BavAuto Springs

[nickpapa]

was wondering if anyone has these springs.

i put them on last weekend with a set of koni adjustables and was expecting a drop similar to the eibachs (1.25").

I'm not sure if it is because I have my winter setup on right now (17") or what but it just seems like it did not lower the car that much. I had the standard suspension and it is a noticeable difference but when i see pics of cars with just the plain sport package, i feel like their cars look lower than mine? and the eibachs looks even lower than that i.e. mister_roger.

just trying to see if anyone else has these springs and was thrown off by the amount it lowered the car. bavauto says to wait 3-4 weeks and they should settle another .5" at the most but i never heard of springs taking that long to settle especially if the car is daily driven.

ill try to post some pics up and see if everyone agrees or im just going crazy. i have a set of 19" CSL's i'd like to put on but i dont want it to look like a 4x4

Finally got some pics. I know I'm on a hill but it looks identical when on flat land. Normal?

[misterawa]

Originally Posted by nickpapa

was wondering if anyone has these springs.

i put them on last weekend with a set of koni adjustables and was expecting a drop similar to the eibachs (1.25").

I'm not sure if it is because I have my winter setup on right now (17") or what but it just seems like it did not lower the car that much. I had the standard suspension and it is a noticeable difference but when i see pics of cars with just the plain sport package, i feel like their cars look lower than mine? and the eibachs looks even lower than that i.e. mister_roger.

just trying to see if anyone else has these springs and was thrown off by the amount it lowered the car. bavauto says to wait 3-4 weeks and they should settle another .5" at the most but i never heard of springs taking that long to settle especially if the car is daily driven.

ill try to post some pics up and see if everyone agrees or im just going crazy. i have a set of 19" CSL's i'd like to put on but i dont want it to look like a 4x4

If you lowered your car with the stock shocks then it would have dropped lower, but then your shocks go out after a year. My experience with the koni's is that it doesn't lower as low as compared to stock shocks. Be patient, they should settle after a few weeks .

[nickpapa]

pics posted

[GP20]

Originally Posted by misterawa

If you lowered your car with the stock shocks then it would have dropped lower, but then your shocks go out after a year. My experience with the koni's is that it doesn't lower as low as compared to stock shocks. Be patient, they should settle after a few weeks .

Springs decide ride height. Struts/shocks have nothing to do with ride height. The ride height would've been the same with stock dampers or with Koni's. The only time dampers affect ride height is when they're the wrong dampers for the car and are too long or too short and are left with little to no travel room either way.

[GP20]

BTW, mister_roger also has Koni's on his Z4. Different sizes of tires will create slight wheel gap difference as well. But chances are the spring manufacturer's estimate was off.

[nickpapa]

Originally Posted by GP20

BTW, mister_roger also has Koni's on his Z4. Different sizes of tires will create slight wheel gap difference as well. But chances are the spring manufacturer's estimate was off.

yeah i think manufacturers estimate is off too.

but, regarding your wheel gap comment, I dont think the size of wheels will matter. the gap between the top of the fender and the top of the tire would stay the same regardless of wheel size becuase the larger wheels would just lift the car up and the drop would stay the same (except with a little more ground clearance).

i think i am going to return them and order up some eibachs

[GP20]

Originally Posted by nickpapa

but, regarding your wheel gap comment, I dont think the size of wheels will matter. the gap between the top of the fender and the top of the tire would stay the same regardless of wheel size becuase the larger wheels would just lift the car up and the drop would stay the same (except with a little more ground clearance).

No it wouldn't

Tire sizes & radius:

225/50/16 - 315.46 mm
225/45/17 - 316.99 mm
225/40/18 - 318.51 mm
225/35/19 - 320.04 mm
235/35/19 - 323.34 mm

If I remember corrrectly, mister_roger has 235/40/18 all around.

235/40/18 - 322.58mm

Everything else being equal (except the tires, of course), his wheel gap is 5.9 mm or 0.59 cm smaller than yours.

[mister_roger]

Hey Nick, thanks for sharing pics with us finally. You are right, it doesn't seem as low of a drop as I would have expected. However, I think once you upgrade from 17" to 19", the wheel gap should close up a bit. Wider treads and a more aggressive offset will also give the illusion of less gap as well.

Rear height should not be affected by the type of shocks, since the shock is separatly mounted from the spring. Fronts however could be affected since it is a macpherson strut. If the spring perch is higher/lower on the koni's vs. stock shocks, then that could affect the ride height. But looking at your car, the drop seems fairly uniform. I would say wait a few weeks and hope they settle.

Aside from looks, how does the ride and handling feel? I remember it was like night and day when I did my suspension overhaul.

[nickpapa]

Originally Posted by GP20

No it wouldn't

Tire sizes & radius:

225/50/16 - 315.46 mm
225/45/17 - 316.99 mm
225/40/18 - 318.51 mm
225/35/19 - 320.04 mm
235/35/19 - 323.34 mm

If I remember corrrectly, mister_roger has 235/40/18 all around.

235/40/18 - 322.58mm

Everything else being equal (except the tires, of course), his wheel gap is 5.9 mm or 0.59 cm smaller than yours.

i see what youre saying GP20. but wouldn't that mean that the location of the hub on the new wheels (235/35/19) compared to stock size (225/45/17) actually raiseed about 6mm? which means ground clearance would go up and gap staying the same?

not trying to prove you wrong or anything, just trying to get a better understanding.

Originally Posted by mister_roger

Hey Nick, thanks for sharing pics with us finally. You are right, it doesn't seem as low of a drop as I would have expected. However, I think once you upgrade from 17" to 19", the wheel gap should close up a bit. Wider treads and a more aggressive offset will also give the illusion of less gap as well.

Rear height should not be affected by the type of shocks, since the shock is separatly mounted from the spring. Fronts however could be affected since it is a macpherson strut. If the spring perch is higher/lower on the koni's vs. stock shocks, then that could affect the ride height. But looking at your car, the drop seems fairly uniform. I would say wait a few weeks and hope they settle.

Aside from looks, how does the ride and handling feel? I remember it was like night and day when I did my suspension overhaul.

Hey Roger!

yes the shock perches were actually off if you measure them side by side. but konis actuallly sit quite a bit lower in the knuckle than the stock shocks which makes up for the different alignment of the perches (which i measured to be sure).

the drop is pretty uniform. the rear seems to look a little bit lower than the front but it has been about a week and a half and the front has dropped down a bit more. this is why i think the manufacturers estimate is off because bavauto said they should settle about a half inch at the most which it looks like it already did.

as far as the ride. it is great! not as jarring on certain bumps, more controlled feel, and when driving the car hard in corners, it feels much more confident. i had the non-sport suspension prior to this and it always felt like the tail was going to come out on every hard turn i took

[misterawa]

Originally Posted by GP20

Springs decide ride height. Struts/shocks have nothing to do with ride height. The ride height would've been the same with stock dampers or with Koni's. The only time dampers affect ride height is when they're the wrong dampers for the car and are too long or too short and are left with little to no travel room either way.

This was based on my experience, as I've had 4 different cars lowered with stock/oem shocks. Each time I upgraded the shocks, the ride height was a raised a bit higher initially, but after a while it settled close to the original ride height. For some reason on my Z4, the driver side rear is a bit higher than compared to the rear passenger side Could it be due to weight of the gas tank?

[GP20]

Originally Posted by nickpapa

i see what youre saying GP20. but wouldn't that mean that the location of the hub on the new wheels (235/35/19) compared to stock size (225/45/17) actually raiseed about 6mm? which means ground clearance would go up and gap staying the same?

not trying to prove you wrong or anything, just trying to get a better understanding.

Okay let's look at it this way.

A = the distance from the edge of the fender to the center of the wheel
B = the distance from the edge of the fender to the top, the highest point of the tire

B would be the wheel gap you're seeing.

Forget about the distance from the ground to the center of the wheel or to the fender. Just forget about ground.

No matter what sizes of tires you use, A never changes. A is always constant.

When you go from 225/45/17 to 235/40/18, the tire radius increases by 0.59 cm. The tire essentially becomes taller. Therefore, B decreases. The distance from the edge of the fender to the top of the tire - decreases. So you see less wheel gap now.

[nickpapa]

Originally Posted by GP20

Okay let's look at it this way.

A = the distance from the edge of the fender to the center of the wheel
B = the distance from the edge of the fender to the top, the highest point of the tire

B would be the wheel gap you're seeing.

Forget about the distance from the ground to the center of the wheel or to the fender. Just forget about ground.

No matter what sizes of tires you use, A never changes. A is always constant.

When you go from 225/45/17 to 235/40/18, the tire radius increases by 0.59 cm. The tire essentially becomes taller. Therefore, B decreases. The distance from the edge of the fender to the top of the tire - decreases. So you see less wheel gap now.

ok, NOW i see what you mean. that makes complete sense to me now and i can definitely understand what you are talking about.

i never had to get something so beaten into my head to understand it lol

well lets just hope these springs settle a bit more and are closer to the eibach drop or else i'll probably returning them and going for the eibachs