cutting springs on an e30

[Dezzy]

Angle grinder check
gasless mig check

I am ready for a macy d's meet.

Have to be in Boro though as all my money goes on part warn Tyres and cutting discs

[dips346]

the car is'nt on the road its in my garage.

can you buy any 80 mm springs or are 60 lowest apart from coilovers

you can get 80mm and even 100mm once not sure if still around

[DanThe]

the car is'nt on the road its in my garage.

can you buy any 80 mm springs or are 60 lowest apart from coilovers

you can get 80mm and even 100mm once not sure if still around

I was under the impression a spring consisted of more than one coil?

[dips346]

the car is'nt on the road its in my garage.

can you buy any 80 mm springs or are 60 lowest apart from coilovers

you can get 80mm and even 100mm once not sure if still around

I was under the impression a spring consisted of more than one coil?

lol h&r used to do 80mm but that was a long time ago

[Rich_W]

Both have got 1 coil cut on the front. As have a lot of the well known cars from S14.net They say there's no real difference to handling/performance and the car sits much better to my eyes.

Unless you are planning to corner weight it and take it to a track you don't need that level of perfection on our shit state roads! And if you do then you'll be better with coilovers.

Apparently, a Dremel is best as it doesn't heat up the metal so much. I am contemplating 1/2 or maybe 1 coil from the front of my car. Even with shorter HR Race springs (from the US) it just sits a little too high at the front for my liking. Lowering it will actually aid weight dist, making it slightly more on the front, which should help counter understeer.

[rhubarb]

Kos, im sure its been done before..

yep, by a pikey I expect

[sweep]

Cutting springs and welding diffs on cars which have survived the best part of 20 years and are still going strong due to there design and build quality,
As stated buy some old ford junk and play...

[DanThe]

Both have got 1 coil cut on the front. As have a lot of the well known cars from S14.net They say there's no real difference to handling/performance and the car sits much better to my eyes.

Unless you are planning to corner weight it and take it to a track you don't need that level of perfection on our shit state roads! And if you do then you'll be better with coilovers.

Apparently, a Dremel is best as it doesn't heat up the metal so much. I am contemplating 1/2 or maybe 1 coil from the front of my car. Even with shorter HR Race springs (from the US) it just sits a little too high at the front for my liking. Lowering it will actually aid weight dist, making it slightly more on the front, which should help counter understeer.

One coil is fine, for a road car, but when your lobbing off 50% of your suspension travel its not very clever really, especially when the MOT man inspects..

[Jhonno]

Lobbing a coil or few off to determine what spring you want wont work anyway, unless you are sticking to standard spring rates....!

[Dezzy]

If the car is jack up for mot and the spring comes loose it's a fail. Not going to happen with 1 coil on an M3 spring but too lower a standard car 100mm by lopping half the coils off isn't clever.
Plus spring rate is only correct over the full coils.

[DanThe]

I believe the 'fix' is to cable tie the spring to its seat

[Simon13]

chopping 1 off is fine, i did it on one of my old 325's to get the front down a bit. It drove,looked and handled ok

You can't chop half a coil

[Dezzy]

I believe the 'fix' is to cable tie the spring to its seat

Ar got cable ties can drift

[Jhonno]

I believe the 'fix' is to cable tie the spring to its seat

Ar got cable ties can drift

Got cable ties? Get diffin'

[Dezzy]

I believe the 'fix' is to cable tie the spring to its seat

Ar got cable ties can drift

Got cable ties? Get diffin'

That's it knew it something like that.

[Blitz]

Budget lowering springs are cheap. At least do this.

[Kos]

if the springs are progersively wound then it wont be that detrimantal

one other hero on this forum even sudgested i do it to my e24, and he and i are both anal about cars.......

i trust his judgment

however on an e30, where spring choice is plentiful and cheap there is no excuse for it

[Dezzy]

Where's the 15k sport thread gone?

[Kos]

Where's the 15k sport thread gone?

removed

[madaboutthe30]

funny this thread has come up about lowering a car......my friend was telling me the other day how he and his friend went and bought a lowered nova, off a couple of pikeys a few years after those cars came out

Guess how the pikeys lowered the car?

No they didnt cut off the springs, they used clamps, and clamped all 4 springs

[Bob_S]

funny this thread has come up about lowering a car......my friend was telling me the other day how he and his friend went and bought a lowered nova, off a couple of pikeys a few years after those cars came out

Guess how the pikeys lowered the car?

No they didnt cut off the springs, they used clamps, and clamped all 4 springs

You find this amusing.. I spotted the clamp kits in halfords they look lethal..

Rich_W.. if you cut half a coil, how is your spring going to seat properly in the cups? It won't. I am happy to pay the few quid for a set of proper springs that's it then job done, no hassle no faffing just fit and forget

[Dezzy]

Also if ride heigh is an issue Motorscope up here can make custom springs to whatever rate and height you want. That's got to be better no?

[Rich_W]

[
Rich_W.. if you cut half a coil, how is your spring going to seat properly in the cups? It won't. I am happy to pay the few quid for a set of proper springs that's it then job done, no hassle no faffing just fit and forget

Rotate part 9 180 degrees

As for MOT fail. Not true.

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m3s02000403.htm

Take care when jacking vehicles with shortened or lowered springs fitted. Provided the spring ends locate correctly when the vehicle is lowered into the normal running position, without assistance this is not a reason for rejection.

My interpretation is. So they can be loose as hell with the wheels off the gorund, but so long as they re-seat Ok when the car is back on it's wheels you can't fail for it

[Bob_S]

[
Rich_W.. if you cut half a coil, how is your spring going to seat properly in the cups? It won't. I am happy to pay the few quid for a set of proper springs that's it then job done, no hassle no faffing just fit and forget

Rotate part 9 180 degrees

As for MOT fail. Not true.

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m3s02000403.htm

Take care when jacking vehicles with shortened or lowered springs fitted. Provided the spring ends locate correctly when the vehicle is lowered into the normal running position, without assistance this is not a reason for rejection.

My interpretation is. So they can be loose as hell with the wheels off the gorund, but so long as they re-seat Ok when the car is back on it's wheels you can't fail for it

So you're telling me that you own an M3 yet can't afford a set of springs?

[bss325i]

When you jack the car up during an MOT, if the spring is loose or has been vissibly cut/fractured its a fail.

[JokeTown]

Start grinding bro, not only does it look awesome but you car bounces and shit. Fuck yeah choppers.

[Tedswagon]

Chop away I say, just dont carry any speed into corners or you'll be dead

[dt520]

i have every intention of buying uprated suspension. i like my cars low but thats my opinon. i'll try find some 80mm springs.

[Bob_S]

i have every intention of buying uprated suspension. i like my cars low but thats my opinon. i'll try find some 80mm springs.

80mm is too low for an e30 and too low for uk roads to have any sort of decent amount of grip.

[penton08]

^^^^+1, and you would need a sump gaurd for sure!!

[Bob_S]

^^^^+1, and you would need a sump gaurd for sure!!

It wouldn't fit on it would just ground out when you drop it off your aldi jack

[penton08]

thinking about it, you would never get it off the jack either

[murran]

you cant fail a spring for being cut/shortened. if it dislocates when you jack it up and back down then it fails.

ive cut a coil out of the fronts on the touring i had ages ago.
i also chopped the rear springs down on my e21. but then i made spacers for the shocks to effectivley shorten the shocks too.

but ive got a nice spax psx kit now. its sat up a bit at the back but im not cutting springs i paid good money for!!

[handpaper]

Total suspension travel on an e30 is 180mm; static sag is 76mm (standard) or 90mm (M-Tech).
This leaves you with 94-104mm of bump travel and any lowering you do without modifying the top mounts (Uwe et al) and/or the strut itself (Ground Control etc.) will be subtracted from this.
80mm of lowering will leave the car literally on its bumpstops, not a good idea.

[Jhonno]

Total suspension travel on an e30 is 180mm; static sag is 76mm (standard) or 90mm (M-Tech).
This leaves you with 94-104mm of bump travel and any lowering you do without modifying the top mounts (Uwe et al) and/or the strut itself (Ground Control etc.) will be subtracted from this.
80mm of lowering will leave the car literally on its bumpstops, not a good idea.