[eddiem74]

Car filled with petrol today, so the following comparison of the Rear wheel height is based on that, no other load of any significance in the car.

Is it normal that the driver side sits a little lower?

I ask as the passenger side rear suspension feels a little soft/loose (hard to describe) and I had it visually inspected and all that was obvious was a new rear bump stop needed.

I am wondering if something else could be up?

[RimasRS]

I would say something is not right. Check the spring or shock mount.

[afalton]

broken spring drivers rear

[eddiem74]

Its been like that quite a while, actually I had felt like there was more an issue on the passenger side. Hard to describe as I said but it felt soft/loose, sort of doing its own thing at times and not connected, if that makes sense.

If it was a broken spring on the driver side would that feeling make sense? Also would there not be other issues? Sorry for the noob questions.

[Phil325i]

I'm sure I read somewhere that BMW made the car sit a little higher on the (German) driver's side so that when the driver was in place, the two sides of the car were the same height...but that they never corrected this for right-hand drive cars.

Might be a fairy tale, but it would explain the effect...

[eddiem74]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

I'm sure I read somewhere that BMW made the car sit a little higher on the (German) driver's side so that when the driver was in place, the two sides of the car were the same height...but that they never corrected this for right-hand drive cars.

Might be a fairy tale, but it would explain the effect...

Yeah had heard something similar but per the pics the driver side is sitting lower with no driver only a full tank?

[Jedimindtrix]

My e90 is exactly the same and has been ever since I bought it, checked the springs etc and I think it's just the way they were made.

No one else has spotted it but me, though I am a little OCD about my car.

[old grey steve]

Had the said same issue re my old e46 330d and I thought I'd broken a spring or had a damaged shock. Had all these checked out and everything was confirmed as perfectly OK.

So I decided to do a bit of research. Starting with measurements including heights and ensuring I was on perfectly flat level ground.







And mine was 7mm lower on the drivers side than the passenger side. I was repeatedly informed that this was normal, which after looking at a good few I could kind of believe, turns out that there was a tolerance that was acceptable to BMW tt was between 6-13mm which to me seems kind of wrong. I got most of my ride height issues sorted by fitting a set of uprated thicker rear spring platforms on my car



re measured and the difference was barely 2mm which considering the offside had a battery on that side was perfectly acceptable. It was after examining the old ones that I noticed the offside spring platform(No18 on the diagram)had started to wear and was in no way shaped like the round disc it should of been, might be worth looking at this area as well as springs/dampers for a satisfactory solution.

Hope this helps.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by eddiem74

Yeah had heard something similar but per the pics the driver side is sitting lower with no driver only a full tank?

Yes, but your 'driver's side' is a German's passenger side...

[eddiem74]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Yes, but your 'driver's side' is a German's passenger side...

D'oh sorry, get it now.

[eddiem74]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Had the said same issue re my old e46 330d and I thought I'd broken a spring or had a damaged shock. Had all these checked out and everything was confirmed as perfectly OK.

So I decided to do a bit of research. Starting with measurements including heights and ensuring I was on perfectly flat level ground.







And mine was 7mm lower on the drivers side than the passenger side. I was repeatedly informed that this was normal, which after looking at a good few I could kind of believe, turns out that there was a tolerance that was acceptable to BMW tt was between 6-13mm which to me seems kind of wrong. I got most of my ride height issues sorted by fitting a set of uprated thicker rear spring platforms on my car



re measured and the difference was barely 2mm which considering the offside had a battery on that side was perfectly acceptable. It was after examining the old ones that I noticed the offside spring platform(No18 on the diagram)had started to wear and was in no way shaped like the round disc it should of been, might be worth looking at this area as well as springs/dampers for a satisfactory solution.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for such a detailed post. I have the car in with my Indy on Tuesday getting the rear bump stop done so will see if he can check it all over also in detail.

[Jedimindtrix]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Had the said same issue re my old e46 330d and I thought I'd broken a spring or had a damaged shock. Had all these checked out and everything was confirmed as perfectly OK.

So I decided to do a bit of research. Starting with measurements including heights and ensuring I was on perfectly flat level ground.







And mine was 7mm lower on the drivers side than the passenger side. I was repeatedly informed that this was normal, which after looking at a good few I could kind of believe, turns out that there was a tolerance that was acceptable to BMW tt was between 6-13mm which to me seems kind of wrong. I got most of my ride height issues sorted by fitting a set of uprated thicker rear spring platforms on my car



re measured and the difference was barely 2mm which considering the offside had a battery on that side was perfectly acceptable. It was after examining the old ones that I noticed the offside spring platform(No18 on the diagram)had started to wear and was in no way shaped like the round disc it should of been, might be worth looking at this area as well as springs/dampers for a satisfactory solution.

Hope this helps.

What tyre product are you using?

That finish on the tyres looks great.

[philmots]

Mine does this too ever so slightly (E90)

The front N/S sits a bit higher than the front O/S too which kind of makes sense. Pretty much every E90 that I've looked at on the 'trader is exactly the same.

I've some Prolines coming so will see how everything else is when I fit these.

[Bomber]

My 335d was exactly the same, it was check by BMW twice and I was told nothing was wrong that's just how they are.

[RichJ]

Same here....

[Si-M240i]

I got told the same by BMW on my 335d too. I had them check it twice !!!

[eddiem74]

Originally Posted by PhilM

Mine does this too ever so slightly (E90)

The front N/S sits a bit higher than the front O/S too which kind of makes sense. Pretty much every E90 that I've looked at on the 'trader is exactly the same.

I've some Prolines coming so will see how everything else is when I fit these.

Be interested to hear/see your before and after with the Prolines to see if any change?

[eddiem74]

Well had the car in with my Indy yesterday and pointed out the difference and asked him to do a full rear suspension check while he was replacing the rear bump stops.

Collected the car last night and he said he thought from the look of it a spring must have been broken, but alas after the full check he said everything is fine and in good nick.

He also measured the difference and said its 12mm lower on the driver side.

He agreed it does seem odd but said they only way to tackle would be to start replacing parts till you get it right.

[Bomber]

Must just be that great big battery it carries around in that corner

[Neilios]

Mine has been into the dealers this week after me complaining for a while (second time), they checked everything and all was OK and within tollerance, I was still not happy so it was fitted with a pair of springs (OE BMW) and had the 4 wheel alignment done, its still sits down and the cars a 2010 325i e92. Any other thoughts?

[litany]

Hi, all bmw's are 50/50 weight distribution, so basically European version sit lower on passenger side (UK's driver side), just few mm. Car (non UK) with driver should be then on right level. German engineers doesn't change chassis just for UK market.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by eddiem74

Well had the car in with my Indy yesterday and pointed out the difference and asked him to do a full rear suspension check while he was replacing the rear bump stops.

Collected the car last night and he said he thought from the look of it a spring must have been broken, but alas after the full check he said everything is fine and in good nick.

He also measured the difference and said its 12mm lower on the driver side.

He agreed it does seem odd but said they only way to tackle would be to start replacing parts till you get it right.

Kind of mirrors what I discovered with my E46. All very strange but oddly enough all within spec and it does make you wonder. The chassis tweaks made for LHD/RHD had kind of played on my mind i.e. they may alter camber slightly for our roads say re other market roads but surely a spring is a spring might be different rates depending on the market the cars made for(don't know if this is on the right lines)but its strange that many an E46 owner has this issue and now E9X have the same issue.