baggedlvintegra

Ok after doing countless research and hours of reading I still cant come to a definite answer/decision. Here is the scenario...2004 525i non-sport 88k miles. Im running OEM Style 249 wheels 19x8 ET14 245/40 F and 19x9 ET14 275/35 R (yes I want a little meat on the tires for once in my life and these compare in overall height to the 245/35 275/30 that alot of people are running on 20s). I recently purchased a set of Eibach Pro-Kit springs and want to put them on but cant decide whether to get a factory sport suspension (approx .7" drop) which most say isnt worth it as its not noticable or just install the Eibach Pro-Kit (1.2" drop) on top of my factory non-sport shocks. Now I have read where people have done this before but most people suggest that it will blow the stock shocks/struts fairly quick but also have read on the Eibach site as well as ModBargains site that they are engineered to run with factory shocks. So I guess here are my MAIN questions:

* Would swapping out to factory sport suspension even be worth the time/money?
* How long do you think the stock non-sport shocks/struts would last with the Eibach Pro-Kit?
* Do you think I would rub with either setup with the wheel/tire combo I have?

Like I said in the subtitle bring all your opinions! Ive done the research and just want REAL WORLD EXPERIENCED OPINIONS to help me decide, hopefully maybe even somebody running a similar setup that can verify information. Thanks in advance for any help

TheRacerBoss

I have been debating the same thing for a while however I consider all the above options along with the coilover setup.

Lets see, as far as I know, if you use the Eibach with the stock - Your strut would wear off pretty soon but also, if you use that soft strut with a low height, your sure to rub -- The tire hitting the fender.

One more thing, you cant just take anyones word except the experts since you and me both have ODD tire sizes and its very important to know that it demands precision on ride height.

After thinking for a while I personally conclude that a Coilover setup would be the best since in a situation you would be rubbing at a lowered height you can always adjust -- Thus saying its a safer bet.
The down side is that you have a stiffer ride.

I would say that your a tad bit better off with those tires since my rear has the M6 offset (I suppose ET 17) which might call for even more precision.

Let me ask the members here a question myself -- Have you guys running 20" wheels have your tires tucked when you used the Eibach springs that lowered your car 1.2" on all 4 sides ?

baggedlvintegra

Yeah coilovers are out of the question for me NO DOUBT, not spending that kind of money for a stiff rigid ride, not giving up the luxury ride for a reduced fender gap. Ive done that on all my other cars and for once I want to remain somewhat "normal" with this one...

info@trinityautosport

regarding the tires, you would have enough sidewall with the recommended sizes of 245/35 and 275/30 with your 19" setup. for the suspension, personally when I had the eibachs on my past 530, the springs with stock non-sport shocks/struts lasted about an additional 20k miles for me, and I put on the eibach springs when the car only had about 20k miles on the clock. from there I went with bilstein shocks. for theracerboss's question, with my setup with the eibachs and bilsteins, with 20" wheels running with thicker sidewalls 245/35 and 275/30 (and I had to roll the fenders), I was tucking a bit of tire in the front.

baggedlvintegra

Yeah Im kind of thinking 88k miles on stock shocks with the Eibachs may be pushing it...so your 245/35 and 275/30 are the same overall height as my tires so I would be sitting at the same stance yours was, just with an 1" less wheel...got any pics of that setup?

medik13

DO the eibachs with the non sport shock. You will be fine. I have been running the sport suspension springs with the non sport shock for over a year and have zero problems. The eibachs drop is very similar to the sports suspension's drop. Althought they say .5 more on a sport, most can't even tell the difference. BTW, I got a .5 drop when swithching to sport springs. My buddy got a .75 drop when he swithced to Eibachs from non sport.

TheRacerBoss

R u serious when you say "My buddy got a .75 drop when he switched to Eibachs from non sport"

Hard to believe but that's something I am looking for. So let me get this right

Your friend had a NON SPORT - STOCK SUSPENSION -- and installed the EIBACH that lowered his ride by 0.75 inches

Is that what your saying -- and also what car did he have and what springs did he get if you can be more specific.

medik13

Funny you ask. I just talked to him this morning. He says once the springs settled the front was lowered on average closer to an inch and the rears on average was .75". He has a 2007 525i with 124's. He decided to go with Eibachs once he saw my car go from non sport to sport springs. I saw him the day after he lowered his car and I remember thinking that it was not that much different than mine with the sport suspension, but it had a nice rake to it. His front looked a tad lower than mine but the rear looked the same. He says it had settled more than when I had seen it. He too has had no problems with the stock shocks. If I had to do it again, I would go with the H&R sport springs, but he insists that if I see it now it is the perfect drop with the 124's.

TheRacerBoss

Seems like you and me are in the same timezone, where are you located ?

Also, I think I would be looking at getting the Koni FSD's but dont want the car to get any lower than an INCH

cleung

I ran non sport shocks with H&R sport springs on my e46 for a number of years with no issues. If you don't want to spend a bunch of money now I would suggest leaving the shocks until they are gone then replace. However you will get a better ride if you do the springs and shocks together and the labour is all the same so the only cost is the cost of the shocks. I personally feel that coilovers are not neccessary unless you want to be able to customize ride height. I have the bilstien sport sttruts and shocks with H&R sport springs on my e60 and I'm really happy with the combination.