Hi All,

I just installed oem sport suspension on the rear of my "non-sport" e60 and I noticed that the rear of the driver side sits higher than the rear passenger side. I never noticed this before, but it may be because it was sitting 4x4 before now.

Anybody else have this issue with their sport suspension? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

This has been mentioned on this board before. There were times--different viewing angles--that I thought mine was a little higher on the driver's side, but I never actually measured anything.

 

Yeah, seen it mentioned before here or another forunm and best guess I've seen, and which makes sense, is that the suspension is a little higher on the driver's side to compensate for the driver's weight once he's in the car, allowing the car to sit level when it matters - when someone is actually driving the car.

 

I have an 06 530i w/ Sport suspension and it sits about 3/8" higher on the left front than the right front with noone in the car. I have also read that the difference is coming from the back. I happened to measure the front difference when I put on my 166's as that's where I was seeing it. Pretty close on the right front with 245/40/19's. It rub's a little, but the left doesn't seem too. I wonder what they figure an average person weighs? I guess i'm not evening it out at 175lbs.

You can see it slightly tilted in that last shot

 

I'm having a similar issue but for me it's the rear right passenger side. For some reason it sits lower then the rear left side. I've measured it and they are all the same height ... this is with no passengers or driver.

 

Well, for one thing 245/40/19 should rub - it's too tall for our cars. Recommended size is 245/35/19. Next you have to wonder if the car is truly on level ground all the way around, just because your driveway looks level doesn't mean it is. All driveways, if done properly, are tilted a degree or 2 to allow for proper drainage. So if your driveway is perfectly level you have 2 potential problems: A car that sits uneven, and a driveway that wasn't built properly in the first place. Can't help with the driveway, but it has been reported many times that our cars tilt slightly to the right. It may be because of the "weight distribution" thing, but that doesn't quite add up. If the cars are made to tilt a little to the right and level out when the driver gets in, what happens if he has a passenger? What if that passenger is very large? Will you then have a lowrider on one side?

 

Yes, 40's are a little tall, but I wanted to try them out and they have a great ride. I'll be switching to 35's when I get coilovers.

And i've never really bought that story either that it's supposed to sit like that, for those same reasons you mentioned. I just figured my suspension was sagging because i've got 110,000 miles on her. But then i keep hearing the story about someone's buddy who worked at a bmw dealership and said it was supposed to be like that...so who knows!

 

I'm on 40's and coilovers, I love how the ride feels.

 

That's good to know. Thanks!

What brand of coilovers did you go with, impressions?[mini thread-hijack, sorry]

 

Not sure what's so hard to believe about the suspension being engineered to sit level when it's in motion. When you consider that the overwhelming majority of the time (especially when doing spirited driving), people drive cars with no passengers - it make sense to engineer the ride height to account for that majority of time.

To the one who asked "what happens when a passenger gets in?" - clearly, the balance would be offset somewhat again. However this is a better solution than it being uneven during the aforementioned majority of the time when only the driver is in it. You'd have to go with one or the other, short of getting a costly/complicated/heavy self-leveling suspension.

And it's not a new concept - drivers who do autocross and other auto racing routinely get the suspension setup calibrated by a shop while siting in the driver's seat. Also some cars come from the factory with spring rate that are a bit higher on the front drivers side for this same reason. Also, the aftermarket suspension I bought for my last car had specific drivers and passengers side springs in front - for the same reason.

Lastly, I think the comment about the ground not being level is a good point - it''s probably safe to say that almost no ground is perfectly level, even if it "looks" level. Driveways are not built to tight tolerances in slope/angle. Neither are parking lots, alleys, roads, etc. The garage floor of a house might be best, but is still going to have some built-in slope by design. The ground alone can potentially provide more of a perceived unevenness in ride height than the actual suspension.

So based on all that, I think considering this to be an "issue" is a bit dramatic - it's a "feature". And a good one.