[sparkymarky]

Just wondering what a 330d m sport needs to get rid of the slight wallow/lean into bends/turns.
Looking to spend as little as possible though.

And sharpen up the steering response also?

[Chappers 71]

Least expensive option is to just change the springs & then when cars settled down after a week or so get a full geo alignment.
You could get the front suspension top mounts replaced at the same time. I recently renewed my top mounts & it's made the steering feel so much smother

[sparkymarky]

Will just springs stop body roll?

[E90325iM-SPORT]

Originally Posted by sparkymarky

Will just springs stop body roll?

Not !

[abeardo83]

Anti-roll bars are the main thing that will reduce body roll. You'll never stop it.

Chappers - front top mounts...did you do this yourself? Just wondering if it's diy-able, without a spring compressor.

[sparkymarky]

Just seen apex coilovers on ecp for £273....... http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BM...2195a0f&001280

Any good for better Street cornering and less roll?

[sparkymarky]

So my criteria is: 1. Dont want lower necessarily. Happy with existing ride hide, my m sport is perfect in the front and the rear as is.
2. Less roll.
3. Better cornering. Not massive amount needed as only a daily.
4. Better response from steering wheel turn in. Girlfriends mk6 golf gt tdi is a million times more responsive. This may be down to bushes or rack though?
5. Cheap. So not thinking coilovers actually due to constant alignments required perhaps? Just want a setup once and leave forever.
6. Seen a friends on hr springs and it looked too low to me shaving over the front tyre and was too hard. So prob not hr springs.

[sparkymarky]

Just checked my exisiting ride height, only one finger normal sized finger in the front arch and the same in the rear. Seems lower than some photos I see on here of m sports. Old guy had it before so dont think its non oem. Cars done 90k no knocks or noises other than a squeak from somewhere when going over bumps sometimes. Theres no issue with the suspension atm, just fancy tightening it up a bit!

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by sparkymarky

Just checked my exisiting ride height, only one finger normal sized finger in the front arch and the same in the rear. Seems lower than some photos I see on here of m sports. Old guy had it before so dont think its non oem. Cars done 90k no knocks or noises other than a squeak from somewhere when going over bumps sometimes. Theres no issue with the suspension atm, just fancy tightening it up a bit!

Sounds like new shocks and bushes (M3 arms probably) are what you need.

At 90k mine was the same, it was all well past it's best. Steering had lost its sharpness and thing was rolling all over the place.

[hazkirby]

I'm in same position but with SE suspension, I don't really want to lower the car.

H&R do an anti roll kit for around £320, which is a thicker front and rear anti roll bar. It's also quite common to use M3 bars instead and these are of similar thickness and usually cheaper. However you only really want to do this if you have installed and LSD, as a thicker anti roll bar means the outer wheel when going round a corner will lift more (hence why the rear roll bars are thin to maintain traction at the expense of roll), and with no LSD that just means power cut to both via DTC to both rear wheels until traction is maintained, or drifting if you have DTC off.

So if you are ok with sacrificing traction for roll then that's an option.

My best advice though if you don't want to lower would be to refresh your current suspension with OEM parts, but use Bilstein B4 Sports as your shocks. These are OEM spec replacements but built with higher quality. Its about £350 for those shocks.

[sparkymarky]

Originally Posted by djgandy

Sounds like new shocks and bushes (M3 arms probably) are what you need.

At 90k mine was the same, it was all well past it's best. Steering had lost its sharpness and thing was rolling all over the place.

Yea thats what i'm Thinking, although the usual press down on each corner is ok, no bouncing. But one thing I notice on the e90 is how something has to be only slightly off or worn for me to really notice it. Tyre pressures being a major one. Maybe a refresh is in order, just dont want to go all oem and still be not as tight as id like...

[sparkymarky]

Originally Posted by hazkirby

I'm in same position but with SE suspension, I don't really want to lower the car.

H&R do an anti roll kit for around £320, which is a thicker front and rear anti roll bar. It's also quite common to use M3 bars instead and these are of similar thickness and usually cheaper. However you only really want to do this if you have installed and LSD, as a thicker anti roll bar means the outer wheel when going round a corner will lift more (hence why the rear roll bars are thin to maintain traction at the expense of roll), and with no LSD that just means power cut to both via DTC to both rear wheels until traction is maintained, or drifting if you have DTC off.

So if you are ok with sacrificing traction for roll then that's an option.

My best advice though if you don't want to lower would be to refresh your current suspension with OEM parts, but use Bilstein B4 Sports as your shocks. These are OEM spec replacements but built with higher quality. Its about £350 for those shocks.

Do you mean b6? I think these are the equiv of stock oem m sport shocks?

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by sparkymarky

Yea thats what i'm Thinking, although the usual press down on each corner is ok, no bouncing. But one thing I notice on the e90 is how something has to be only slightly off or worn for me to really notice it. Tyre pressures being a major one. Maybe a refresh is in order, just dont want to go all oem and still be not as tight as id like...

How does it fare over the large speed bumps? That is where my aging suspension really showed up. The car really took a while to settle and would bottom out on the front really easily too.

[sparkymarky]

Present: am happy with this no lower required although if rear went down a few mm thats fine.

[hazkirby]

Originally Posted by sparkymarky

Do you mean b6? I think these are the equiv of stock oem m sport shocks?

Nope :

B4 = OEM SE
B4 Sport = OEM Msport
B6 = Sports damper for lowering springs up to 30mm
B8 = Sports damper for lowering springs up to 50mm

[sparkymarky]

Originally Posted by djgandy

How does it fare over the large speed bumps? That is where my aging suspension really showed up. The car really took a while to settle and would bottom out on the front really easily too.

I will check this out later tonight. I don't know how long it takes to settle down but I think the front can bottom out quite easily. Actually, just been out and done the four corners press, frontso are really hard to compress and don't rebound much at all in terms of travel, very dull, guess that's right? and no wobble after it rises. Rears a bit easier to compress, slightly more travel on rebound but not much. I'd also say a rebound plus a miniscule wobble before completely still. The slight difference probably due to engine weight in the front?

[sparkymarky]

Originally Posted by hazkirby

Nope :

B4 = OEM SE
B4 Sport = OEM Msport
B6 = Sports damper for lowering springs up to 30mm
B8 = Sports damper for lowering springs up to 50mm

Ahhh ok. Thanks for that

[djgandy]

I would say that your front is already lowered. The stock rear arch gap is generally fine, the front is generally much higher than that, unless there is another explanation like wheel size.

But yeah that is a good ride height, and I wouldn't want to go any lower than that either.

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by sparkymarky

I will check this out later tonight. I don't know how long it takes to settle down but I think the front can bottom out quite easily. Actually, just been out and done the four corners press, frontso are really hard to compress and don't rebound much at all in terms of travel, very dull, guess that's right? and no wobble after it rises. Rears a bit easier to compress, slightly more travel on rebound but not much. I'd also say a rebound plus a miniscule wobble before completely still. The slight difference probably due to engine weight in the front?

I found giving it a press pretty useless. These cars weight 1600kgs so a small bit of human force really doesn't do much. The shocks and springs would probably have to be totally knackered for you to conclude much from a press.

On older cars this method was probably OK as I expect the whole setup was way softer and the suspensions even when new were complete turd comparatively.

Also I expect there used to be more "total" failures. I don't think the shocks on these cars fail per se, they just start to perform less well over time and become only 75% effective.

[hazkirby]

Agreed that the pushing down method is pretty useless.

A good way to test your shocks is to find a clear road and at 50MPH brake hard to 40MPH, lift off for split second, and on again to 30MPH, lift off for a split second and on again to 20MPH then lift off for a split second then full emergency stop, then watch your bonnet to see how many vertical movements it takes to resume back to normal.

In addition to that on an empty road quick turn the steering wheel left, then right (as if avoiding an object in the middle of the road), left then right, left then right then center all as quickly as you can. The car should centre straight away.

There is no exact science as its all subjective to the driver (unless its boat like) but the above should give you an indication

[sparkymarky]

So I just took the car out. Did the braking thing, no bouncing at all. Did the right to left right to left, no delay in settling back to normal at all. Couldn't fault anything.

Checked shocks and springs earlier. Standard shock part numbers all around. Springs have no part numbers on them. Shiny black front and rear with d5 stamped on front springs and d3 stamped on rear springs. Original shocks as build date on them are 2006, same as the car.

1. Fronts only have 4 coils Compared to rear having more. Normal?

2. Also this rubber boot thing has torn away that I'm touching here with my black glove. Is it a problem?

[sparkymarky]

pictures have rotated for some reason. should be turned 90 degrees to the right as you look at them.