Which H&R springs?
 

Hi,

This is my first thread so go easy on me :smile:

ive had my 1999 318ti for about 4 months now and absolutely love it, when i bought it, it needed new shocks, and what time when i was replacing them i realised the car was runnin on Koni springs.

Now after driving it with the new shocks i found the ride to be a bit 'soft', if im driving the car quickly around some of the fantastic back roads round my area, it will some times bottom out over 'dramatic' dip etc. maybe this is how the car is suposed to be, i mean it does sit quite low but i was expecting the springs to be quite stiff, but i supose they could have gone soft from having to do lots of compression while the shocks were knackered!

So now i've got the money, im gonna get some new springs, looking through the threads it seems the H&R srpings are quite respected here. ive found a site that sells three seperate kits; Comfort, Sport, and 'extreme low version'.

http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pag...sub_category=1

What i want to know is what springs will be best for me, i want as good of handling i can get without going for complete shock/spring kits and coilovers etc. the car is currently sitting on 16s, but my dad said he is going to treat me to some wheels (either M3 motorsport wheels or the M3 'pettle style' wheels) either way they will be 17s.

Any advice will be hugely appriciated and if any one knows of any other sites that do a wider variety of H&R springs (im in the UK so preferabley UK sites) i will be grateful.

Cheers

John

Just a quick question, did you replace the original shocks with OEM equivalents? If so, that is most likely your problem.

Sport springs (sounds like the konis are if they lowered the car) need to be paired with sport shocks to get the most out of them. I bet if you got some sport shocks (bilsteins, konis, etc) your suspension would feel much better and give you the results you want.

did you just buy OE struts/shocks?

I know my H&R sports are nice and firm, especially with the sport bilsteins.

Thankyou for your speedy replies :smile:

Yes i did replace them with standard OE shocks. but i still think the ride shud be firmer than it is even with standard springs. the best example i can give is when i go over a big speed bump (that is if the car doesnt scrape the floor!). When the front of the car goes back down again it will dive down then pitch up again then dive down again to settle (you can notice this a a small level when just bouncing the car when it is stationary). Before i replaced the shocks the car would simple just hit the floor no matter how slow i went.....the shocks had no oil in them, and thats what i thought made the springs go soft possibly, becasue they would be doing all the compression and rebound.

Do you still think that the shocks are the guilty part, if so, i mite consider getting a complete shock and spring kit :smile:

Cheers

John

If you still had the OE springs in the ride would be much more controlled and comfortable. What you are describing is exactly what happens when sport springs are installed with OE shocks. (A very bouncy feeling)

The damper isn't allowed to do its job properly because the spring isn't holding the car up as high, if that makes any sense...With the OE springs the shock has much more room to travel and damp the motion, while with a shortened spring the shock is going to bottom out more easily.

If you didn't want to spend a lot of money I am sure you would be fine keeping the springs and just replacing the shocks but if you want to start fresh then get the kit.

Of course that makes sense, thanks very much Spiderti. I think i will go for some new shocks. Does anyone have any good recommendations as to what ones to go for? Im unsure how much the koni springs on the car lower it, but it does seem quite low mayb 30mm on the back 50mm on the front??

Cheers

John

I've heard nothing but good things about the bilstein sports and thats what I plan on buying when I upgrade. I have koni shocks/struts on my Jetta and they are awesome as well. Hopefully someone else can chime in with a suggestion but maybe you should look through some older threads and see what other people recommend.

Hey mate, I am from England too. I bought this kit as it was the cheapest decent brand
http://www.dcdezign.com/cheap/112389...s/40971-1.html
The bloke who sells them was a sound fella too. I am running on 17"s too and the ride is pretty good, nice and firm. Picture of my car is in the 'lounge' section under '318ti now repaired :)' or something like that.
Dyl