RobertB

If you lowered your xi via the H & R Sport springs (yeah - I'm talking to YOU cmansbimmer ), how do you like the ride? Did you also change out the shocks?

I'm "this close" to asking for these as a Christmas present (gotta finish up my pilot's license with my extra $$ right now), but don't want a bouncy ride. Firmer is fine, bouncy is not.

Anyone done an upgrade on the sway bar(s)?

RobertB (moving from Iowa to Rocket City [Huntsville] Alabama, so I really don't care about ground/snow clearance, Clarence)

KU530

I love the ride of mine. It handles very nicely. I have been taking turns at about 60 and it stays firm and planted. It is not bounce at all. I am even sittn on 20's I say do it and become real happy.

DrLev99

There are no coilovers offered for the xi at this time, so the shocks must be left in. There is no question that the H&R Sports are a must, for handling & looks. I finally feel like I am driving a BMW car, not a monster truck. As for firmer, yes, but as for bouncy, slightly...sorry. You can't have it both ways without complete coilovers. I would say that you will still like the latter vs. stock. Check out my gallery and good luck! DO IT!

RobertB

Thanks you guys!

In regards to the shocks, I was wondering if you had replaced them with other shocks (not yanked them entirely). I think cmansbimmer was pondering whether or not switching to shocks meant for shorter springs would provide less bounce.

Bambi

As of now, for the e60 xi models, the only aftermarket suspension mod is the H&R springs. There is no shocks offer by any tuner.

seba

The ride with H & R sport springs is very very bouncy . I used to have H&R sport springs but ofter a while i switch to Eibach spings(Pro-Kit) which are much better . Here is the link from Eibach site. You should notice that the springs for xi are in preparation , but i bought the springs for xd(is the same thing) and my car(530 xi 2007) feels fanatastic.

http://www.eibach.de/index_2.php?LID1=1&am...ID4=0&MODL=[D]5er%20E60%20(560X)%20Limousine%20[/D][E]5-series%20E60%20(560X)%20Sedan[/E]&SPA=1&C_lang=de&STEP_2=1&STEP=1&STEP_3=1&HRST=BMW &STARTLIST=1

RobertB

Thanks, seba! Did you get the 30mm lowering that they advertise? I noticed that the Eibach site lists Pro-Kit springs for the 525xi/530xi as "under development". How different do you think they will be from the springs you bought?

BlaSTiWi

This is interesting info... seems that the the diff. maybe at the front axle load around 60kg but it seems to work... some people said that H&R tend to have higher spring rate than Eibach and H&R give more drop (either on their street and/or race setup) than Eibach and also heard that Eibach tend to sag after some years of use.

Question is how do we find out if that p/n available here in the US?

seba

Yes i get the 30 mm lowering . I don t think it will be much difference between the springs for 530 xi & 530 xd. The rear axle will be the same , maybe the front axle it should be a little different becouse the (XD) is a little bit heavy( but i don t think this should be a problem). For my car is perfect.
P.S. My car is a 530 XI 2007 and the springs i bought from Eibach feel fantastic(no more boncy like it use to be with my H&R sport srings).I am very happy with the ride , and the look on my car.
By the way , if you look into the H&R website you should notice that there is absolute no difference between the springs for 530 XI and the springs for 530 XD(it is the same part number).
So it is up to you to decide what you should buy from your car , but based on my experince with H&R( very bouncy) i strongly recomended EIBACH, it is much much.... better.

C's Bimmer

Robert - I love the H&R Sport Springs. I came from an E39 530i Sport and one thing I didn't realize after ordering my E60, was that even though I got the Sport Package on my car, the sport suspension is missing on our AWD models. :thumbsdown: That said, it was a no brainer that I had to get the car's suspension re-tuned once something became available. Afterall, the best part about BMW is their sport tuned suspension systems. It MAKES for the car!

Anyway, you will notice a slightly bouncier ride. It's inevitable, considering the stock shocks were designed around the rebound rate of the stock springs. Once you change the springs, it throws off the rebound/compression of the shock, thus causing a more "bouncy" feel. However, it's not that bad and well worth the investment. The car handles so much better around turns and sits the way a BMW should sit. I love it!

As for sway bars, I wanted to get these as well, but unfortunately, the H&R sway bars will not work with our car due to the AWD system. I specifically asked TurnerMotorSports if this would work and they said it would not. I believe the rear would work, but not the front (or maybe it was the other way around). When I asked if it made sense to do one end and not the other, they said it's not worthwhile. TireRack has it on their site that it will work, but this is a MISTAKE!

Oh...and when I last spoke to Dinan they supposedly had a coilover/suspension set-up in the works in their R&D Dept for the E60 xi models, but that was about 6 months ago and I haven't heard anything since. You may want to call and ask them about this. If it's coming out soon, I would suggest going this route instead. It will be more costly, but this would be the ideal set-up and definitely remove the so-called "bouncy" issue you are concerned with.

Hope this helps.

Calton