Lowered car - height issues

[Hypr5]

Hey guys,

I lowered my car using H&R springs and Bilstein shocks.
I did this on Friday and have driven about 160 miles on them. They appear to have lowered the car a small amount. The driver's side came down 1.5" and the passenger side came down .75" I double checked the work and both sides were assembled in the same exact way.

What could affect the height like this? The rears went together and are the same height, but not the front.

Thanks!

[Kalevera]

I had this problem when installing the dreaded BAVAUTO springs a few weeks ago. I changed two things about my setup which appear to have fixed the problem: 1) I'd installed the spring backwards in the strut assembly, 2) when reinstalling the first time, I loosened the lower and upper control arms to get the steering plate positioned under the strut housing - when I retorqued it, I loaded the front driver's side too much (don't ask), and it caused it to sink about 1 inch as compared to the passenger's. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that my driver's side tires had about 15psi in them, versus the 35psi on the pass side.

Upon retorq'in everything, I got it back to a level ride height. Now it hugs the pavement. Sweet. Hope I don't hit any potholes ;)

Did you replace the strut mounts while you were at it? Also, if you left out a piece of hardware - ie, one of those plates that goes over the strut insert shaft, that might be knocking that side down a bit.


LOWELL

[Hypr5]

Thanks a bunch for the ideas.
Maybe the spring is in wrong, They both have "H&R" printed and upright, but maybe I'll switch one upside down and see if they match.
I didnt mess with control arms so hopefully it's nothing there.
Mounts are new too.

Thanks again :)

[632 Regal]

werent torques correctly when installed previously. Put the car up on ramps, loosen and re torque the big end of all the arms. If the printing is the right way then the springs ar in correctly, did you make sure the spring ends were rotated against the stops after tightening the top strut nuts? That also could cause the height issue.

[Hypr5]

http://bmwforums.penguinstudios.com/sp0rky/uhoh.png
I just realized that I installed part #3 upside down on both sides. There is also a 1/4" thick washer beneath it that was not on the stock shock. Do any of these things effect ride height at all? I would think not, but just double checking as I didnt even get the claimed 1.3" drop, it's a hair under. Most people ended up with more.

[632 Regal]

you are using the bilstein sport shocks too? If your not running the sports then you have to cut the stock bumpstops in half...or something like that.

The 1/4 inch spacer is needed for that big washer to be in the right position on them shocks, looks like you have the sport shocks. If so remove #9, 10 & 11 as they are unnecessary.

[Hypr5]

Ah, part 11, I dont even have - never did.
They are actually not the sports, they are the tourings. The sports were a little too stiff for me.

The bumpstop is trimmed, but not by half. Either way, it still has play even when the car is sitting so it's not resting on them. The only thing that I can think of that I did wrong is that part #3 is upside down.

I'll have to check it out some more. Thanks for the help so far :)

[Hypr5]

I'm back -
I redid the entire front and carefully placed everything the proper direction AND identical on both sides. The other side is still higher!

I guess I'll check those bolt torques someone mentioned, but aside from that are there any other ideas?
how often are springs defective???
Thanks!

[Kalevera]

What kind of bilsteins are you using and are they new? When you jack the car up, do both lh & rh assemblies have the same extension length?

I'm still thinking it's the torquing issues on the control and thrust arms. When this happened to me, I retorqued everything and it leveled out great!


best of luck ;)

whit LOWELL

[Hypr5]

They are bilstein tourings. I'll go measure in a little bit the full extension height and retorque the arms. (Although I've never undone them, maybe they were replaced at one time.)

I'll let you guys know how it goes :)

THanks for the tips

[Karl]

The idea of retorquing the suspension arms is that the bushings take a set to their installed position. Lowering the car will then preload the bushings, and since they've aged--certainly worn differently--they'll preload differently, so one side will hold the car up more than the other. Loosening the bolts and retorquing will let the bushings settle to the new ride height and remove differences in preload.

[MantecaBMW]

actually, the whole suspension....Sach's kit, new center link, idler arm, tie rods, lower control arms, already replaced the uppers about 15k miles back. Should I loosen and retorque them when I'm done as well?

[Hypr5]

What is the best way to break the bolt free? This thing isn't coming off with PB and a torque wrench. Any ideas on how to make this a little easier?

edit:
The taller side is longer by the same amount even at full extension... this indicates that its not a bushing issue, now, doesn't it? I'm confused now. :(

[632 Regal]

What is the best way to break the bolt free? This thing isn't coming off with PB and a torque wrench. Any ideas on how to make this a little easier?

edit:
The taller side is longer by the same amount even at full extension... this indicates that its not a bushing issue, now, doesn't it? I'm confused now. :(

[Hypr5]

Part #s are the same and they both look identical. When both shocks were off the car and I tightened the top nuts, there are the same amount of threads showing so they have to be the same legnth.

[632 Regal]

Somethings going on there... Hopefully just something stupid your over looking

[Hypr5]

lol yeah. it's really frustrating, but now I've done the job twice and loosened / retorqued all of the suspension arms, parked the car so the higher side was pushed in more for extended periods of time, etc. I'm having ZERO luck here. I just want to go back to stock height and forget the whole project now!!
bah.

[525SEI BRIT]

I had a similar problem but only be a few mm and it just sorted its self out!

I no this might sound obvious but you have replaced the top mounts right?!

You wouldn’t be the first not to!



Hey guys,

I lowered my car using H&R springs and Bilstein shocks.
I did this on Friday and have driven about 160 miles on them. They appear to have lowered the car a small amount. The driver's side came down 1.5" and the passenger side came down .75" I double checked the work and both sides were assembled in the same exact way.

What could affect the height like this? The rears went together and are the same height, but not the front.

Thanks!

[632 Regal]

and my car only leans like I'm a fatass (without me in the car) I attribute mine to torquing by guess when I did my front suspension. I never bothered doing it the correct way, I guessed at the running position with weight and then torqued it cause you CAN'T tighten mine with it all together. Cross tube too close to floor boards.

If you are that far off then somethings retarded under there. The car DID NOT lean before you did this swaperama? I'm wondering about your anti swaybar in front, it has to be something embarassing wrong now. ummm....bent swaybar? was the car in any accidents? Does the swaybar have different length links on it? mann... wish I could spend 5 minutes looking at it for you man.

[MantecaBMW]

Loosen the bolt on the cross tube, unbolt the rear sway bar, spin the sway bar mounts out of the way, re-torque the cross tube and then torque the bushing pre-loaded. Then just reverse everything and ba-da-boom-ba-da-big your'e done.......A total pain in the ass, but that's the only way I could get a wrench on the back side of the bushing.

[632 Regal]

Loosen the bolt on the cross tube, unbolt the rear sway bar, spin the sway bar mounts out of the way, re-torque the cross tube and then torque the bushing pre-loaded. Then just reverse everything and ba-da-boom-ba-da-big your'e done.......A total pain in the ass, but that's the only way I could get a wrench on the back side of the bushing.

[Cobra]

Hey guys,

The rears went together and are the same height, but not the front.

Thanks!

This doesn't sound right. If your FR side is lower, then your RL should be slightly higher. You may want to double check the rear to make sure your RL is not "jacking" the car up and hence lowering the FR. Also, ensure that your tire pressures are absolutely exact.

Take care,
Dan

[Hypr5]

Thanks for the tip, tire pressure is 1 lower on the high side. Also the rears are IDENTICAL height. I'm just going to kick my car. lol :p