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1999 E46 328i coilover fitting and standard ride height??

6K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  323i se matt 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,
I have a 1999 (E46) 328i saloon. It has been lowered already with sports springs. Because of this I dont know the original ride height for the car, can anyone tell me what the standard ride height is and where the measurement is taken from?

I'm fitting adjustable coilovers all round and also wondered what the best handling ride height you guys suggest? without causing camber/toe/rake problems etc. Drop limits are 40-70mm front and 30-60mm rear. Suggestions please?

Any info would be great and if anybody has changed full suspension and knows of any problems or tight spots I may encounter it would be great if you could fill me in on any tips etc.

Thanks Guys :thumbsup
 
#3 ·
What make is the kit matey? :thumbsup
 
#5 ·
I havent got any experience fitting a Jamex kit but A20 RYM and myself fitted a Hotunning kit to my E46 Compact and came to the conclusion that we needed shorter anti roll bar links :thumbsup

Your kit may not need them but its something to bare in mind :cool

Plus, you may find that your limited to how far you lower the front by as the inside of the wheel may catch on the strut... this can be over come by some 5mm spacers however :thumbsup

Here is the link to the post that goes through what we did and the complications we came accross :thumbsup

Hope this helps :cool

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f18/2002-e46-325ti-hottuning-coilover-fitting-attempt-t13780/
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the replies, I bought the shortened drop links with the kit so that's one less thing to worry about. Think I will try lowering the minimum amount the kit allows, 40mm front/ 30mm rear, then just take it from there. Does anyone know the standard ride height, I cant find it anywhere.
 
#9 ·
this is exactly the same kit as i was looking at getting too the jamex one

why does it foul the inside strut ?
and im running the sports suspension too and ive been on 4 other forums trying to find out how much it will lower the car by and if it will slam it or just drop it a little lowering it to 75mm and 60mm rear
mine is a 323i se with the m sport 18"s (genuine) wheels on it so i would of thought it would be ok and not catch or am i wrong ?

tell ya what im sick of bmw's already and ive only had mine less than two weeks :(
 
#10 ·
Chin up mate!

Keep yer chin up!

I had mine about two months, before it overheated & I needed a new head gasket, along with head skimming, I also had a lot of other parts replaced unecessarilly, this lasted 3 months, then went again & I ended up replacing the engine.
It now runs fine, hehe!

I'm not too sure how low you can go with the V-Maxx kit, think it was about 80/60mm.

As to why the wheel fouls the strut, if you find this out, please let me know!
But I think this is mentioned elsewhere, just a case of searching & reading.

Good luck mate & stick with it!
 
#11 ·
well im on several world wide bmw forums as i wanted to know as much as possible due to not really doing anything to the last ones i had and this being the only e46 ive ever had and they all say the same result that it will foul

so is this just with aftermarket wheels or is it with stock ones too ?
 
#12 ·
i realized if you put 2-3mm wheel spacer on the car and you can get more space..
and theres a kit on ebay adjustable camber that replaces the old top mount on the strut to change the camber so it wont fowl the arches and it wont clip the strut of course you need the coilover kit on other wise the camber adjuster kit wont work at all im concidering getting it.
 
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