Which suspension kit to go for...

[Three Syllables]

Hello there,

I'm a rather urgent situation where I need to replace a rear shock for an MOT fail on my Z3 2.0 ... and instead of buying an OE shock I thought it might be a good time to upgrade to some better suspension.

as a source, I've only really used ebay - and looking at it, they have cheap kits @ around £200 (shocks and springs)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sport-Suspens ... 53f68a38dc

or cheapo coilover kits which I can't imagine would be any good but...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coilover-ADJU ... 3a7f5856a2

Is there a variant on these which anyone has used and recommended? on a budget sadly as I'm replacing lots of MOT failed points in one go

Are there any other BMW models that share the same suspension kit? As i'd prefer to buy 2nd hand to save cost and potentially get better quality.

Hope someone can help.

[Del]

I changed the shock absorbers all round on my 1.9 and stuck with the OE equivalent (Sachs Super Touring – made in Germany) via the internet arm of Eurocarparts – carparts4less.co.uk. It has been said that after about 70,000 miles the shock absorbers have just about come to the end of their useful life. I would agree with that and noticed a very big improvement just refreshing my car with new OE equivalent.

If you are working within a budget, there is no need to change the coil springs unless they are either broken or significantly rusted to the point of being weakened. I’ve not heard particularly glowing reports about the less expensive, unbranded coil-over kits but other than that I have no experience of them.

Personally, I would not touch second hand shock absorbers unless I was sure they had had very limited use. The rear Sachs Super Touring above for my car only cost about £70 for the pair plus new top mounts at around £15 per pair.

If you go down the DIY route, refreshing suspension is not expensive, I plan to renovate my rear anti-roll bar next and parts (OE equivalent drop-links and BMW mounting bushes) only came to a total of about £30.

Typically the front shocks go first and so I assume yours have been replaced. Replacing the rears is really quite easy – the hardest thing I found was removing/replacing the piece of carpet behind the seats to get to the top mount bolts.

[Vic-Z3]

Removing the carpet is easy ....................... Getting it back in however......
Just pull the carpet back enough to reveal the top mounts.

[Pierrick]

Hello there,

I'm a rather urgent situation where I need to replace a rear shock for an MOT fail on my Z3 2.0 ... and instead of buying an OE shock I thought it might be a good time to upgrade to some better suspension.

as a source, I've only really used ebay - and looking at it, they have cheap kits @ around £200 (shocks and springs)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sport-Suspens ... 53f68a38dc

or cheapo coilover kits which I can't imagine would be any good but...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coilover-ADJU ... 3a7f5856a2

Is there a variant on these which anyone has used and recommended? on a budget sadly as I'm replacing lots of MOT failed points in one go

Are there any other BMW models that share the same suspension kit? As i'd prefer to buy 2nd hand to save cost and potentially get better quality.

Hope someone can help.

I'm thinking about buy those as well... anyone bought some of those before???
I can't see why they would go wrong!

[Del]

I'm thinking about buy those as well

They have TUV certification so they can't be bad.

[TerryO]

I replaced all shocks and springs on my 98 1.9 using a Pi kit from POTN for £330.

http://www.potn.co.uk/pi-suspension-kit ... 320036.htm

One existing front shock had already been replaced and the remaining one was leaking. Never a good idea to replace one at a time, so I went for a complete kit. It also lowered the car by 30mm, which my insurance company were happy with. I was told that they start to increase premiums if you go over 50mm. One thing to bare in mind is that shorter shocks are normally stiffer and the rear top mounts of BMW's, especially Z3's are not that strong, especially with 130k miles on the clock. My existing rear top mounts fell apart on my first trip when one of the rear shock pushed the rubber inner up through the metal body of the mount. I completely lost all damping on that rear corner, which was not a pleasant experience. I've since fitted new rear mounts manufactured by a company called 'Rogue' in the USA.
TerryO.

[Three Syllables]

Yup, I've got some temporary replacement rear shockers for now, which I've removed the rust and resprayed to tidy them up.

But I'm sold on the idea of lowering, so how have you found this kit? Price range is what I'm expecting to pay for a quality setup.

[TerryO]

This was a complete kit, four shocks and springs for £330, but I would class it as a budget kit. None of the shocks are adjustable or re-buildable. It wasn't my main aimn to lower the car, I just needed to replace the shocks at a reasonable price. You can expect to pay a lot more for Bilstiens etc. With 18" alloys fitted, lowering by 30mm has certainly filled the arches better, but it has its drawbacks on badly maintained road surfaces. The roads in this part of Somerset are covered in deep pot holes at the moment, something to do with keeping the council tax low.

[paulwirral]

ive got 4 brand new in the box wrongly supplied lesjofors lowering sport springs , part no. 4508438 , laid in the shed , they were supposed to fit my z3m coupe but didnt and they were never collected . Not sure if they are any good to you but you can have them for £50 if you organise collection ?