loanman

Can someone tell me the main differences with having sport package vs no sport package? how much lower does the car sit with sport package? is it only a difference in springs? how different does the car drive with sport vs non sport package?

if I change my stock rims is there anything that needs to be different. I am looking to put the 172's with 245/35 in front and 285/30 in rear. Does this present any problems with no sport package?

thanks for your help

iversonm

First, where are you located, and what model year are you referring to? This may affect the answer you get.

JPJ

On the non-sport package your car will look like a 4x4 truck with the larger wheels; if you have the sport suspension it might still sit like a truck, but not with four wheel drive. Just kidding -- the sport package sits 0.7" lower so the gap over the wheel is less, but will still look larger with the bigger wheels. Many people here go with aftermarket springs for a better look with larger wheels and tires.

Both the springs and shocks are different for sport package, plus active sway bars are added (at least on 530's) -- some years also added active steering. Beside this the sport gets sport seats and shadowline (blacked-out) exterior trim. Maybe a couple more things, but those are the main ones I can think of.

loanman

thanks for the info. I have a 2004 530i without sport package

iversonm

I assume that you're looking to upgrade to something closet to the sport package, and not choosing between a couple of used cars like I thought at first.

One thing that is an easy change between sport an non-sport is the alignment settings; they are not the same. Hardware differences are springs, shocks, and roll bars. The non-sport has 24.6mm roll bar in the front, and the sport has 25mm roll bar. The rear roll bar appears to be the same between models, according to realoem.com. In some years, sport package included active steering and active roll stabilization. I wouldn't attempt to retrofit these.

Probably the best option is to look at aftermarket springs, shocks, and roll bars.

mhs525

Tire rack has a nice pkg, Koni FSD shocks/struts with Eibach springs. FSD's are supposed to act like electronic adj suspensions, dampening varies based on conditions. That plus a good set of sway bars will out handle/perform the OEM sport package. My.02

Seriously considering the FSD/Eibach combo for my 545i Sport

ImolaRedM

US sports package do not ride any lower. The M-Tech suspension of the european models and the sport package on the E39's did sit lower but not on the E60 530i's -- at least not as of the 2007 MY.