[Camman]

Hey guys, after many delay's, I'll finally be ordering some coilovers within the next month. I am going with BC Racing coilovers but what I want to know is if there are any other parts I should replace when I install the coilovers. My car currently has 108k miles. I'm guessing there are some bushings I should look at replacing, no?

Thanks

[chris82]

Originally Posted by Camman

Hey guys, after many delay's, I'll finally be ordering some coilovers within the next month. I am going with BC Racing coilovers but what I want to know is if there are any other parts I should replace when I install the coilovers. My car currently has 108k miles. I'm guessing there are some bushings I should look at replacing, no?

Thanks

Hard to say, are the bushings original? Any weird handling problems right now?

[Camman]

Only bushings that have been changed are the front control arm bushings.

No weird handling problems right now. Car hasn't had a rough life for the most part.

[E90ALLMANUAL]

What are your goals for the car? DD? Auto-x, track? Are you going just for looks?

?Always replaced any worn out parts. Good time to upgrade if you are tracking the car.

?The best suspension upgrade you can do to the E9x is to upgrade the rear subframe bushings. Either with inserts or the M3 bushings.

?Tires will transform any car.

?M3 front control arms.

?Do camber plates at the same time you do the coil overs.

?M3 control arms in the rear.

[Camman]

Not planning on racing the car. Going for mostly looks and better handling for the occasional spirited drive.

I've done a fair amount of research on all my suspension options and I'm pretty set on BC Racing coilovers for their adjustability and price.

I'm just curious on what other parts are going to be worn out at 100k and should be replaced. From what I've read looks like rear subframe bushings are a popular one.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by Camman

Only bushings that have been changed are the front control arm bushings.

No weird handling problems right now. Car hasn't had a rough life for the most part.

Alright, well I'd just do the coilovers then. To add to the handling, might want to look at the RSFB upgrades, but they're expensive. Might be better off with just inserts to keep the cost down.

[AtlasM]

The BC BR coilovers come with camber plates in front so those are effectively new front upper shock mounts. In the rear, you could replace the shock mounts as well. The OE BMW upper mounts are pretty weak, you can upgrade to poly or the Monroe harder rubber ones to have a more solid upper mount. The BMW lower mounts are alright but Monroe also makes a rear lower mount that's slightly more solid than the OE ones.

Monroe part #s are 907984 for rear upper and 907985 for rear lower shock mounts. You'd need 2 of each.

When lowering the car, you can look at getting adjustable sway bar end links, as lowering the car makes it so you need longer end links in the front and shorter in the rear. The front links are more crucial. I'm not positive but the BC coilovers may include adjustable length front end links, some of the pictures on their site show end links. I would check with them.

Rear subframe bushings are a nice upgrade, but you need to drop the subframe in order to install them and that's a lot of labor.

[Camman]

Originally Posted by AtlasM

The BC BR coilovers come with camber plates in front so those are effectively new front upper shock mounts. In the rear, you could replace the shock mounts as well. The OE BMW upper mounts are pretty weak, you can upgrade to poly or the Monroe harder rubber ones to have a more solid upper mount. The BMW lower mounts are alright but Monroe also makes a rear lower mount that's slightly more solid than the OE ones.

Monroe part #s are 907984 for rear upper and 907985 for rear lower shock mounts. You'd need 2 of each.

When lowering the car, you can look at getting adjustable sway bar end links, as lowering the car makes it so you need longer end links in the front and shorter in the rear. The front links are more crucial. I'm not positive but the BC coilovers may include adjustable length front end links, some of the pictures on their site show end links. I would check with them.

Rear subframe bushings are a nice upgrade, but you need to drop the subframe in order to install them and that's a lot of labor.

Thanks for all of the useful information. I did not think about the shock mounts for the rear. I will look at getting some better ones.

I think you are right with the end links on the front. I will double check with my vendor to see what all is included. I don't plan on going super low initially but that could always change so I might as well get the end links.

[matteblue3er]

The only efficiency you will have when replacing the shocks/struts are the mounts for those components and spring pads.

As mentioned, do upper and lower rear shock mounts.

At 108k, pretty much every bushing could use a refresh. Especially with the more firm coilovers, bushing deflection will be more noticeable. I wouldn't worry about ball joints until they are making knocking noises.

[Tallgeese179]

I did a coilovers install recently and put together all of the stuff I replaced. You won't need all of the front components, but will need to add a lower rear spring mount (H&R doesn't need one).

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1275753

[Precision Autosport]

Im assuming you've done M3 front control arms since you have the bushings replaced. I think rear subframe bushings are very beneficial. They keep the rear more planted, and reduce the floating feeling you get under acceleration and high speeds. If you end up doing rear subframe bushings and plan on doing swaybars at some point, i would highly suggest doing them at the same time. You have to drop the subframe in order to install the rear swaybar, and it is a large task to do.

[mantis]

oops