DrLev99

Anyone know of a good place in the 'Burgh to have my new H&R springs installed? Everyone seems to have their heads up their #^@'s re: doing this kind of work. The BMW agreed to do it, believe it or not, but they will probably charge me through the roof. It will also need an alignment afterwards. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

DrLev99

Rudy

On what car? An E60? If so, does it have active steering?

DrLev99

Car is a 530xi, 2007. I do not think it has active steering. Any ideas on a place for springs installed?

Rudy

You might give Bill Ballon a call. He's pretty much known as the best independent BMW shop in the city. Let me know how things work out for you...

http://www.billballonauto.com/

DrLev99

Thanks for the info! I just emailed the guy. We shall see what estimate he comes up with...will keep you posted.

DrLev99

Rudy

He's a real character and one of a kind. Also, he bleeds BMW and runs an honest shop. He's always been fair and has always done great work for me over the years. Hope he works out for you...

DrLev99

Thanks again...sounds like the right guy for the job. I just hope he has the time!

Dave
DrLev99

DrLev99

Below is the response I got from Bill Ballon of Bill Ballon Automotive....or should I say a thesis. A simple "No thanks" would have sufficed! And I am still getting my H&R sport springs installed on my 530xi, but by my original BMW dealership!
_________________________________

Thank you for contacting me. Your message raises several concerns about what you are attempting to do.

First of all, when it comes to modifying BMWs, we are a tuning shop for these cars. I've been competing and modifying BMWs for more that thirty years now. In that time, my experience has allowed me to learn quite a bit of how to modify BMWs. It also has allowed me to learn from mistakes made in the past as how not to modify BMWs. My clients seem to appreciate that. Proper BMW tuning requires a well-thought-out engineering approach when selecting components to modify these cars. Buying random parts "off the shelf" more often than not results in a car that performs far less well than the stock vehicle, or will actually damage the car. Damage from lowered springs will void parts of the warranty on your car.

Secondly, suspension systems are just that- SYSTEMS. BMW is very careful when designing the springs for that car. When ordering replacement springs from BMW, the springs are so specifically designed that the vehicle needs to be entered in the parts system to select the proper spring dependent upon the equipment built on the vehicle. Even the weight of the stereo system is calculated when they specify spring rate. For example, if you have a Hardon-Kardon stereo with heavier speakers-you may get a different OEM spring from BMW! Shock absorbers and springs are designed to work together, and to work properly must be matched to perform properly. A properly tuned suspension has spring rates that are carefully matched to the shock's dampening characteristics. In other words, when you install a sports spring the shock must match that spring. Installing a "sport" spring with a standard shock will most likely result in a mismatch of components. The stronger spring will overpower the shock and your car will be "oversprung." That means that the strength of the spring oscillations will not be cancelled out by the too-weak stock shock. That mismatch will be doubled, since the shock has a rate for compression and one for rebound. The resultant performance AND ride from your selection of springs will SUCK. Firming up the springs and installing sport shocks to match will give you a harsher ride, that'll be fun for about three days until you realize that you screwed yourself. Adding the lower-profile tires will add stiffness to the ride as well. The tires also contribute their own spring rate to the equation.

Properly engineered shock absorbers used with lower springs often have a different bottoming cushion system than the original shock. The bottoming cushions are usually located internally inside the shock on sport shocks, and are shorter to prevent bottoming. In other words, when you alter the suspension travel by lowering the springs, you need to alter the shock travel to accommodate the reduced travel of the spring. Lower springs may cause bottoming of the shocks that break or damage suspension or chassis components. Perhaps if you stand back and look at the lowered car with the plus-sized wheels it'll look cool, but how will it perform in the real world? Nobody engineers a better spring/shock combination than BMW does.

Thirdly, I work on BMWs in Pittsburgh, PA. where the roads will make these choices of yours even more of an issue. My approach might be different to lowering these cars if my shop was located in Southern California, but it is not. Lowered cars get damaged here on these roads. We get snow on our roads. How will the car perform on snow an ice? The exhaust system and underpans may be damaged. Plus-sized soft cast wheels with ultra-low-profile tire and wheel packages become bent from the potholes in mere days on Pittsburgh roads. I am a tire and wheel dealer, and always discuss this with my clients. When my clients want 19" wheels, I recommend selling them forged wheels which are much stronger than the soft cast wheels. The point is that I inform folks and let them make a choice, knowing the local conditions.

Frankly, as stated above I have concerns about modifying your car as you have proposed to do. Also, we are not a "parts installer" business. Meaning, we aren't the folks who will install customer-supplied parts since we cannot accept liability or responsibility for those parts. All of our work is guaranteed, and if we cannot guarantee the suitability or outcome of parts we don't install them. If I can't fully stand behind the work and feel good about it, I don't do it in the first place. The cars that leave our service bays are our product. We are not a sales-driven operation. Although we could sell more parts or labor, we are driven by doing work that benefits our client base over the long haul, and we're not here for the quick sale like the mail-order houses are. What we do is to provide carefully thought-out and proven BMW tuning solutions for our clients who have numerous competition championships or years of satisfying street enjoyment from our approach. Since we are constantly busy, have happy clients and are working beyond capacity without the need to advertise, I think that my approach to servicing and modifying BMWs is working. I'm sure that someone will be happy to install your sport springs onto stock shocks, but I'm not comfortable doing that. I hope that you benefit from me sharing my experience.

Best regards,


Bill Ballon
Bill Ballon Automotive
Independent BMW Specialists
164 39th Street
Pittsburgh, PA. 15201
www.billballonauto.com

Rudy

This is classic Bill Ballon. He's passionate about BMW's and about his work! That's one of the reasons he's so successful at what he does -- he isn't out to make a quick buck, etc., and he never steers you wrong...

Sorry he wasn't able to help you out with your springs...that is if you still want them installed!