[doughboy]

The rear bushes ar about £90 a pair so £180 for the 4.

[Ant Man]

Originally Posted by 335rocks

Have a look at Birds site and you'll get at rough estimate of the individual parts and install costs.

If you install all 3 you should be able to save a bit of time on the install as the removal of certain parts may already have been done. E.g. to install the rear ARB you'll need to drop the rear subframe, so you save this cost when you do the rear bush set etc. So it really depends on what you do.

By far the most labour went into fitting the rear bush set, however it was well worth it!

Did that, glad I was sitting down!!!

Nobody who uses Birds posts up the actual price they paid.

So Lars and Doughboy, pls post the price you paid Birds and itemise the labour / parts and consumables? I feel that way, more people can make a better informed choice as to what ARB to buy and who to use for the work.

If only Orb still posted on the US forum, he would explain if there are any benefits of the Hartge ARB over the H&R. He chose H&R and then later went with M3 ARB after engineering some other suspension components himself. He didn't install the LSD as far as I know.

[Yahoo]

I am having my M3 ARBs, M3 subframe bushes and Eibach Pro springs installed for the princely some of £240 (£40 x 6 hours) - very reasonable imo.

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by Yahoo

I am having my M3 ARBs, M3 subframe bushes and Eibach Pro springs installed for the princely some of £240 (£40 x 6 hours) - very reasonable imo.

That's very cheap. I don't think you'll find anyone being cheaper than that.
Is that an estimate on the time or that's what you'll pay regardless of what they spend? 6 hours should be possible but doesn't leave much time for any problems.

[Yahoo]

The chap got half way through today and actually came across a problem (a missing part for the rear ARB). He installed the front ARB and springs and will do the sub frame bushes and rear ARB in a week once the part comes in from Germany - even given this issue (which is my fault), he has guaranteed the price

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by Ant Man

Did that, glad I was sitting down!!!

Nobody who uses Birds posts up the actual price they paid.

So Lars and Doughboy, pls post the price you paid Birds and itemise the labour / parts and consumables? I feel that way, more people can make a better informed choice as to what ARB to buy and who to use for the work.

If only Orb still posted on the US forum, he would explain if there are any benefits of the Hartge ARB over the H&R. He chose H&R and then later went with M3 ARB after engineering some other suspension components himself. He didn't install the LSD as far as I know.

It's hard to relate to the price that those guys paid, because it was labour inclusive across all the items they had installed at the same time. The labour costs doesn't break down into each individual item as there is so much cross-accounting of the labour. Also, the cost of the LSD might be different per car, due to the use of either a welded or bolted-style differential. The only way you'll find out how much the cost will be is if you email Birds directly for a quote, also mentioning that you're from this forum.



Also Orb would only be able to explain the differences if he actually had a set of Hartge antiroll bars....

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by Ant Man

Did that, glad I was sitting down!!!

Nobody who uses Birds posts up the actual price they paid.

So Lars and Doughboy, pls post the price you paid Birds and itemise the labour / parts and consumables? I feel that way, more people can make a better informed choice as to what ARB to buy and who to use for the work.

Not sure what kind of discount you are expecting if you only plan to do the ARBs. If that's the case then you can pretty much go by the price listed on the web site. If you do all 3 then you should be able to negotiate a discount, but it won't be anything huge, so don't expect a grand to suddenly drop of the total.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by Yahoo

I am having my M3 ARBs, M3 subframe bushes and Eibach Pro springs installed for the princely some of £240 (£40 x 6 hours) - very reasonable imo.

Hmmm... I might go with that if I knew the guy, but £40/hour is serious back street garage labour rates.

If that's inc vat it sounds even more dodgy...

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by Ant Man

Did that, glad I was sitting down!!!

You get what you pay for...

Nobody who uses Birds posts up the actual price they paid.

Personally i don't think its right to discuss overall prices like that from a small supplier like Birds or, lets say Evolve etc.

They're not like B&Q or Kwik Fit. The beauty to me of an indy business is the fact you can discuss your requirements and get a deal that suits you.

You know the 'book' prices from the website, so you can phone them up with your requirements and discuss / negotiate from there if you wish.

All I can say about Birds is that if I lived near Iver I would gladly NEVER visit a BMW dealers again for any work, sod the so called 'dealer history' benefit.

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by Yahoo

The chap got half way through today and actually came across a problem (a missing part for the rear ARB). He installed the front ARB and springs and will do the sub frame bushes and rear ARB in a week once the part comes in from Germany - even given this issue (which is my fault), he has guaranteed the price

Let us know roughly how much time it actually took as I have a feeling that the guy is selling himself short or he's being very kind to you. With 6 hours it doesn't leave much time to fit the springs.

[Yahoo]

OK - I will report back once all is installed.

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by doughboy

All I can say about Birds is that if I lived near Iver I would gladly NEVER visit a BMW dealers again for any work, sod the so called 'dealer history' benefit.

+1

Luckily I live close enough to be able to do this and my dealer will only ever see my car again if I need any warranty work or should there be something that Birds can't do. With limited warranty left there is not much chance of them ever seeing it again.

[Jay6t9]

Doughboy - I'm still greatly interested in the work you've had done and hope to achieve similar results with my coupe. I'm going to pop down to the Oulton Park event on Wednesday to spectate, as I was too late to book on it (I've checked with Nick). So I hope you don't mind if I say hello and bore you with some questions during your session breaks!

Cheers

James

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by debitel

I have read it all, I have 1 question, forgive me I am a newbie.

Why are you all changing bushes and everything else when 335i has M3 suspension kit Nr. 0704. Is there just the spring in the package and nothing else?

If the answer is yes, only springs, than my next one is: To make it full M3 you need to change:

-M3 arb? Are ARB the stabilizers called sway bars?
-M3 rear subframe bushes?
-M3 front alnd rear fishbones with?
-M3 front and rear Tension Struts M3?

We don't need other springs, we have them allready.

I am asking because I bought a car with broken left side rear and front axle. So everything has to be changed anyway.

Thanks for help

Vid

I don't know what you mean by "M3 Suspension kit Nr 0704' - is that a replacement spring and damper set ??

Virtually all 'suspension kits' are just springs and dampers, maybe with some top mounts. They don't however come with replacement bushes for subframes, tension struts, wishbones etc.

The upgrades done in this thread are separate to any suspension upgrade. The subframe bushes make a big difference to the overall stability of the rear axle. You can change the tension struts and front wishbones to M3 items as well, and this will give you more precision under turn in.

The idea is not to make the 335i an M3, but to utilise some of the M3 components on the 335i to achieve a more precise-handling car. You don't have to use M3 ARBs - you can keep the standard ones, or if you want a change you could also consider the likes of Eibach, H&R, or Hartge

[a1reader]

M Sport suspension and subframe components are different from M3 components

[doughboy]

yesterday in fact.....

very common mod

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349464

Dealer won't have a clue, don't mention your mods, just buy the parts.

Note the issues with the xenon self levellin attachment, check pre or post lci too

[Yahoo]

M3 front wishbones and tension struts are a good upgrade for any e9x. M3 Rear subframe bushes and ARBs make a significant difference - whereas the front mods are more subtle, but well worth doing imo.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by debitel

Thanks for answer,

what do you mean by: pre or post lci too ?

Which part do you mean? http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E9...tension_strut/

Does stabilizer from M3 fit as well?

Items 14 and 19 from that page (left and right of each)

Also you may need items 4 & 5 from this page:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...02&hg=31&fg=05


The same linkage for non-m3's is item 4 on this page:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...97&hg=31&fg=05


Do you have xenons?

LCI isn't a problem for you with an E92.