Eibach pro kit lowering springs - advice needed

[RH27]

Hi,

My mechanic installed the eibach pro kit last week on my F10. The front left is a good 20-25mm higher than the drivers side. Distance measured from top of wheel to the arch. I've driven about 100 miles since and eibach have confirmed the springs do not settle, they are as is following installation.

The rears are pretty much on par, just a few mm difference. 

I went to another garage, (this one is a well known BMW specialist in my area) for a brake flush and whilst  the car was on the ramp with wheels off, they examined it all explained it's been installed correctly as there's only one way for the strut to sit on the perch etc. and isn't height adjustable.

I've double checked all the part codes with eibach and it's definitely the right spring on the right axles etc.

Is this normal? It's bothering me than the front left is a good 20mm higher than front right.

It's worth noting I have stock struts, not aftermarket. The pro kit  is designed to work with stock struts. Cars on 118k miles and passed MOT all clear. 

It's also worth noting I foolishly didn't measure anything before they were installed. 

I had new front lower rear control arms fitted. Could this be the reason why? 

I've got another garage booked to have a look at this, but I think I'm just wasting time and may be just overthinking this? Any advice is appreciated. 

Edited April 6, 2023 by RH27

[mikefitz]

Why don't you take it back to the mechanic who installed the springs and ask him to correct the issue. One common problem is tightening fixings whilst the suspension is not under load. 20 to25 mm is a big error in ride height, it needs to be sorted.

Ride heights are discussed  in this post.

https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/table-of-ride-heights-for-various-f10-packages.980922/

Mike

Edited April 6, 2023 by mikefitz

[Steve84N]

Probably not tightened the various suspension arms in the right position. The wishbone is 9cm from the top, coffin arm and damper in normal position when the car is on the floor and the tension strut is 2cm from the end of the ball joint bolt to the knuckle when the suspension is fully unloaded. 

I changed out all my arms and have been left with a ride height of 650mm instead of 631mm. The only thing I did wrong was tighten the tension strut in the normal position with the suspension compressed. Suggests it's very sensitive to being done correctly.

I will be undoing my tension strut and doing it right. An expensive mistake as the nuts & bolts for that alone are about £25 from BMW and they are stretch so one use only... 

[RH27]

Thanks @Steve84N I've been a numpty and haven't measured the ride height correctly from the bottom of the rim, so my initial thoughts of the discrepancy may not be as high as I think.

Thanks for the link to those PDFs, exactly what I need @mikefitz

If 631mm on front and 616mm rear was my M Sport stock suspension height (10mm lower than SE), and the new Eibach proline kit is advertised as -30mm from SE on all four corners, I should be subtracting 20mm from the values above.

When I measure again using the proper methods, I should be aiming for a textbook 611mm front and 596mm rear clearance? Also applying the 10mm tolerances for all conditions as stated on the PDFs.

Please confirm. 

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by RH27

[RH27]

On 07/04/2023 at 09:26, Steve84N said:

The wishbone is 9cm from the top, coffin arm and damper in normal position when the car is on the floor and the tension strut is 2cm from the end of the ball joint bolt to the knuckle when the suspension is fully unloaded. 

Hi Steve, please can you be very specific by what you mean here by splitting out the sentences and whether it's preloaded or unloaded for each of the three things you mentioned. Thanks

Edited April 9, 2023 by RH27

[F10-65]

On 06/04/2023 at 22:09, RH27 said:

Hi,

My mechanic installed the eibach pro kit last week on my F10. The front left is a good 20-25mm higher than the drivers side. Distance measured from top of wheel to the arch. I've driven about 100 miles since and eibach have confirmed the springs do not settle, they are as is following installation.

The rears are pretty much on par, just a few mm difference. 

I went to another garage, (this one is a well known BMW specialist in my area) for a brake flush and whilst  the car was on the ramp with wheels off, they examined it all explained it's been installed correctly as there's only one way for the strut to sit on the perch etc. and isn't height adjustable.

I've double checked all the part codes with eibach and it's definitely the right spring on the right axles etc.

Is this normal? It's bothering me than the front left is a good 20mm higher than front right.

It's worth noting I have stock struts, not aftermarket. The pro kit  is designed to work with stock struts. Cars on 118k miles and passed MOT all clear. 

It's also worth noting I foolishly didn't measure anything before they were installed. 

I had new front lower rear control arms fitted. Could this be the reason why? 

I've got another garage booked to have a look at this, but I think I'm just wasting time and may be just overthinking this? Any advice is appreciated. 

I'd go with the control arms weren't torqued correctly on one side

[F10-65]

On 08/04/2023 at 05:28, RH27 said:

Thanks @Steve84N I've been a numpty and haven't measured the ride height correctly from the bottom of the rim, so my initial thoughts of the discrepancy may not be as high as I think.

Thanks for the link to those PDFs, exactly what I need @mikefitz

If 631mm on front and 616mm rear was my M Sport stock suspension height (10mm lower than SE), and the new Eibach proline kit is advertised as -30mm from SE on all four corners, I should be subtracting 20mm from the values above.

When I measure again using the proper methods, I should be aiming for a textbook 611mm front and 596mm rear clearance? Also applying the 10mm tolerances for all conditions as stated on the PDFs.

Please confirm. 

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

 

This chap changes control arms and gives how to measure near the end

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by F10-65

[Steve84N]

That's how I did my tension struts but the official way is to have the suspension fully unloaded and then leave a 2cm gap between the end of the ball joint bolt and the carrier. Then tighten the subframe bolt before jacking up and tightening the ball joint bolt. Given that my ride height isn't quite right I'd say it's worth following BMW's instructions. 

[Steve84N]

18 hours ago, RH27 said:

Hi Steve, please can you be very specific by what you mean here by splitting out the sentences and whether it's preloaded or unloaded for each of the three things you mentioned. Thanks

The wishbone up top you measure 9cm from the sticky out tab to the 'roof' of the wheel arch and then tighten the bolts. 

The fork of the damper that goes on the coffin arm you tighten with the suspension at normal ride height. Same for the coffin arm subframe bolt. 

The tension strut see above. 

[RH27]

This is so bizarre. I'm so confused now. 

I went to visit a garage this morning who install Eibach springs and deal with them directly. 

• I gave them the part codes of the kit I ordered (E-10-20-022-02-22). 
  • F11-20-022-02-VA x2 on the front
  • F11-20-022-01-HA x2 on the rear
• I reassured them the right springs were installed on the axles etc. They double checked anyway and confirmed this was correct.
• I gave them the M sport measurements from the rim flange to the middle of the arch which was 631mm front axle and 616mm rear axle and explained the Eibach pro kit should lower them even further. The spring kit is up to 30mm drop, M sport is already 10mm lower from factory, so I was naturally expecting a further drop of 20mm.

Aftermath -

• All 4 wheels on the ramp were within tolerances.
• Rear axle was 616mm and 611mm (5mm difference is within tolerance). 
• Front axle was also within tolerances, forgot the exact numbers but they confirmed.

Mechanic explained I have a blown strut on the OSF, which won't impact ride height but very convenient as my MOT was only 3 weeks ago which passed with no advisories following new the coil springs and front axle lower rear control arms. Talk about rotten luck. I'm still in disbelief and strongly believe the springs/arms were installed incorrectly to begin with hence the shock has blown.

They ran the Eibach coil spring part numbers on the system and apparently they are replacement springs and not lowering springs? I'm so baffled now I don't know what to believe. Eibach Pro Kit clearly marketed as lowering springs, not BMW OE.

Is this normal? Should the front's not be 611mm and rears be 596mm after putting the kit on???? Yet the cars measuring basically as stock.

I know Eibach do the Sportline kit which is even lower that Pro Kit, is this my fault and misinterpretation? Is Pro Kit actually OEM-like and Sportline is considered lowering line?

I'm on the verge of giving up here, fixing the now-blown struts and selling it on. 

Any ideas guys?

@Steve84N @F10-65

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by RH27

[4aceman]

Springs will settle down perhaps another 5-10mm as you drive around - they're still fresh. 

Those ride height measurements I believe are for a "normally loaded" car (if you're getting them from a repair manual). Not sure what that constitutes for an F10 but for my E46 bentley manual says full fuel tank, 70kg in each front seat, 70kg on the centre rear seat and 20kg in the boot. That much weight does drop a car a fairly significant amount. 

Pro-kit springs are lowering springs, but quite mild.

120k on original shocks isn't too bad of a run. Especially with m-sport suspension they really don't last that long. My E46 shocks were completely blown (and had been for a while) at 90k. It's also possible they were on the way out and the cheeky blast with the impact to secure the top strut nut from the garage was the nail in the coffin

[RH27]

@4aceman thanks for some reassurance and i've read something similar as well about having a full tank and other requirements to achieve text book numbers. Eibach however do not support the theory springs "settle" in.

It's so annoying the front shock has blown at 118k and yes, it is an excellent run I must admit. I'm obviously very annoyed because I've just paid my mechanic labour to replace all coil springs.... which obviously involves removing shocks so i wish this would have just happened sooner or caught on the MOT.

Going to cost another £350-400 for Sachs OE. Unlikely to splurge out on B8s, very expensive month for me!

And yes, I agree, it is very likely it was already on the way out so I'm not surprised, just frustrated!

Edited April 11, 2023 by RH27

[Andrew]

Just to confirm, you fitted lowering springs on the original shocks and a shock failed?

When I have driven inadvertently on a broken spring, thus the car was not sitting at the correct ride height, that shock then suffered a leak.

If you fitted lowered ride height springs on original shocks you will have most likely stressed up the shock and it's given up at the seal on the spindle.

The ride height is controlled by both the springs and the physical length of the shock absorber, between the lower spring seat and top mount.

When I had to replace a rear blown shock, pic in link below, I bit the bullet and replaced the springs at the same time to save having to strip it all apart again just to replace something else. 

Did the same at the fronts.

New everything.  I bought it bit by bit, like a pair of shocks one month then a pair of springs the next etc.

[Snakle535i]

On 11/04/2023 at 19:37, RH27 said:

@4aceman thanks for some reassurance and i've read something similar as well about having a full tank and other requirements to achieve text book numbers. Eibach however do not support the theory springs "settle" in.

It's so annoying the front shock has blown at 118k and yes, it is an excellent run I must admit. I'm obviously very annoyed because I've just paid my mechanic labour to replace all coil springs.... which obviously involves removing shocks so i wish this would have just happened sooner or caught on the MOT.

Going to cost another £350-400 for Sachs OE. Unlikely to splurge out on B8s, very expensive month for me!

And yes, I agree, it is very likely it was already on the way out so I'm not surprised, just frustrated!

I just replaced my front shocks got them from Autodoc, Blistein B6 were £132 each.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Snakle535i