wheel gap is three fingers and the front wheel gap is four fingers.

Anyone know what the stock ride height for xi's should be?

[bsmoov]

LOL all e91 XI has reverse rake.

The front will sit higher than the back in ANY setup you go with (OEM height/aftermarket lowering).

The only way you'll get rid of it is ST, H&R, or KW coilover setup all around (all four corners will be fully adjustable to your liking) or.........

e90 XI specific front coilovers only (that way you can adjust the fronts to be lower than the rear in the case of if you already bought and installed lowering springs or don’t mind the OEM E91 XI rear ride height). Some people do this because they want to keep it close to stock height without the reverse rake/front being wayyyy higher than the already high rears.


It's made that way to clear snow.

[teflon_jones]

I just added a set of H&R coilovers to my Xi and the ride height is now close to level between the front and back. I have the spring perches set to their max height, which lowers the car 1-1.5" front and rear. I also replaced all of the mounts, bump stops, etc.

I didn't measure the height before and after though as you're supposed to do since I was planning to use the highest height setting.

I have no idea where the above poster got the impression the front will always be higher than the back unless you did front coilovers only.

[soybmw]

Originally Posted by bsmoov

LOL all e91 XI has reverse rake.

The front will sit higher than the back in ANY setup you go with (OEM height/aftermarket lowering).

The only way you'll get rid of it is ST or KW coilover setup or.........

e90 XI specific front coilovers only.


It's made that way to clear snow.

I'm aware that xi's have a reverse rake. I was asking about whether the ride height, specifically the front height/wheel gap, was abnormally tall. Or is it really that substantial from the factory? I was concerned that I might not have installed everything properly.

[bsmoov]

@teflon_jones:

XI lowering springs or XI standard springs, the fronts will always be higher than the rear.

The only way to get the front lower than the rear or equal to the rear is to have coilovers all around or coilovers in the front only.

Not too hard to understand buddy. Only a handful of companys make E91 wagon coilovers to begin with LET ALONE e91 XI model which is even more of a niche market.

So yes you can get coilovers all around from a limited amount of options.......orrr someone could be cheap and get a front cheap set from a plethora of vendors/manufacturers of the all so common e90 fronts. Of course that’s not the best way, but it is an option.

@soybmw: yes the gap is that huge. I had 2 e91 xi’s before and the gap is ridiculously huge. Like practical joke huge, with reverse rake.

[bsmoov]

Originally Posted by teflon_jones

I have no idea where the above poster got the impression the front will always be higher than the back unless you did front coilovers only.

I never said the front will be higher than the back unless you do front coilovers only. That is one option.

Read what I typed and I gave 2 options:

1.) Coilovers all around (can be expensive with limited choices due to the specific model of his car)

2.) Coilovers on front only off e90 (super easy and cheap with a wide selection)


The reason why I said coilovers on front only is because it's widely available and you can adjust it to how high or low you want it. So someone can have a stock XI height setup without the reverse rake. Or someone who inheirited a car that was equipped with lowering springs or installed lowering springs themselves and didn't like the low reverse rake look, instead of buying an expensive new setup all around, they technically could by a front pair made for a e90 xi and lower the front to equal the height to the lowered rear or lower.

If you put springs only in the front the rake would be too drastic and you'll have no gap in the front and a major gap in the back with no adjustability.


EDIT: Soybmw, yes as far is your finger references go, that sounds dead on. From what I remember my fronts was almost a fist and the rear was like 4 fingers. Doesn't matter if you have "sports package" or not the ride height is the same for all models of the e91 XI.

[soybmw]

bsmoov - thanks, appreciate it!

[squaredphoto]

Read this thread:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...=857285&page=2

You can use Eibach Pro springs up front and ZSP springs in the rear to have near zero rake.

Getting coilovers just the for the front is stupid. The mistmatch of valving/damping between coilovers and oem-ish struts is going to ride pretty terrible.

Going full coilovers is a great alternative if you really need coilovers and depends on how low you want to go.

[bsmoov]

I never said it was a good idea, just an option.

You can have the same argument about your suggestion with the eibach front and zsp rear with spring rates.

This isn't the first time someone wanted to lower their e91 xi...as mentioned, a ton of options exist to make this happen in a fairly straightforward manner...a combination of OEM springs, pads, perches, etc. usually being the best bet.

[bsmoov]

A ton of options? There is definitely not a “ton” of options. There are a few legit, higher price options.

Any combination of OEM springs, pads, perches is no going to get you low. It’ll bring it down from stock XI snow plow height, but it’ll definitely not bring it low enough for someone trying to get low as aftermarket coilovers/springs.


That’s besides the point. SoyBMW is not trying to lower his car, he’s just asking if his install is correct because the replaced this OEM XI setup and it looked like it rides too high for him and he was wondering if he installed it right and if that was normal, which it is.

Well, obviously...when peeps start throwing around the idea of coilovers as the only viable option, the conversation is bound to go down a different path.

And yes, OEM parts will get rid of the "reverse rake" which has been referenced countless times in this thread alone and is a more requested recipe than someone wanting to get as low as possible.

[bsmoov]

No one said coilovers were the only viable option.

Options were given. To get low the easy way and to adjust to your liking.

This is my 3rd xi setup and I went with lowering springs instead of st coilovers because I never adjusted my st coils on my last e91 at all.

I so instead of wasting my money I went with a cheaper option which was H&R sport springs all around and to get rid of the reverse rake, I added e30 rear spring pads to the back to raise it about 10mms. Ride height is exactly where I want it with no reverse rake.

There are options out there, but to say there’s a ton of options is absurd. There are a few more expensive options if you want to get low and even then, most vendors don’t even have those limited option in stock anyway as the e91 xi stuff isn’t exactly flying off of shelves...

EDIT: Here is a pic of my setup mentioned above:

[squaredphoto]

Originally Posted by bsmoov

No one said coilovers were the only viable option.

Options were given. To get low the easy way and to adjust to your liking.

This is my 3rd xi setup and I went with lowering springs instead of st coilovers because I never adjusted my st coils on my last e91 at all.

I so instead of wasting my money I went with a cheaper option which was H&R sport springs all around and to get rid of the reverse rake, I added e30 rear spring pads to the back to raise it about 10mms. Ride height is exactly where I want it with no reverse rake.

There are options out there, but to say there’s a ton of options is absurd. There are a few more expensive options if you want to get low and even then, most vendors don’t even have those limited option in stock anyway as the e91 xi stuff isn’t exactly flying off of shelves...

EDIT: Here is a pic of my setup mentioned above:

Yea, our options definitely slim and we usually need to do some thinking before slapping something on.

Btw... are those 16s?

[bsmoov]

17s, bbs style 5

Originally Posted by bsmoov

This is my 3rd xi setup and I went with lowering springs instead of st coilovers because I never adjusted my st coils on my last e91 at all.

I so instead of wasting my money I went with a cheaper option which was H&R sport springs all around and to get rid of the reverse rake, I added e30 rear spring pads to the back to raise it about 10mms. Ride height is exactly where I want it with no reverse rake.

Yes, exactly...thank you for the relevant info.

Multiple OEM: spring pads, sport springs, top hats/spacers/plates/etc.

Like you said, doesn't take much to achieve the most sought after results.

[Shorts]

Originally Posted by bsmoov

No one said coilovers were the only viable option.

Options were given. To get low the easy way and to adjust to your liking.

This is my 3rd xi setup and I went with lowering springs instead of st coilovers because I never adjusted my st coils on my last e91 at all.

I so instead of wasting my money I went with a cheaper option which was H&R sport springs all around and to get rid of the reverse rake, I added e30 rear spring pads to the back to raise it about 10mms. Ride height is exactly where I want it with no reverse rake.

There are options out there, but to say there’s a ton of options is absurd. There are a few more expensive options if you want to get low and even then, most vendors don’t even have those limited option in stock anyway as the e91 xi stuff isn’t exactly flying off of shelves...

EDIT: Here is a pic of my setup mentioned above:

What shocks/struts are you using?

[tlow98]

why is everyone talk about this stuff being E91 specific?

Anything that fits on an E90xdrive or a rwd E90 will fit on an E91xdrive or rwd E91, respectively.

[Chaszm]

Originally Posted by bsmoov

No one said coilovers were the only viable option.

Options were given. To get low the easy way and to adjust to your liking.

This is my 3rd xi setup and I went with lowering springs instead of st coilovers because I never adjusted my st coils on my last e91 at all.

I so instead of wasting my money I went with a cheaper option which was H&R sport springs all around and to get rid of the reverse rake, I added e30 rear spring pads to the back to raise it about 10mms. Ride height is exactly where I want it with no reverse rake.

There are options out there, but to say there’s a ton of options is absurd. There are a few more expensive options if you want to get low and even then, most vendors don’t even have those limited option in stock anyway as the e91 xi stuff isn’t exactly flying off of shelves...

EDIT: Here is a pic of my setup mentioned above:

Thanks for this info! Can you reupload the pic? I've spent hours searching for a setup to eliminate the rake without going coilovers.