As the post suggests.... I have been looking into lowering my car.

I've never really gone into the lowering scene as most of my previous cars were nicely set up from the factory - This however is a different beast!! whilst comfy *boring* it feels incredibly untable when accelerating.

My plan was to either buy some front springs or try and get hold of some second hand M sports for the front or I could go aftermarket, then get the back reprogrammed lower... hows my thinking? Edit: Ive just emailed the norwegian chap for the rear adjustable bars....

Also what is the difference between the M sport and SE... some people on google think the wishbones are different!! really?? that doesn't sound right to me given the cost of manufacture. Also does the M tech have different ARB's? and if i go aftermarket on the fronts, am i better changing both srings and shocks or will i get away with just springs for now.

thanks in advance :twoup:

If the car is unstable at high speeds I'm not sure merely lowering it will do much. I would get the alignment and the tyres checked first. What brand(s) are the tyres? And what's your definition of high speed? :)

I believe the springs, shocks and ARBs are different on SE vs sport but some time spent on bmwfans.info will confirm it for you

I installed Koni FSDs on my now-sold E61 535d and was quite pleased with them; they reduced the wallow when going through dips and the like and seemed to make the car corner flatter.

Thanks Phelix.... I currently have conti's all round, 275 rears and 245 fronts i believe. These will be coming off once they are close.

It appears to be a bit weird when accelerating from say 40 - 70mph :thumbsup: when the road surface bends slightly, might just be me getting used to a big lump of a car, i'm used to hot hatches - My thinking was that if it corners flatter, then i will have a little bit more of a sense of control, i dont mind losing the comfort.

Also what drop did you have on the front end, I would like to keep it as near OEM as possible.

On SE and M-Sport cars springs, shocks and ARBs are different. In Europe there are even 3 versions: stock (SE), "sports adjustment" and "M-Sport".

On the M5 almost everything is different, but some people on forums simply can't differentiate between M-Sport and M5 :thumbsdown:

For you the single biggest difference towards flat cornering will be aftermarket or M-sport ARBs. This is my first recommendation. Otherwise I also like a lot the Koni FSD I have installed on my car.

Thanks Mitev....

So should i source F+R M sport ARB's first and foremost, fit these and then look to the fronts susp? Are they particularly hard to fit? I've searched realoem and found that i can luckily just change the bar and bushes - just need to ascertain if i have dynamic drive now.

One thing that is confusing me, the M sport rear seems to show it as being 12mm, where as the sports shows 16mm... bizarre

What drop do you recommend, assuming i'm not looking to lick the stones from the road, as OEM as poss ;)

The ARBs are easy to fit - compared to shocks its probably 10x easier and faster.

There is no logic for the rear sport to be 16 mm and M-sport 12 mm, maybe you're looking at Limo vs. Touring, or different engines? The ARB sizes vary for both.

To me the drop does not have a direct relation to your problem, its more the characteristics of the springs that's important. Eibach Pro-Kit springs offer comfort similar to OEM, while H&R 35 mm are harder, then I think comes Eibach Sportline, and then H&R 50 mm are much much harder. You also have coilovers to look at.

I have bought Eibach Pro-Kit to retain near-OEM comfort with the advantages of a progressive spring (better handling) and a slight cosmetic drop. Not fitted them yet though.

That sounds like a plan - the Eibach pro's.... I'll get these arbs bought and fitted before sorting the front shocks.... hopefully that'll make it more stable.

It doesnt have Dynamic drive either, got underneath earlier and the bar is just straight through :(

Regards the realoem, i went for my exact model and it gives three options, standard, sports or m sport... pretty clear, whats the chances of realoem being wrong?

That's what it says for mine (below is also the link):
Stabilizer, rear D=12MM
For vehicles with M Sports suspension Stabilizer, rear D=16MM
For vehicles with Sports suspension settings Stabilizer, rear D=13,5MM

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...71&hg=33&fg=45

Can you post your link?

Btw my current H&R rear bar is 19 mm thick (M5 is 18mm!) :twoup:

Wow, that is thick! :clap:

oh dont say that!! :thumbsdown: get me spending even more on this heap of junk!! :twoup:

School boy error i'm afraid, i printed off the realoem diagram and couldnt see the segregation on the parts list, therefore assumed wrongly, you are indeed right ;)

Good news! I've secured a front M Sport ARB for £40 with bushes (might replace those depending on the cond. Watch this space for the Eibachs

Edit: I have found some M sport struts 31316766997 for the saloon with eibach springs... the struts dont appear to be for mine but i'd imagine i'd be able to use the springs wouldnt I? it says on the ad 3-4mm drop so dunno if this is too low...thats off an M sport

It's important what engine the M-sport donor had! 4-pot diesel or 6-pot gasoline engines are much lighter than our diesels. The V8 weights roughly as much as our engines. The springs are made with the engine weight in mind. There are generally two models: for the light engines and for the heavy (6 pot diesel and V8 gasoline) ones.

I don't see a reason you should not be able to use the M-sport shocks from that donor car as well, if you mean them with "struts".