lowering your ride

[bmw4life13]

i'll need to replace my shocks and struts pretty soon. i figured i could replace my springs and lower my ride as well. does anyone know how much i can lower my car without having problems with the wheels banging into anything.

 

[jcblaschke]

With stock wheels/tires you can go an inch if not a little more withoiut any rub. Word of advice, if you are going to lower it, get a set of shocks that is matched for the springs, i.e: a matched kit for your car.

 

[bmw4life13]

i have upgraded wheels with 235/40/17 tires. i really don't want to get fender rub, etc by lowering my car but i have a huge gap in the front. what would happen if i bought lowering springs and placed them in the front only? is that bad? currently my rear tires are almost at the fender while the front tires have at least a 3" gap. what's so great about the coilover suspension kits?

 

[jcblaschke]

It is alrigth to lower just the front of your car, if you like the stance. The real coilover kits you buy are shocks and springs matched perfectly for your car, so they are really nice.

 

[bmw4life13]

i've learned that lowering your car compromises the strut tower. in fact, you most likely have to replace it earlier as a result. i would love to lower the front but i don't want to add expensive repair costs in the near future.

 

[jszar]

thats why there are adjustable shocks...like air shocks. pump 'em up, or let 'em down.

 

[frolf]

not sure if it will help....

my plan is to do shocks and springs in front, to lower my front end about an inch. at the same time i will most likley get a front strut bar. but ALSO the BIG thing that i feel TRICKY about doing, is that i'm going to get stiffer springs at OEM height for the rear, because i also want a meaner (spelling) stance, but i don't want a bunch of understeer either.

any thoughts? because i was under the impression that lowering/stiffening up the front will only lead to understeer.

 

[bmw4life13]

i'm not too sure frolf. as you probably already know all the lowering spring sets lower the front more than the rear. the H&R sport spring lowers the rear by 1" only and the front by 1.5". the funny thing is that the bmw dealer only recommends lowering the front an 1" and the rear .5". that is apparently the the amount of lowering you get on the sport package. what springs and suspension are you looking into frolf? what do you mean by understeer?

 

[frolf]

i'm looking at tokico's myself. and by understeer i mean that if the front tires get better traction due to stiffer springs and lowering, and you do not lower/stiffen up the rear, it might push through turns more than a stock system, or a full suspension. thats why i'm looking to stiffen up both ends, but only lower the front.

 

[bmw4life13]

the understeer that you talk about shouldn't be a problem IF you find the right person to do the job for you. i've realized that upgrading the suspension with lowering springs is much more complex than it appears. there are a lot of issues to look into when lowering a car such as upgrading to torsional bushings, properly adjusting the camber, caster and toe out, adding additional support to the strut housing, etc. how much do you want to lower the front of your car? i wouldn't drop the front more than an 1" unless you mostly drive the car on the track. personally, i want to drop the front of my car by about 1.5". i think that would look awseome but i don't know how feasible that is. the fender gap is killing me!!!!!